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 1960TV 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 African-American 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 speed-reading 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 Kennedy’s inner circle, he relied most on his 35-year-old brother Robert, whom he appointed attorney general

RFK was John’s 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 Eisenhower’s idea of “massive retaliation”

•Pushed for the use of conventional weaponry and military to combat Communism

•U.S. couldn’t rely on nuclear arsenal to protect itself

Alliance for Progress

• JFK’s 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 Castro’s 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 Castro’s 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 gov’t agents worked to disrupt the island’s 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 1st 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

“We’re 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

• 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 90-mile wall separating East and West Berlin

East Germany begins construction on the Berlin Wall,

which becomes a primary symbol of the Cold War and

Soviet oppression

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 FDR’s 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

JFK’s Problems

• Small Democratic majority in Congress

• Barely won the presidency• Congress didn’t support

policies• Christian Southern

Conservative Democrats didn’t like him

• Republicans weren’t supportive either

• Battled high inflation• Contending in conflicts in

Cuba, Berlin, and Vietnam• Most legislation would NOT

pass

The Peace Corps• JFK’s 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 legacy’s of JFK’s presidency

RACE TO THE MOON

• On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space

• Meanwhile, America’s space agency (NASA) began construction on new launch facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida and a mission control center in Houston, Texas

The Space Race

• JFK’s 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 Earth’s 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

• Kennedy’s 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 nation’s 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 father’s 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 Commission’s 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 Commission’s Report] that the assassination was no conspiracy but the work of one unhappy man, Lee Harvey Oswald.’

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.

WARREN COMMISSION FINDINGS

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 Free-Speech and Anti-War Movements

•LBJ becomes president and will take a stronger position on Vietnam and Civil Rights