One American's Story

John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the UnitedStates on a crisp and sparkling day in January 1961. Appearingwithout a coat in freezing weather, he issued a challenge to theAmerican people. He said that the world was in “its hour ofmaximum danger,” as Cold War tensions ran high. Rather thanshrinking from the danger, the United States should confrontthe “iron tyranny” of communism.

A PERSONAL VOICE JOHN F. KENNEDY

“ Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend andfoe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation ofAmericans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined bya hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, andunwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those humanrights to which this nation has always been committed. . . .

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, thatwe shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, sup-port any friend, oppose any . . . foe, in order to assure . . . thesurvival and the success of liberty.”

—Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

The young president won praise for his well-crafted speech.However, his words were put to the test when several Cold Warcrises tried his leadership.

The Election of 1960In 1960, as President Eisenhower’s second term drew to a close, a mood of rest-lessness arose among voters. The economy was in a recession. The USSR’s launch of Sputnik I in 1957 and its development of long-range missiles had sparkedfears that the American military was falling behind that of the Soviets. Further set-backs including the U-2 incident and the alignment of Cuba with the Soviet Unionhad Americans questioning whether the United States was losing the Cold War.

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Terms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

Kennedy and the Cold War

•John F. Kennedy•flexible response•Fidel Castro•Berlin Wall

•hot line•Limited Test BanTreaty

The Kennedy administrationfaced some of the mostdangerous Soviet confronta-tions in American history.

America’s response to Sovietthreats developed the UnitedStates as a military superpower.

WHY IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW▼

John F. Kennedy delivers his inauguraladdress on January 20, 1961.

A

The Democratic nominee for president, Massachusetts senator John Kennedy,promised active leadership “to get America moving again.” His Republican oppo-nent, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, hoped to win by riding on the coattails ofEisenhower’s popularity. Both candidates had similar positions on policy issues.Two factors helped put Kennedy over the top: television and the civil rights issue.

THE TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTES Kennedy had a well-organizedcampaign and the backing of his wealthy family, and was handsome and charismatic. Yet many felt that, at 43, he was too inexperienced. If elected, he wouldbe the second-youngest president in the nation’s history.

Americans also worried that having a Roman Catholic in the White Housewould lead either to influence of the pope on American policies or to closer tiesbetween church and state. Kennedy was able to allay worries by discussing theissue openly.

One event in the fall determined the course of the election. Kennedyand Nixon took part in the first televised debate between presidentialcandidates. On September 26, 1960, 70 million TV viewers watched thetwo articulate and knowledgeable candidates debating issues. Nixon, anexpert on foreign policy, had agreed to the forum in hopes of exposingKennedy’s inexperience. However, Kennedy had been coached by televi-sion producers, and he looked and spoke better than Nixon.

Kennedy’s success in the debate launched a new era in American politics: thetelevision age. As journalist Russell Baker, who covered the Nixon campaign, said,“That night, image replaced the printed word as the natural language of politics.”

KENNEDY AND CIVIL RIGHTS A second major event of the campaign took placein October. Police in Atlanta, Georgia, arrested the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.,and 33 other African-American demonstrators for sitting at a segregated lunchcounter. Although the other demonstrators were released, King was sentenced tomonths of hard labor—officially for a minor traffic violation. The Eisenhoweradministration refused to intervene, and Nixon took no public position.

When Kennedy heard of the arrest and sentencing, he telephoned King’s wife,Coretta Scott King, to express his sympathy. Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy, his broth-er and campaign manager, persuaded the judge who had sentenced King to releasethe civil rights leader on bail, pending appeal. News of the incident captured theimmediate attention of the African-American community, whose votes would helpKennedy carry key states in the Midwest and South.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 671

“ That night, image replaced theprinted word asthe natural lan-guage of politics.”RUSSELL BAKER

John F. Kennedy(right) appearedconfident and atease during atelevised debatewith his opponentRichard M. Nixon.

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Vocabulary charismatic:possessingpersonal charmthat attracts devoted followers

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

A

PredictingEffects

What effectdo you think thetelevised debatewould have onAmerican politics?

