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Visual support for JFK lecture on Foreign Policy strategy and challenges.
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Bobby Kennedy, Attorney General
Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense
Dean Rusk, Secretary of State
Flexible response: Kennedy’s plan to expand US military options, continuing to
build nuclear capabilities and also strengthening conventional weapons.
Green Berets—special military units to assist with combating Communism
Alliance for Progress: a program to expand economic aid to Latin America, offering
billions in aid in exchange for democratic and capitalist reforms
Peace Corps—volunteers to assist in developing countries.
Kennedy’s Cold War battleground #1: The Bay of Pigs
Kennedy’s Cold War battleground #2: Berlin
Post-war Germany
It is 1961, and after only a few months in office you face a challenge from the Soviets. Premier Khrushchev has issued an ultimatum on Berlin: The Western
powers must join the Soviet Union in signing a peace treaty with East and West Germany; recognize East Germany; and withdraw from Berlin by year's
end. Western access to Berlin would require East German permission. Any violation of East German territory would be regarded as an act of aggression.
If you don't sign, Khrushchev promises to sign his own treaty with East Germany with substantially the same terms. The message is clear: Withdraw
from West Berlin, or you may be forced to leave.
If you call his bluff and stay put, you risk a major confrontation with Moscow -- perhaps even military conflict. If you withdraw, you risk appearing weak to your allies and to the Soviets, who might respond with even more provocative
policies in the future.
What do you do?
Kennedy’s Cold War battleground #3: Cuban Missile Crisis
You are the President. What do you do? Why?
A. Wait for international pressure and supportB. “Surgical air strike”C. All out air strikeD. InvadeE. A combination of choices aboveF. Other…what?
Results of the Cuban Missile Crisis
• No nuclear war• Limited Test Ban Treaty: US, USSR, GB• Hot line established• Soviet buildup• Relations with Cuba get worse• JFK’s popularity increases
I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth
worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope
and to build a better life for their children-not merely peace for
Americans but peace for all men and women, not merely peace in our time
but peace for all time. JFK, June 10, 1963
Kennedy’s Cold War battleground #4: Vietnam
Ngo Dinh DiemAmerican supported
South Vietnamese leader
Ngo Dinh DiemAmerican supported
South Vietnamese leader
Kennedy and Vietnam• 1961: 700 advisors;
1963: 16,000 advisors• US aid: $1.5 billion
Kennedy’s Cold War battle“ground” #5: Space
Sputnik: Soviets Win
Sputnik II: Soviets Win; Laika the dog loses
Explorer I: US catches up
Yuri Gagarin: Soviets—big step ahead
April 12, 1961: Vostok 1
Alan Shepard: US answer to Gagarin
May 5, 1961: Freedom 7
Gherman Titov: 25.3 hours—17 times
August 6, 1961
Enos the Chimpanzee: November 29, 1961: 1 hour, 28 minutes
John Glenn: US keeping it close
February 20, 1962: Mercury Atlas 6
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the
moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
“No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-
range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish…”
JFK
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone,
and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
JFK, September 12, 1962
