The Kennedy Era

Agenda Bell Ringer: Describe culture in the 1950s? Who is omitted? Notes: The Kennedy Era, The New Frontier (20 minutes) Cuban Missile Crisis Cartoon Analysis (10 minutes) Military Intervention in Cuba Analysis and Discussion (30 minutes) Kennedy Speech on Communism (15 minutes)

A New Frontier John F. Kennedy won the Presidency with only 120,000 votes over Republican candidate Richard Nixon. Many say Kennedy won because of a televised debate that made him look like the face of a younger America. “The Torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans” He promoted the race into Space, but lacked on Civil Rights initially.

Bay of Pigs 1961, this was an attempt to eliminate Fidel Castro’s Communist government. We supplied arms to revolutionary soldiers, and the CIA provided intelligence. It was touted as a guaranteed success, but ends up a huge blunder. The revolutionaries lose, and the United States is embarrassed by this loss. Berlin Wall would be constructed in July, 1961, sealing off East and West Berlin, and ending any cooperation between the Soviets and the Americans.

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962, it is found that the Soviets are transporting nuclear weapons into Cuba. They claim it is for defense; however, these missiles can reach major US cities. Kennedy stages a blockade of Cuba to stop the flow of nuclear weapons. Khrushchev attempts to claim nuclear war is inevitable. 13 days and several speeches and conversations later, Khrushchev turns the ships around. We would publicly announce we wouldn’t invade Cuba, Khrushchev would remove their weapons from Cuba. Privately, we would remove missiles from Turkey.

The Thousand Day Presidency Many look at his presidency with a sense of reverence and nostalgia. America’s innocence is shattered in 1963. It becomes more cynical as the decade wears on, and this will eventually lead to the counterculture and divisions in the late 1960s with the escalation in Vietnam. His record on Civil Rights was not perfect, his brother did attempt to desegregate some areas, but serious Civil Rights legislation would not occur until Lyndon Johnson takes the Presidency.