1. John F. Kennedy

2. The Election of 1960

3. Kennedy’s Advantages
Debate Performance: Kennedy looked more calm and collected than Nixon.
Kennedy was younger and more handsome.

4. Kennedy’s Disadvantages
Kennedy was Catholic: Catholics were still discriminated against by millions of Americans, especially in the South.
Kennedy was a very inexperienced senator from Massachusetts.

5. The Election of 1960 The election of 1960 was the closest since
1884; Kennedy
defeated Richard
Nixon by fewer than
119,000 votes.

6. Did You Know?
• He was a decorated naval officer in World War II. • He received the Pulitzer Prize for his book, "Profiles in Courage." • He served exactly 1,000 days in office. • He was the first president born in the 20th century and the youngest president ever elected.
He is the only Roman
Catholic president
He could read words a minute.

7. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
Kennedy was the youngest person ever to be elected president. His
youth helped provide the theme to his inaugural address:
“Let the word go forth…
That the torch has been
passed to a new
generation of Americans…
The energy, the faith, the
devotion which we bring
to this endeavor will light
our country and all who
serve it…And so, my fellow
Americans-ask not what
your country can do for
you-ask what you can do
for your country.”

8. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
“So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”

9. The Camelot Years With JFK’s youthful glamour and his talented
advisors, the
Kennedy White
House reminded
many of a modern-
day Camelot, the
mythical court of
King Arthur.

10. Cuba Goes Red

11. Crisis Over Cuba The first test of Kennedy’s
foreign policy came in Cuba,
just 90 miles off the coast of
Florida. Revolutionary leader,
Fidel Castro, openly declared
himself a communist and
welcomed aid from the
Soviet Union.

12. In 1959, Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba, causing thousands of Cubans to flee to the United States.
Fidel Castro, 1950’s
Fidel Castro, 2006

13. Bay of Pigs Invasion
· The U.S. became worried as Cuba received increased amounts of aid from the Soviet Union.
· In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved of a plan to overthrow Castro’s government with the help of Cuban exiles.

14. The Bay of Pigs On the nights of April 17,1961, some 1500 Cuban exiles
supported by the U.S. military
landed on the island’s
southern coast at Baja de
Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs. The
CIA and the exiles hoped it
would trigger a mass uprising
that would overthrow Castro.
It didn’t! Cuban forces, backed
by Soviet tanks and jet aircraft,
easily repelled the exile invasion.
Some of the exiles were killed,
others imprisoned.

15. · The exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Southern Cuba where they were easily defeated by Cuban forces, strengthening Fidel Castro and embarrassing the United States.
Fidel Castro, parading through the streets of Havana after his victory against Cuban expatriates in the Bay of Pigs invasion. (1961)

16. The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union began to build missile bases in Cuba, worrying Americans that we were vulnerable to attack.

17. Cuban Missile Crisis In October, 1962, photographs taken
by American planes
revealed Soviet
missile bases in
Cuba-and some
contained missiles
ready to launch.
They could reach
U.S. cities in
minutes.

18. · Pres. Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship carrying missiles.

19. On October 22,
Kennedy ordered
a naval blockade
of Cuba to prevent
further deliveries
of Soviet weapons.
He also demanded
that the Soviets
remove the missiles.
Khrushchev promised to
challenge the blockade,
calling it “outright banditry.”

20. Video: Cuban Missile Crisis (1:09)
"That Tuesday the first of thirteen days of decision unlike any other in the Kennedy years or, indeed, inasmuch as this was the first direct nuclear confrontation, unlike any other in the history of our planet." Theodore Sorensen, aide to Pres. Kennedy

21. For a few days, nuclear war and massive destruction was a
distinct possibility for every American. In schools, children
practiced air raid drills, a common occurrence during the Cold
War. People who had built bomb shelters began stocking
them with food and other provisions. Even the president called
his family to the White House where they could be protected in
the presidential nuclear shelter.

23. Suddenly, on October 24, many of the Soviet ships stopped short
of the blockade line, turned, and sailed home. “We’re eyeball to
eyeball,” said Secretary of State Dean Rusk, “and I think the
other fellow just blinked.” On October 28 Khrushchev agreed
to dismantle the missile bases in response to Kennedy’s promise
not to invade Cuba.

24. "I found myself in the difficult position of having to decide on a course of action which would answer the American threat but which would also avoid war.  Any fool can start a war, and once he's done so, even the wisest of men are helpless to stop it-- especially if its a nuclear war.”
- Nikita Khrushchev

25. Intervening in Latin America
Many poor Latin Americans viewed communism as a solution to their problems.
Therefore, the U.S. created several programs aimed at helping Latin America, and other third world nations.

26. Alliance for Progress – Latin American nations were urged to make urgent reforms in order to help the lives of their people in exchange for U.S. aid for schools, hospitals, farming, and sanitation services.
Bogotá, Colombia (Dec. 17, 1961)
"Here is inaugurated the first school of 22,000 to be constructed by the Colombian government within the Alliance for Progress with the assistance of the President of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy."

27. Peace Corps – American volunteers work as teachers, engineers, and technical advisers in developing nations for two years.
This map shows in what countries the Peace Corps currently works in (orange) and what countries in which the Peace Corps is currently inactive (purple).

28. Organization of American States – the U. S
Organization of American States – the U.S. promoted economic progress in the Americas by investing in transportation and industry.
Cuba is the only nation in the Americas that is not a member of the OAS.

29. Kennedy and Berlin One of the high points of Kennedy’s foreign
travels was a trip he
made to Berlin in 1963
to dramatize America’s
commitment to West
Berlin and West Germany.
In a speech at the Berlin
Wall, Kennedy electrified
an audience of about 150,000
Germans by stating , “Ich bin
ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner),
thus declaring the solidarity of
all free people with the people
of West Berlin.

30. The New Frontier President Kennedy’s legislative program to
provide medical care
for the elderly….
To rebuild blighted
urban areas….

31. To aid education….
To bolster the national
defense….

32. To increase
international aid….
To expand the space
program.

33. To provide volunteer
assistance to developing
nations in Asia, Africa,
and Latin America.
And to promote civil rights.

34. Tragedy in Dallas
In the fall of 1963, public opinion polls showed that Kennedy was losing popularity because of his advocacy of civil rights. On November 22,
1963, President and
Mrs. Kennedy went
to Texas to mend
political fences with
members of the
state’s Democratic
Party.

35. Crowds lined the
streets of Dallas
to greet the
President. In front
of them sat Texas
Governor John
Connally and his
wife Nellie.

36. As the car approached a state building known as the Texas State Book
Depository, rifle shots rang out.

37. Kennedy was
shot in the head.
His car raced to
a nearby
hospital, where
doctors
frantically tried
to revive him,
but it was too
late. President
dead.

38. In 1963, the Warren
Commission investigated
and concluded that
Lee Harvey Oswald
had shot the president
while acting on his own.

40. On Sunday, Nov. 24,
as millions watched
live television
coverage of Oswald
being transferred
between jails, a
nightclub owner
named Jack Ruby
broke through the
crowd and shot and
killed Oswald.

41. Conspiracy Theories

43. Kennedy’s Legacy