The Camelot Years The election in November 1960 was the closest since 1884; Kennedy won by fewerthan 119,000 votes. His inauguration set the tone for a new era at the WhiteHouse: one of grace, elegance, and wit. On the podium sat over 100 writers,artists, and scientists that the Kennedys had invited, including opera singerMarian Anderson, who had once been barred from singing at Constitution Hallbecause she was African American. Kennedy’s inspiring speech called for hope,commitment, and sacrifice. “And so, my fellow Americans,” he proclaimed, “asknot what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

During his term, the presidentand his beautiful young wife,Jacqueline, invited many artists andcelebrities to the White House. Inaddition, Kennedy often appearedon television. The press loved hischarm and wit and helped to bolsterhis image.

THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE Criticsof Kennedy’s presidency argued thathis smooth style lacked substance.But the new first family fascinatedthe public. For example, after learn-ing that JFK could read 1,600 wordsa minute, thousands of peopleenrolled in speed-reading courses.The first lady, too, captivated thenation with her eye for fashion andculture. It seemed the nation couldnot get enough of the first family.Newspapers and magazines filledtheir pages with pictures and storiesabout the president’s young daugh-ter Caroline and his infant son John.

With JFK’s youthful glamour and his talented advisers, the Kennedy WhiteHouse reminded many of a modern-day Camelot, the mythical court of KingArthur. Coincidentally, the musical Camelot had opened on Broadway in 1960.Years later, Jackie recalled her husband and the vision of Camelot.

A PERSONAL VOICE JACQUELINE KENNEDY

“ At night, before we’d go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records and the songhe loved most came at the very end of [the Camelot] record. The lines he loved tohear were: ‘Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shiningmoment that was known as Camelot.’ There’ll be great presidents again . . . butthere’ll never be another Camelot again.”

—quoted in Life magazine, John F. Kennedy Memorial Edition

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST Kennedy surrounded himself with a team ofadvisers that one journalist called “the best and the brightest.” They includedMcGeorge Bundy, a Harvard University dean, as national security adviser; RobertMcNamara, president of Ford Motor Company, as secretary of defense; and DeanRusk, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, as secretary of state. Of all theadvisers who filled Kennedy’s inner circle, he relied most heavily on his 35-year-old brother Robert, whom he appointed attorney general.

672 CHAPTER 20

President andMrs. Kennedyenjoy time withtheir children,Caroline and John,Jr., whilevacationing inHyannis Port,Massachusetts.

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BackgroundThe fictional KingArthur was basedon a real fifth- orsixth-century Celt.In literature,Arthur’s romanticworld is marked bychivalry andmagic.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

B

DevelopingHistoricalPerspective

What factorshelp explain thepublic’s fascin-ation with theKennedys?

B

A New Military Policy From the beginning, Kennedy focused on the Cold War. Hethought the Eisenhower administration had not doneenough about the Soviet threat. The Soviets, he concluded,were gaining loyalties in the economically less-developedthird-world countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Heblasted the Republicans for allowing communism to developin Cuba, at America’s doorstep.

DEFINING A MILITARY STRATEGY Kennedy believed hismost urgent task was to redefine the nation’s nuclear strategy.The Eisenhower administration had relied on the policy ofmassive retaliation to deter Soviet aggression and imperialism.However, threatening to use nuclear arms over a minor con-flict was not a risk Kennedy wished to take. Instead, his teamdeveloped a policy of flexible response. Kennedy’s secretaryof defense, Robert McNamara, explained the policy.

A PERSONAL VOICE ROBERT S. MCNAMARA

“ The Kennedy administration worried that [the] reliance onnuclear weapons gave us no way to respond to large non-nuclear attacks without committing suicide. . . . We decidedto broaden the range of options by strengthening and mod-ernizing the military’s ability to fight a nonnuclear war.”

