JFK & the Cold War

JFK and the Cold War

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your
country can do for you--ask what you can do for your
country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not
what America will do for you, but what together we
can do for the freedom of man.
JFK Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

The Election of 1960

TV Debate Impacts Voters
JFK
wealthy, handsome,
charismatic
Only 43
Roman Catholic
Kennedy looked and spoke
better than Nixon, but
weak against Communism
Nixon more experienced
8 years as Vice President
Former Governor
Huge Anti-Communist

TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTE

On September 26, 1960, Kennedy and Nixon took part in the first televised
debate between presidential candidates
Kennedy looked and spoke better than Nixon
Journalist Russell Baker said, That night, image replaced the printed
word as the national language of politics

JFK: CONFIDENT, AT EASE DURING

DEBATES
Television had become so
central to people's lives that
many observers blamed
Nixon's loss to John F.
Kennedy on his poor
appearance in the televised
presidential debates
JFK looked cool, collected,
presidential
Nixon, according to one
observer, resembled a
"sinister chipmunk"

Kennedy and Civil Rights

King arrested
Nixon took no public
position
JFK telephoned Coretta to
express sympathy
Bobby Kennedy (RFK)
persuaded the judge who
had sentenced King to
release him on bail (helps
JFK appeal to the AfricanAmerican community)
JFK won by fewer than
119,000 votes

1960 Presidential Election

THE CAMELOT YEARS

During his term in office, JFK and
his beautiful young wife,
Jacqueline, invited many artists
and celebrities to the White
House
press portrayed the Kennedys as a
young, attractive, energetic, and
stylish couple; with attention to
arts and culture and an average
every-day family

The press loved the Kennedy

charm and JFK appeared
frequently on T.V.
The Kennedys were considered
American Royalty (hence
Camelot reference)

THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE

The first family
fascinated the American
public
For example, after
learning that JFK could
read 1,600 words a
minute, thousands
enrolled in speedreading courses
Jackie, too, captivated
the nation with her eye
for fashion and culture

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST

JFK surrounded himself
with what one journalist
described as the best and
the brightest available
talent
Of all of his elite advisors
who filled Kennedys
inner circle, he relied
most on his 35-year-old
brother Robert, whom he
appointed attorney
general

RFK was Johns closest

friend and advisor

The Best and the Brightest

McGeorge Bundy NSA
Robert McNamara
Secretary of Defense
Dean Rusk Secretary of
State
Robert Kennedy Attorney
General
Had no previous law
experience

A New Military Policy

Flexible response increased defense spending in
order to boost conventional military forces
nonnuclear forces such as troops, ships, and artillery
and to create an elite branch of the army called the
Special Forces, or Green Berets. He also tripled the
overall nuclear capabilities of the U.S.
Goal allow the U.S. to fight limited wars around the
world while maintaining a nuclear balance of power
with the Soviets

Flexible Response
Challenged
Eisenhowers idea of
massive retaliation
Pushed for the use of
conventional
weaponry and military
to combat
Communism
U.S. couldnt rely on
nuclear arsenal to
protect itself

Alliance for Progress

JFKs pledge of support for
Latin America
Considered a Marshall
Plan for brown people
$20 billion to support
internal improvements
Supported education and
schools
Built hospitals and promote
health care
Helped distribute land

Pros: helped some

Cons: much abuse and
corruption

Crises over Cuba

The Cuban dilemma

Fidel Castro comes to power

in 1959
Puts on mass public trials
and executions
U.S. denounces Cuba and
accepts thousands of Cuban
refugees
Castro seizes U.S. businesses
and Eisenhower cuts off
imports of Cuban sugar
1960 Cuba signs a trade
treaty with the Soviet Union

The Bay of Pigs

In March 1960 Ike orders CIA to
train Cuban exiles for an invasion
of their homeland
JFK notified of plan 9 days into his
presidency
JFK continues with the plan
The plan: day before the invasion,
planes would attempt to wipe out
Castros air force, then exiles
would land at the beach, and the
Cuban people would rise up
against Castro and overthrow him

Bay of Pigs (Cont.)

Plan failed: JFK failed to
provide the necessary
resources to help the exiles
and they were rounded up
by Castros men
It turned out to be a
disaster when in April,
1961, 1,200 Cuban exiles
met 25,000 Cuban troops
backed by Soviet tanks
and were soundly defeated

We looked like fools to our friends,

rascals to our enemies and
incompetents to the rest
Quote from U.S. Commentator

Operation Mongoose
JFK goes ahead with a plan called
Operation Mongoose in which govt
agents worked to disrupt the islands
trade and continued working with
mobsters to assassinate Castro
Castro survives more than 600
assassination attempts created by the
CIA
Examples: Exploding cigar, poisoned
wetsuit, poisoned milkshake, exploding
conch shell, etc.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

In an attempt to counter
any new American
intervention and to
improve the Soviet
position in the nuclear
arms race, Castro and
Kruschchev devised a
daring plan: installation
of Soviet missiles and
nuclear bombers in
Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis

Oct. 14, 1962 U-2 flights showed 65
sites for offensive medium-range ballistic
missiles could reach the U.S. in 3
minutes
When surveillance photos revealed nukes
ready to launch in Cuba, JFK said the
U.S. would respond to any attack from
Cuba with an all-out nuclear retaliation
against the Soviets
JFK ordered a naval quarantine of the
island (used the word quarantine rather
than blockade since blockade was an
act of war)
Oct. 22 went on national television
informing the Soviets of American policy
and demanded their retreat
American forces around the globe went
on alert
The world was on the brink of nuclear
war

Nuclear Chicken
JFK pushes for naval
blockade
Goal:
Seize any ships going into/out
of Cuba
Force the immediate removal
of missiles

The Problem:
A direct attack on Soviets
would be an act of war
The existence of the missiles
were an act of war

13 DAYS
For 13 days in October, 1962
the world stood still as the
threat of nuclear war gripped
the planet
War seemed imminent
The first break in the crisis
occurred when the Soviets
ships turned back from the
blockade

Cuban Missile Crisis (Cont.)

Eventually, the Presidents had
worked out a secret agreement
Khrushchev said that he would
remove the missiles if the U.S.
agreed not to attack Cuba and
removed its missiles from Turkey
Kennedy publicly agreed to the 1 st
and privately to the second
Was this necessary? Should
Kennedy have gone on T.V. or
negotiated privately?

The Fallout
Russia blinks!
Russia removes missiles from
Cuba
U.S. removes missiles from
Turkey
Quarantine ends, but embargo
begins
The Problems:
Khrushchev forced from office
Kremlin begins nuclear
expansion
U.S. and Russia agree to test ban
treaty
Establish direct communication
link: the red phone

Were eyeball to eyeball,

and I think the other fellow
just blinked. Dean Rusk,
Secretary of State

CRISIS OVER BERLIN

In 1961, Berlin,
Germany was a city in
great turmoil
In the 11 years since
the Berlin Airlift,
almost 3 million East
Germans (Soviet side)
had fled into West
Berlin (U.S.
controlled) to flee
communist rule

SOVIETS SEEK TO STOP EXODUS

East Germany begins

construction on the Berlin Wall,
which becomes a primary
symbol of the Cold War and
Soviet oppression

The Soviets did not like the

fact that East Berliners were
fleeing their city for the
democratic west
Their departure hurt the
economy and the prestige of
the USSR
Just after midnight on
August 13, 1961 the Soviets
began construction of a 90mile wall separating East
and West Berlin

Trying to Ease Tensions

Both Khrushchev and Kennedy began
searching for ways to ease the
enormous tension between the two
superpowers
Two Agreements
1. Direct hotline between the White
House and the Kremlin
2. Signing of the Limited Test Ban
Treaty called for an end to all
nuclear tests in the ocean, the
atmosphere and outer space by
the end of the year, 113 other
nations had signed the treaty

The New Frontier

Bold, new domestic
programs

Education
Welfare
Health Care
Elderly Assistance
Inner-Cities
Continue FDRs social
action

New Frontier Goals

Provide medical care for elderly

Rebuild urban areas
Education (focusing on Math & Science)
Bolster national defense
Increase international aid
Expand space program

JFKs Problems
Small Democratic majority in
Congress
Barely won the presidency
Congress didnt support policies
Christian Southern Conservative
Democrats didnt like him
Republicans werent supportive
either
Battled high inflation
Contending in conflicts in Cuba,
Berlin, and Vietnam
Most legislation would NOT
pass

The Peace Corps

JFKs call for American
international volunteerism
The Peace Corps is a volunteer
program to assist developing
nations in Asia, Africa and Latin
America
The commitment:
Spend 2 years in developing nations
Specialize in education, agriculture,
irrigation, sewage treatment, or health
care
Promote democracy and American
influence

