1. JFK & THE COLD WAR
JFK

2. Election of 1960 Nixon-Kennedy First televised debates
JFK: coached, wore makeup
Nixon: sweating, 5 o’clock shadow
Radio vs. TV viewers

3. 1960 Campaign
MLK Jr. arrested for sitting at segregated lunch counter in GA
King sentenced to 4 months
Eisenhower refused to intervene, Nixon ignored the event
JFK called King’s wife
RFK persuaded judge to release MLK on bail
Helped capture African-American votes

4. The Camelot Years
Inaugural speech: “ask not what your country can do for you…”
National obsession with Kennedy family
Jackie became fashion icon
JFK speed reader (1,600 wpm) so thousands enrolled in speed reading classes

5. JFK & Cold War
Eisenhower had emphasized containment, domino theory, hard-line, deterrence
JFK wanted to move away from threatening the use of nuclear war
Focused on conventional military forces, created Green Berets
Called “flexible response”

6. CUBA 90 miles off Florida coast! Castro wins control in 1959
Nationalizes US & British oil refineries, US sugar farms
Congress enacts embargo
Cuba relies on Soviet aid
JFK had said Republicans let Cuba go communist

7. BAY OF PIGS
Eisenhower had approved plans for US-sponsored invasion of Cuba
CIA trained 1500 Cuban exiles for invasion
JFK learned of plan only 9 days after taking office, but approved it
April 17, 1961: US-sponsored exiles landed on Bahía de Cochinos

8. Bay of Pigs Cont’d US air strike to take out Cuban air force failed
Advance group sent to distract Cuban forces never arrived
25,000 Cuban troops waiting when commando unit of exiles arrived
Soviet tanks and jets
JFK negotiated with Castro, sent $53 mil in food & medical supplies in exchange for release of exiles
Mission said to have blown up in JFK’s face

9. Cuban Missile Crisis October 14-28, 1962
U2 surveillance of Cuba revealed construction of bases for Soviet missiles
MRBM’s have range of 1200 miles, could have reached as far as Washington DC
US/USSR on the brink of nuclear war!

10. Berlin Crisis Wall built surrounding West Berlin 1961
Khrushchev threatened to close off all access, JFK said “we can not & will not allow the communists to drive us out of Berlin”
JFK visits, gives speech June 26, 1963
“There are some who say communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin.”
“Ich bin ein Berliner.”

11. Reducing Tensions
Kennedy & Khrushchev agreed to tone down tensions between the two countries
Hot Line: between White House & Kremlin to communicate if issues arise
Limited Test Ban Treaty: prohibited nuclear testing in the atmosphere (only underground)

12. Peace Corps One of JFK’s campaign promises
Volunteer assistance to developing countries
By 1968, 35,000 volunteers in 60 nations
Helped promote democracy & improved America’s image in the world to countries in danger of falling to communism

13. Race to Moon
April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became first man in space
JFK proposed sending a man to the moon by the end of the decade as part of “New Frontier”
NASA built launch facilities at Cape Canaveral & mission control at Houston
Apollo program designed with goal of landing on moon
July 20, 1969
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins

14. November 22, 1963
Kennedy & wife went to Dallas to meet with TX Republicans
Driving in motorcade in limo
Shots fired from TX School Book Depository
DOA by the time limo arrived at the hospital, LBJ took oath on AF1
Lee Harvey Oswald charged with murder, prints on rifle
Warren Commission set up to investigate conspiracy theories (CIA, communists, Cubans); found that may have been a low level conspiracy and that Oswald probably did not act alone