—In Retrospect

Kennedy increased defense spending in order to boostconventional military forces—nonnuclear forces such astroops, ships, and artillery—and to create an elite branch ofthe army called the Special Forces, or Green Berets. He alsotripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the United States. These changes enabledthe United States to fight limited wars around the world while maintaining a balance of nuclear power with the Soviet Union. However, even as Kennedyhoped to reduce the risk of nuclear war, the world came perilously close to nuclearwar under his command as a crisis arose over the island of Cuba.

Crises over CubaThe first test of Kennedy’s foreign policy came in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coastof Florida. About two weeks before Kennedy took office, on January 3, 1961,President Eisenhower had cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba because of a rev-olutionary leader named Fidel Castro. Castro openly declared himself a com-munist and welcomed aid from the Soviet Union.

THE CUBAN DILEMMA Castro gained power with the promise of democracy.From 1956 to 1959, he led a guerrilla movement to topple dictator FulgencioBatista. He won control in 1959 and later told reporters, “Revolutionaries are notborn, they are made by poverty, inequality, and dictatorship.” He then promisedto eliminate these conditions from Cuba.

The United States was suspicious of Castro’s intentions but neverthelessrecognized the new government. However, when Castro seized threeAmerican and British oil refineries, relations between the United States andCuba worsened. Castro also broke up commercial farms into communes thatwould be worked by formerly landless peasants. American sugar companies,

The New Frontier and the Great Society 673

C

ANOTHER

PERSPECTIVEPERSPECTIVEEISENHOWER’S WARNING

The increase in defense spendingin the 1960s continued the trendin which Defense Departmentsuppliers were becoming moredominant in the American econo-my. Before leaving office,President Eisenhower warnedagainst the dangers of what hecalled the “military-industrial com-plex.” He included in his partingspeech the following comments:

“This conjunction of animmense military establishmentand a large arms industry isnew in the American experience.The total influence—economic,political, even spiritual—is feltin every city, every statehouse,every office of the federal gov-ernment. We recognize theimperative need for this develop-ment. Yet we must not fail tocomprehend its grave implica-tions. . . . The potential for thedisastrous rise of misplacedpower exists and will persist.”

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

CSummarizing

What was thegoal of thedoctrine of flexibleresponse?

Vocabulary guerrilla: a soldierwho travels in asmall group,harassing andundermining theenemy

Vocabularythird world: during the ColdWar, thedeveloping nationsnot allied witheither the UnitedStates or theSoviet Union

D

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Vocabularypoliticalrepression:governmentintimidation ofthose withdifferent politicalviews

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

D

AnalyzingEffects

What were theconsequences ofthe failed invasionfor the UnitedStates?

which controlled 75 percent of the crop landin Cuba, appealed to the U.S. government forhelp. In response, Congress erected trade barri-ers against Cuban sugar.

Castro relied increasingly on Soviet aid—and on the political repression of those who didnot agree with him. While some Cubans weretaken by his charisma and his willingness tostand up to the United States, others saw Castroas a tyrant who had replaced one dictatorshipwith another. About 10 percent of Cuba’s popu-lation went into exile, mostly to the UnitedStates. Within the large exile community ofMiami, Florida, a counterrevolutionary move-ment took shape.

THE BAY OF PIGS In March 1960, PresidentEisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretlytrain Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. TheCIA and the exiles hoped it would trigger a massuprising that would overthrow Castro. Kennedylearned of the plan only nine days after his elec-tion. Although he had doubts, he approved it.

On the night of April 17, 1961, some 1,300 to 1,500Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. military landed on theisland’s southern coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay ofPigs. Nothing went as planned. An air strike had failed toknock out the Cuban air force, although the CIA reportedthat it had succeeded. A small advance group sent to dis-tract Castro’s forces never reached shore. When the mainunit landed, it lacked American air support as it faced 25,000Cuban troops backed up by Soviet tanks and jets. Some ofthe invading exiles were killed, others imprisoned.

The Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of “NorthAmerican mercenaries.” One United States commentator

observed that Americans “look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies,and incompetents to the rest.” The disaster left Kennedy embarrassed. Publicly, heaccepted blame for the fiasco. Privately, he asked, “How could that crowd at theCIA and the Pentagon be this wrong.”