Remains one of the most lasting

legacys of JFKs presidency

RACE TO THE MOON

On April 12, 1961, Soviet
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
became the first human in
space
Meanwhile, Americas space
agency (NASA) began
construction on new launch
facilities in Cape Canaveral,
Florida and a mission
control center in Houston,
Texas

The Space Race

JFKs promise to be the
first to the moon
1962: NASA sends John
Glenn, first American in
space
Used Saturn V rocket to
propel out of Earths orbit

1969: Saturn V rocket

launches Apollo 11
First successful moon landing
Neal Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,
and Michael Collins

A MAN ON
THE MOON
By July 20, 1969, the U.S.
would achieve its goal
An excited nation watched
as U.S. astronaut Neil
Armstrong took the first
steps on the moon
Space and defense-related
industries sprang up in
Southern and Western
states
Kennedys vision succeeded

Armstrong

One small step for man, one

giant leap for mankind

KENNEDY ADDRESSES INNER CITY

BLIGHT AND RACISM
In 1963, Kennedy called for a national assault on the causes of
poverty
He also ordered his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy to
investigate racial injustice in the South
Finally, he presented Congress with a sweeping civil rights bill and a
sweeping tax cut bill to spur the economy

The Arrival in Dallas

JFK, LBJ, and families
arrive in Dallas for a
political rally
The families separate for
an escorted drive in
downtown Dallas
Shots fired: JFK shot in
the head and the throat
Eyewitnesses argue about
the number and locations
of shots

JFK SHOT TO
DEATH

As the motorcade
approached the Texas
Book Depository, shots
rang out
JFK was shot in the neck
and then the head
His car was rushed to a
nearby hospital where
doctors frantically tried
to revive him
President Kennedy was
dead (11/22/63)

Assassinated
Assassinated November 22, 1963 in Dallas,
Texas, in an event that shook the nations
confidence and began a period of internal strife
and divisiveness, especially spurred by divisions
over US involvement in Vietnam.

The Plot Thickens

The Birth of a Conspiracy
Lee Harvey Oswald had
connections with Russia and
supported the revolution in
Cuba
Arrested 80 minutes after the
assassination
Evidence found at the Book
Repository, where he shot
Kennedy
Oswald shot by Jack Ruby, 2
days later

The Big Questions

Why did Lee
Harvey Oswald kill
Kennedy?
Why did Jack Ruby
kill Oswald?
Was this part of a
larger conspiracy?

Sunday, 24 November, 1963

On Sunday morning, while millions watched on TV, Oswald was
murdered in the basement of a Dallas jail by Jack Ruby, the owner of a
Dallas strip-tease joint called the Carousel . Rumors spread rapidly, and
a shocked nation demanded answers.

Jack Ruby, right, shoots Oswald, center, to death 11/24/63

Three-year old John

Kennedy Jr. salutes
his fathers coffin
during the funeral

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON

BECOMES PRESIDENT
The Vice-President,
Lyndon Baines
Johnson, became
President after JFK
was assassinated
The nation mourned
the death of the
young president
while Jackie
Kennedy remained
calm and poised

A somber LBJ takes the oath of

office aboard Air Force One with
the Jackie next to him

The Warren Commission

Chief Justice Earl Warren starts federal

investigation
Goal:
Prevent speculation about conspiracy

24 September, 1964
After ten months of secret hearings, Chief Justice Earl Warren presented the
Commissions report to President Johnson. The Commission found that Oswald, acting
alone, had assassinated President Kennedy. Mainstream media hailed it as the most
massive, detailed and convincing piece of detective work ever undertaken, unmatched
in the annals of fact finding.

24 November, 1964
The US government releases
26 volumes of testimony and
exhibits which contained the
evidence on which the
Warren Report was
purportedly based.
The New York Times reported
that the 26 volumes
overwhelmingly supported
the conclusions [of the Warren
Commissions Report] that the
assassination was no
conspiracy but the work of one
unhappy man, Lee Harvey
Oswald.

WARREN COMMISSION FINDINGS

1. There were three shots fired and which struck Kennedy.
2. The shots came from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book
depository building.
3. One shot fired passed through Kennedy and struck Governor
Connally.
4. The shots were fired by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald.
5. The killing of Kennedy was due purely to a lone-nut
assassin.

The Legacy of the assassination

Devastated the country and shocked the world
Seemed to end the dream of innocence of the
1950s
Coincided with a broader wave of social change:
the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist
Movement, escalation in Vietnam, and the FreeSpeech and Anti-War Movements
LBJ becomes president and will take a stronger
position on Vietnam and Civil Rights