kennedy and the cold war. john f. kennedy 35th president of the united states senator from...
TRANSCRIPT
John F. Kennedy
• 35th President of the United States
• Senator from Massachusetts
• World War II Hero Injured on PT Boat 109
Election of 1960
• Kennedy runs against VP Richard Nixon
• Americans afraid of falling behind USSR Sputnik, Soviet missiles U-2 incident Cuba aligned with USSR
Kennedy and Nixon
• Eisenhower is popular Nixon hopes it’ll help him
• Kennedy is young, smart, and handsome Promises to “Get America going again”
• Both have very similar positions
Civil Rights
• MLK is arrested and put in jail
• Eisenhower does nothing Nixon has no public statement
• JFK calls MLK’s wife Robert Kennedy gets MLK released on bail
Kennedy Wins
• Closest election since 1884 Fewer than 119,000 votes Shenanigans in Chicago
• Picks a young, intelligent advisors “The best and brightest” Brother Robert as Attorney General
Cold Warrior
• Increased defense spending Troops and ships
• Tripled nuclear capabilities
• Promised to fight in our hemisphere
Cuba
• Fidel Castro comes to power in 1959 Seized American oil
refineries
• Castro turns to the USSR
• Massive Cuban immigration to US
Bay of Pigs (April ‘61)
• CIA trains Cubans in America Planned invasion of Cuba
• 1,500 Cubans land at Bay of Pigs No air cover Face 25,000 Cubans
• Disaster for Kennedy and US
Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct ‘62)
• Soviets sneak nuclear missiles into Cuba
• US blockades Cuba Country is freaked out Russian ships turn back
• Kennedy strikes deal with USSR No invasion of Cuba by US Soviet missiles out of Cuba