Kennedy negotiated with Castro for the release of surviving commandos andpaid a ransom of $53 million in food and medical supplies. In a speech in Miami,he promised exiles that they would one day return to a “free Havana.” AlthoughKennedy warned that he would resist further Communist expansion in theWestern Hemisphere, Castro defiantly welcomed further Soviet aid.

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow: SovietPremier Nikita Khrushchev, who promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms.During the summer of 1962, the flow to Cuba of Soviet weapons—includingnuclear missiles—increased greatly. President Kennedy responded with a warningthat America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba. Then, onOctober 14, photographs taken by American planes revealed Soviet missile basesin Cuba—and some contained missiles ready to launch. They could reach U.S.cities in minutes.

On October 22, Kennedy informed an anxious nation of the existence ofSoviet missile sites in Cuba and of his plans to remove them. He made it clear thatany missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviet Union.

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(top) Castrocelebrates aftergaining power inCuba.(above) The Bayof Pigs missionwas said to haveblown up inKennedy’s face.

837M

ILES

1,898 MILES

1,020 MILES

1,432M

ILES

1,259M

ILES

2,000

MILE

S(17

MIN

UTES)

1,500

MIL

ES(15

MIN

UTES)

1,000

MILE

S (12MIN

UTES)

1,554 MILES

Guantanamo

New York

Washington, D.C.

Denver

Houston

Atlanta

Chicago

Havana

U N I T E D S T A T E S

CUBA

Gulfof

Mexico

Caribbean Sea

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

40°N

30°N

110°W 80°W90°W

Tropic of Cancer

Missile complex

Possible missile path

Range of quarantine

U.S. military installation

0

0 200 400 kilometers

200 400 miles

N

S

E

W

OCT. 22 OCT. 24 OCT. 25 OCT. 28OCT. 14 OCT. 22 OCT. 24 OCT. 25 OCT. 28OCT. 14

U.S. spy planes reveal nuclearmissile sites in Cuba.

Kennedy tells the nationof his intention to haltthe missile buildup.

Soviet shipsapproaching Cubacome to a halt.

Khrushchev announcesplan to remove missilesfrom Cuba.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 675

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER1. Movement About how long would it have

taken for a missile launched from Cuba toreach New York?

2. Human-Environment InteractionWhy do you think it may have been importantfor Soviet missiles to reach the U.S. citiesshown above?

Kennedy implements a naval“quarantine” of Cuba, blockingSoviet ships from reaching theisland. (below) A U.S. patrol planeflies over a Soviet freighter.

Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962*

*Missile path times and distancesare approximate.

For the next six days, the worldfaced the terrifying possibility ofnuclear war. In the Atlantic Ocean,Soviet ships—presumably carryingmore missiles—headed towardCuba, while the U.S. Navy pre-pared to quarantine Cuba and pre-vent the ships from coming within500 miles of it. In Florida, 100,000troops waited—the largest inva-sion force ever assembled in theUnited States. C. Douglas Dillon,Kennedy’s secretary of the treasuryand a veteran of nuclear diploma-cy, recalled those tension-filleddays of October.

A PERSONAL VOICEC. DOUGLAS DILLON

“ The only time I felt a fear ofnuclear war or a use of nuclearweapons was on the very first day,when we’d decided that we had todo whatever was necessary to getthe missiles out. There wasalways some background fear ofwhat would eventually happen,and I think this is what wasexpressed when people said theyfeared they would never seeanother Saturday.”

—quoted in On the Brink

The first break in the crisisoccurred when the Soviet shipsstopped suddenly to avoid a con-frontation at sea. Secretary of StateDean Rusk said, “We are eyeball to eyeball, and the other fellow justblinked.” A few days later,Khrushchev offered to remove the

missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. The United States alsosecretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. The leaders agreed, and the crisisended. “For a moment, the world had stood still,” Robert Kennedy wrote years later,“and now it was going around again.”

