Kennedy and The Cold War

The Election of 1960  Fears that US military falling behind USSR  Democrat: John F. Kennedy (JFK)  Republican: Richard Nixon  Two factors helped JFK: television & civil rights issue

Televised Debate  JFK: well-organized campaign, backing of his wealthy family, charismatic  Roman Catholic  Only 43  Nixon vs. Kennedy televised debate  Nixon hoped to expose JFK’s inexperience  JFK had been coached by tv producers, looked better & spoke better

JFK as President  JFK won by a small margin  “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”  Wife: Jacquelyn Kennedy, fashion & culture  JFK often appeared on tv; popular appeal

New Military Policy  Eisenhower relied on massive retaliation  Flexible Response: broaden US range of options by strengthening military’s ability to fight a non-nuclear war  Increased defense spending  Hoped to reduce risk of nuclear war

Crisis in Cuba  Fidel Castro came to power as a communist, openly accepting aid from USSR  Politically repressed those who did not agree with him

Bay of Pigs  Cuban exiles were secretly trained for an invasion in US  Cuban exiles supported by US military landed in Cuba’s Bay of Pigs in April 1961  Air strike failed to knock out Cuban air force  1300 Cuban exiles faced 25,000 Cuban troops backed by USSR  Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of North American mercenaries  Left JFK & America humiliated, JFK took the blame publicly

Cuban Missile Crisis  USSR weapons to Cuba increased greatly  JFK warns that America will no tolerate nuclear weapons in Cuba  JFK informed US people of Soviet missiles in Cuba  Any missile attack from Cuba would trigger all-out attack on USSR  World faced terrifying possibility of nuclear war

Cuban Missile Crisis  Soviet ships carrying more missiles headed toward Cuba  US Navy prepared to quarantine Cuba & prevent ships from coming w/in 500 miles  US troops waited  Khrushchev offered to remove missiles in exchange for American pledge not to invade Cuba  US secretly agrees to remove missiles from Turkey  “For a moment the world had stood still”

Berlin Wall Crisis  Berlin Wall- concrete wall topped with barbed wire that split Berlin in half  East German’s fled into West Germany b/c it was free from communist rule (led to construction)  Built by USSR  Symbol of communist oppression

Race to the Moon  April 12, 1961, Soviets put first man in space  JFK sees this as a challenge and decided to America would surpass Soviets by sending a man to the moon  “But why, some say, the moon?... And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, thirty-five years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?”- John F. Kennedy

Race to the Moon  NASA began constructing new launch facilities in Cape Canaveral & mission control center in Houston  July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong walks on moon  Universities expanded their science programs

Man on the Moon  “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind”