1. November 29, 2010
What political change did Fidel Castro undergo after taking power and how did this impact the U.S.?
Cuba in crisis and the U.S. response
Berlin Crisis
Homework: 28 Section 2

2. The Election of 1960 Mood of Voters:
Economy in recession
USSR’s launch of Sputnik
USSR development of long range missiles
U-2 incident
Cuba aligns with Soviet Union
The Candidates had similar policies but Kennedy had two key factors on his side
Television
Civil Rights

3. The Candidates
Democrat: John F. Kennedy
Republican: Richard Nixon

4. Televised Debate: Launching TV in Politics
Kennedy
Well-organized
Wealthy family background
Handsome and charismatic
43 and inexperienced
Roman Catholic
Coached by TV producers
Nixon
Expert on foreign policy and hoping to expose opponent’s inexperience
Current Vice President

5. Kennedy and Civil Rights
October 1960: Police Arrest Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, GA
33 other demonstrators released
King sentenced to hard labor
Eisenhower (and Nixon) refused to do anything
Kennedy called King’s wife to express sympathy
Robert Kennedy persuaded judge to release King on bail.
African-American Voters heard of this

6. The Camelot Years:
Kennedy’s inauguration set tone of grace, elegance, and wit
He and his wife invited artists and celebrities to the White House
JFK’s Mystique:
Many took speed-reading classes
First ladies fashion sense
Family constantly televised and photgraphed

7. Kennedy’s Team:
McGeorge Bundy – Harvard Dean as National Security Advisor
Robert McNamara – Ford Motor Company President as Secretary of Defense
Dean Rusk – President of Rockefellor Foundation as Secretary of State
Robert Kennedy – brother as Attorney General

8. New Military Policy Eisenhower – brinksmanship (edge of nuclear war)
Kennedy – Flexible Response
Strengthen ability to fight nonnuclear war
Increase defense spending to boost conventional military in order to create elite branch of the army (green berets)
Tripled nuclear capabilities across the U.S.

9. Crisis over Cuba:
Eisenhower cut off diplomatic ties with Cuba because of Fidel Castro
He gained power by promising democracy and toppled dictator Batista
Promised to eliminate poverty, inequality, & dictatorship
U.S. supported until he took over oil refineries

10. Castro broke up Commercial Farms and American Sugar Companies
Congress started a trade embargo
Castro relied on aid from Soviet Union
Some saw Castro as great while others saw him as tyrant
10% Cuban population going into exile

11. Bay of Pigs
March 1960 – Eisenhower allowed CIA to train Cuban exiles for invasion
Hoped to trigger revolution
Kennedy learned of this 9 days after becoming president

12. What Went Down?
April 17, 1961 – Cuban rebels and U.S. military landed on the Bay of Pigs (Cuba)
What went wrong?
Air strike failed to take out Cuban air force
Small force sent to distract Castro’s forces did not reach the shore
When the commando landed they faced 25,000 Cuban soldiers backed by Soviet tanks and aircrafts

13. Thoughts?
Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of “North American mercenaries”
U.S. comments were that the U.S. “looked like fools to friends, rascals to enemies, and incompetent to the rest”

14. What Happened Afterwards?
Kennedy paid a ransom of $53 million in food and medical supplies for surviving commandos
Kennedy condemned communism in Western Hemisphere but Cuba continued with Soviet aid

15. Cuban Missile Crisis
Nikita Krushchev promised to protect Cuba with Soviet arms
Summer 1962 – flow of weapons to Cuba from the Soviet Union increased (including nuclear missiles)
Kennedy warned America won’t tolerate offensive weapons in Cuba
October 14 – photographs reveal Soviet missile bases in Cuba with missiles ready to launch
October 22 – Kennedy informed the nation of such missile sites and of plans to remove them
Any attack would result in war

16. Cuban Missile Crisis (cont’d)
The world faced the possibility nuclear war
How did we prepare?
Soviet ships in Atlantic
U.S. ships block Cuba
How did it end?
U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba & remove missiles from Turkey
USSR agreed to remove missiles from Cuba

17. Both World Leaders Criticized
Kennedy
Practiced brinksmanship not flexible response or diplomacy
Others said he passed up chance of taking over Cuba
Khrushchev
Prestige in Soviet Union fading
Castro:
Closed Cuba’s doors to exiles in November 1962
Banned all flights to and from Miami
3 years later he allowed Cubans to join families in the U.S. until 1973

18. Crisis over Berlin
The Berlin Wall – a concrete wall topped with barb wire that severed the city in two
East Germany proving to fail as people flee communism and enter West Berlin
Weakened the economy of East Germany

19. Summit Meeting in Vienna
Khrushchev threatens treaty with East Germany to close off all roads to West Berlin
U.S.n refuses to give up West Berlin
The threat of nuclear war prevented Khrushchev from closing roads to West Berlin
August 1961 – he began the construction of the wall separating East Germany from West Germany
The Wall ended the Berlin crisis but strengthened Cold War tensions

21. Searching for ways to ease Tensions
1963 – Kennedy announced that the two nations had established a hot line between the two
Allowed communication between the two leaders
Limited test ban Treaty – barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere

22. Essay Question:
Explain how the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Berlin crisis each placed the U.S. in conflict with the Soviet Union. What happened in each event? How did Kennedy handle the event? How was Kennedy viewed after the event?