KENNEDY AND KHRUSHCHEV TAKE THE HEAT The crisis severely damagedKhrushchev’s prestige in the Soviet Union and the world. Kennedy did not escapecriticism either. Some people criticized Kennedy for practicing brinkmanshipwhen private talks might have resolved the crisis without the threat of nuclearwar. Others believed he had passed up an ideal chance to invade Cuba and oustCastro. (It was learned in the 1990s that the CIA had underestimated the num-bers of Soviet troops and nuclear weapons on the island.)

The effects of the crisis lasted long after the missiles had been removed. ManyCuban exiles blamed the Democrats for “losing Cuba” (a charge that Kennedyhad earlier leveled at the Republicans) and switched their allegiance to the GOP.

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KEY PLAYERSKEY PLAYERS

JOHN F. KENNEDY 1917–1963

John F. “Jack” Kennedy grewup in a politically powerfulfamily that helped make hisdreams possible. His parentsinstilled in him the drive toaccomplish great things.

During World War II heenlisted in the navy and wasdecorated for heroism. In1946, he won his first seat inCongress from a Boston dis-trict where he had neverlived. While a senator, he wona Pulitzer Prize for his bookProfiles in Courage.

Although he radiated self-confidence, Kennedy sufferedmany ailments, includingAddison’s disease—a debili-tating condition that he treated with daily injections of cortisone. “At least onehalf of the days that he spenton this earth were days ofintense physical pain,”recalled his brother Robert.

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV 1894–1971

“No matter how humble aman’s beginnings,” boastedNikita Khrushchev, “heachieves the stature of theoffice to which he is elected.”Khrushchev, the son of aminer, became a CommunistParty organizer in the 1920s.Within four years of Stalin’sdeath in 1953, Khrushchevhad consolidated his power inthe Soviet Union.

During his regime, whichended in 1964, Khrushchevkept American nerves onedge with alternately concilia-tory and aggressive behavior.During a 1959 trip to theUnited States, he met forfriendly talks with PresidentEisenhower. The next year, infront of the UN GeneralAssembly, he took off hisshoe and angrily pounded it on a desk to protest the U-2incident.

Meanwhile, Castro closed Cuba’s doors to the exiles in November 1962 by ban-ning all flights to and from Miami. Three years later, hundreds of thousands ofpeople took advantage of an agreement that allowed Cubans to join relatives inthe United States. By the time Castro sharply cut down on exit permits in 1973,the Cuban population in Miami had increased to about 300,000.

Crisis over BerlinOne goal that had guided Kennedy through the Cuban missile crisis was that ofproving to Khruschev his determination to contain communism. All the while,Kennedy was thinking of their recent confrontation over Berlin, which had led tothe construction of the Berlin Wall, a concrete wall topped with barbed wirethat severed the city in two.

THE BERLIN CRISIS In 1961, Berlin was a city in great tur-moil. In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift, almost 3 millionEast Germans—20 percent of that country’s population—hadfled into West Berlin because it was free from Communistrule. These refugees advertised the failure of East Germany’sCommunist government. Their departure also dangerouslyweakened that country’s economy.

E

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

E

AnalyzingEffects

What were theresults of theCuban missilecrisis?

The “death strip” stretched like a barrenmoat around West Berlin, with patrols,floodlights, electric fences, and vehicletraps between the inner and outer walls.

Walls and other barriers 10–15 feethigh surrounded West Berlin. Thelength of the barriers around the citytotaled about 110 miles.

Guard dogs and machine guns dis-uaded most people from crossingover illegally, yet some still dared.

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WORLD STAGEWORLD STAGE

EastBerlin

WestBerlin

FrenchZone

BritishZone

AmericanZone

CheckpointCharlie

BrandenburgGate

0 4 kilometers

0 4 miles

THE BERLIN WALL, 1961In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev, theSoviet premier, ordered the BerlinWall built to stop the flow ofrefugees from East to West Berlin.Most were seeking freedom fromCommunist rule.

