JFK

The Kennedy Mystique (or, the Election of 1960) The Election of 1960 between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon was mostly about personality and style; Kennedy was liked for his charisma and energy, despite a scandal and his Catholicism, while Nixon was disliked for his awkwardness and selfrighteousness, despite his experience and tacticality This election was the first to have televised presidential debates In his inauguration, Kennedy implored, Ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country. Kennedy and refined first lady Jackie had an energetic, cultured presence in the White House Kennedy and Khrushchev often continued problems of mutual misunderstanding January 1961 Khrushchev promised to support wars of national liberation, so Kennedy overreacted and asked for more military spending April 1961 CIA-trained anti-Castro Cubans landed at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow Castro, but Kennedy refused to send American troops to help, so they were captured, so June 1961 held a hasty summit in Vienna with Khrushchev; Khrushchev left with the impression that Kennedy was weak, erratic, and aggressive Khrushchev threatened to give the Soviet sector of Berlin to East Germany, so Kennedy prepared the military and warned the public to build fall-out shelters; but instead of a direct confrontation, the Soviets and East Germans built the Berlin Wall, though tensions remained high; 1989 the wall would come down with the fall of East Germany In Vietnam, anti-Communist Diem was losing control of the cities, while the Communist Viet Cong controlled the countryside, so the U.S. (unsuccessfully) increased aid; Diem almost started another civil war by crushing opposition from Vietnamese Buddhists, November 1961 so the Kennedy administration tacitly approved a coup that killed Diem and installed an ineffective military junta October 1962 reconnaissance photos of Cuba showed construction on missile launching sites; unbeknown to the Americans, some missiles were operational and authorized to launch for self-defense So for five days the Executive Committee for National Security (ExComm) met and discussed the options for action; decided to impose a blockade Khrushchev offered to withdraw missiles in exchange for an American pledge to not invade Cuba and to remove American missiles on NATO allies' territory; Kennedy agreed to the first term but not the second, and Khrushchev accepted the deal Khrushchev took such a risk with the Cuban missiles because: Wanted to protect Castro as a symbol of Soviet commitment to anti-Western regimes in the developing world; Americans disliked Castro, ex. Alliance for Progress gave aid to Latin America based on social reform, the Bay of Pigs attempted coup, and the CIA campaign Operation Mongoose to assassinate Cuban leaders Wanted to catch up to the missile capacity of the US Before all this came to light, Kennedy swore to not tolerate Soviet offensive weapons in Cuba; if the Soviets had not built the missiles in secret, Kennedy would not have had to

Kennedy's Mistakes

Missile Crisis: A Line Drawn in the Waves (or, the Cuban Missile Crisis)

act when they were discovered Both sides acted cautiously; Khrushchev did not fight, and Kennedy did not destroy Castro Would accelerate the arms race because the Soviets swore they would never again submit to American nuclear superiority Science and Foreign Affairs Americans were catching up to the Russians in the space race; April 1961 the first human in space was Russian Yuri Gagarin while the first American, John Glenn, followed in February 1962, but 1970 America put the first men on the moon Nuclear weapons: 1961, after a three-year moratorium, the US and USSR resumed nuclear weapons testing Groups such as Women Strike for Peace and the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy advocated disarmament July 1961 the US, Britain, and USSR signed the Limited Test ban Treaty that outlawed nuclear testing in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater; though the other nuclear powers, France and China, refused to sign, was a step towards later disarmament policies November 1963 in Dallas, Texas Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald while visiting to resolve disputes between Texas Democrats (Texas Governor John Connally was injured) Oswald was a Marines veteran who defected to the Soviet Union, returned, supported Castro's Cuban revolution, and was unable to find employment Before Oswald could be tried, nightclub owner Jack Ruby killed him on the way to the courtroom on national television

Dallas, 1963