The wall isolated West Berlinfrom a hostile German DemocraticRepublic (GDR). Passing from Eastto West was almost impossiblewithout the Communist govern-ment's permission.

During the 28 years the wall wasstanding, approximately 5,000 peo-ple succeeded in fleeing. Almost200 people died in the attempt;most were shot by the GDR borderguards. In 1989, East Germanyopened the Berlin Wall to cheeringcrowds. Today the rubbled concreteis a reminder of the Cold War ten-sions between East and West.

The Berlin Wall was first made of brick and barbed wire,but was later erected in cement and steel.

Bonn

EastBerlin

West Berlin

NORTHSEA

BALTIC SEA

FED. REP.OF GERMANY GER. DEM.

REPUBLIC

POL.

CZECH.

0 100 kilometers

0 100 miles

678 CHAPTER 20

•John F. Kennedy•flexible response

•Fidel Castro•Berlin Wall

•hot line•Limited Test Ban Treaty

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining itssignificance.

MAIN IDEA 2. TAKING NOTES

Using diagrams such as the onebelow, list two outcomes for each ofthese events: first Kennedy-Nixondebate, Bay of Pigs invasion, Cubanmissile crisis, and construction ofthe Berlin Wall.

Which of these outcomes leddirectly to other events listed hereor described in this section?

CRITICAL THINKING3. EVALUATING DECISIONS

How well do you think PresidentKennedy handled the Cuban missilecrisis? Justify your opinion with spe-cific examples from the text. Think About:

• Kennedy’s decision to impose anaval “quarantine” of Cuba

• the nuclear showdown betweenthe superpowers

• Kennedy’s decision not to invadeCuba

4. ANALYZING VISUAL SOURCESExamine the cartoon above ofKennedy (left) facing off withKhrushchev and Castro. What doyou think the cartoonist was tryingto convey?

5. DRAWING CONCLUSIONSWhat kind of political statement wasmade by the United States’ supportof West Berlin?

Outcome

Event

Outcome

F

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

F

AnalyzingMotives

What ledKhrushchev toerect the BerlinWall?

Khrushchev realized that this problem had to besolved. At a summit meeting in Vienna, Austria, inJune 1961, he threatened to sign a treaty with EastGermany that would enable that country to close allthe access roads to West Berlin. When Kennedy refusedto give up U.S. access to West Berlin, Khrushchev furi-ously declared, “I want peace. But, if you want war,that is your problem.”

After returning home, Kennedy told the nation in a tele-vised address that Berlin was “the great testing place ofWestern courage and will.” He pledged “[W]e cannot and willnot permit the Communists to drive us out of Berlin.”

Kennedy’s determination and America’s superior nuclearstriking power prevented Khrushchev from closing the air andland routes between West Berlin and West Germany. Instead, the Soviet premier sur-prised the world with a shocking decision. Just after midnight on August 13, 1961,East German troops began to unload concrete posts and rolls of barbed wire alongthe border. Within days, the Berlin Wall was erected, separating East Germany fromWest Germany.

The construction of the Berlin Wall ended the Berlin crisis but further aggra-vated Cold War tensions. The wall and its armed guards successfully reduced theflow of East German refugees to a tiny trickle, thus solving Khrushchev’s mainproblem. At the same time, however, the wall became an ugly symbol ofCommunist oppression.

SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO EASE TENSIONS Showdowns between Kennedy andKhrushchev made both leaders aware of the gravity of split-second decisions thatseparated Cold War peace from nuclear disaster. Kennedy, in particular, searched forways to tone down his hard-line stance. In 1963, he announced that the two nationshad established a hot line between the White House and the Kremlin. This dedi-cated phone enabled the leaders of the two countries to communicate at once shouldanother crisis arise. Later that year, the United States and Soviet Union also agreedto a Limited Test Ban Treaty that barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere.

“ I want peace. But, if you wantwar, that is yourproblem.”SOVIET PREMIER NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

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Reading from this note card during aspeech in West Berlin, Kennedyproclaimed “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I ama Berliner”).