The Kennedy and Johnson Years Chapter 15. Kennedy and the Cold War Section 15-1

The Kennedy and Johnson Years

Chapter 15

Kennedy and the Cold War

Section 15-1

Learning Objectives

1. Explain the steps Kennedy took to change American foreign policy.

2. Analyze the causes and effects of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

3. Assess the results of the Berlin Crisis and other foreign policy events of the 1960s.

Terms and People

• John F. Kennedy – a Democratic senator who was elected President in 1960

• Richard M. Nixon – former Republican vice president under Eisenhower who ran for President in 1960 and lost

• Fidel Castro – communist leader of Cuba

• flexible response – a defense policy in which the U.S. military is prepared to fight any type of conflict

• Peace Corps – a U.S. program that sent volunteers to developing countries to assist in education, healthcare, and economics

• Alliance for Progress – a U.S. policy that aimed to renew the former Good Nation Policy toward Latin American nations by providing economic aid

• Bay of Pigs invasion – a CIA-led force of Cuban exiles that attacked Cuba

• Nikita Khrushchev – the Soviet Union’s prime minister

Terms and People (continued)

• Cuban missile crisis – in October, 1962 a confrontation of threats between Kennedy and Khrushchev

• hot line – a telephone line between Washington, D.C. and Moscow to improve communication between the United States and the Soviet Union

• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty – in 1963, the first agreement limiting nuclear testing between the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and thirty-six other countries

• Berlin Wall – a wall built by the Soviet Union to separate East Berlin from West Berlin

Terms and People (continued)

How did Kennedy respond to the continuing challenges of the Cold War?

When Kennedy took office, he faced the spread of communism abroad and the threat of nuclear war.

His enthusiasm and commitment to change offered hope that the challenges of the Cold War could be met.

Why It Matters

Kennedy Defeats Nixon in 1960

• President Eisenhower ends his second term of the Presidency with a speech describing the “military-industrial complex.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY




Nixon• U.S. Navy World War II,

Pacific Theatre• Elected to Congress 1946• Young, intelligent, hard-

working• Passion for foreign affairs

Kennedy• U.S. Navy World War II,

Pacific Theatre• Elected to Congress 1946• Young, intelligent, hard-

working• Passion for foreign affairs


Nixon• Republican• Self-made• Family struggled to make a

living• Quaker• Vice-President of the

United States under Eisenhower

Kennedy• Democrat• Son of wealthy family• Father ambassador to

England and at one time presidential contender

• War hero – PT 109• Catholic• Senator from

Massachusetts

John F. Kennedy won a close presidential election in 1960, defeating Richard M. Nixon.



• Inaugural speech of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEC1C4p0k3E



Kennedy Launches New Cold War Strategies

• He built up both conventional and special military forces.

• He created a flexible response defense policy.

• He developed the Alliance for Progress to improve relations with Latin American countries.

• He created the Peace Corps.


Eisenhower preferred to build up massive nuclear forces• Saw conventional armies and navies as too expensive• Nuclear forces were a “bigger bang for the buck”

– Defense budget did drop from $50.5 billion to $35.8 billion

• Assumed any future major war would be nuclear


Eisenhower war making policy was simple:• United States would respond to any foe with

overwhelming force, perhaps nuclear force• Known as massive retaliation


Kennedy adopts the warfighting theory of flexible response• Goal to was to give the President more war options that

a massive nuclear response to meet any future military threat

• A Soviet nuclear first-strike on the United States would still be met with our nuclear retaliation – much like massive retaliation

• However, flexible response allowed for three stages of escalation:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_response

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_response




• Direct defense: In case of a conventional Soviet attack (non-nuclear ) US would try to stop Soviets with our own conventional weapons. Likely battlefield would be a Soviet invasion of West Germany.

• Deliberate Escalation: If US and NATO would losing the conventional war, we would use a limited number of tactical nuclear weapons (nuclear artillery) to defeat the Soviet armies. Likely would have happened because NATO conventional armies were badly outnumbered by Soviet divisions.






• General Nuclear Response: Unleash our strategic nuclear forces in attack upon the Soviet homeland, and perhaps China as well.




History of US / USSR Nuclear Stockpiles


• Kennedy also adopted the war theory of counterinsurgency

• Order formation of special units to combat communist guerillas – U.S. Special Forces, The Green Berets – their motto, “To Free the Oppressed”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5WJJVSE_BE


Kennedy’s new cold war strategy also included nonmilitary, humanitarian assistance• Alliance for Progress (focused on South America)• Peace Corp• Goal was to assist undeveloped nations and foster

goodwill• Visible, humane alternative to communist “wars of

liberation.”

As ambassadors of American goodwill, the Peace Corps sent American volunteers to developing nations to assist with such services as education and healthcare.


The sudden threat of Castro and Communism in nearby Cuba led to two major confrontations.

Bay of Pigs invasion

Cuban missile crisis

Confronting Communism in Cuba

Kennedy took responsibility for the mission’s failure.

The President said, however, that he would continue to resist efforts by the communists to control other countries in Western Hemisphere.

In April, 1961 the United States invaded Cuba’s Bay of Pigs.

Conceived by the CIA to overthrow Fidel Castro, the invasion involved Cuban exiles who had fled Castro’s rule and settled in the United States.

The Bay of Pigs mission failed.

Confronting Communism in Cuba

In October, 1962, American intelligence agencies photographed Soviet nuclear missile installations in Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The missiles at these

Cuban sites threatened

major cities in the United

States.



• Soviets sought to respond to US/NATO nuclear missile deployments in Europe

• Khrushchev thought Kennedy would not respond


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig8UdfQKXSY




In Public Behind the Scenes

In a television address, Kennedy blamed Khrushchev for reckless action that threatened world peace.

Kennedy initiated a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba.

Kennedy told the Soviets that

the United States would

remove U.S. missiles from

Turkey and Italy if the Soviets

removed their missiles from

Cuba.

To resolve the Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy worked

Results of the Crisis

After six tense days, the Soviets backed off.

Nikita Khrushchev agreed to honor the blockade and removed the missiles.

The crisis prompted the two leaders to establish a period of détente. They set up a hot line between Washington, D.C. and Moscow to improve communication.



• Kennedy’s speech at American University

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41xJiEPuAhg



This treaty ended above-ground nuclear testing.

In 1963 the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and thirty-six other countries signed the first Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.



What if…?• http://

www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65071

• Hyperlink via FirstClass Bookmarks

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65071



Disagreement over Berlin led to the building of the Berlin Wall.

Khrushchev insisted the U.S. end its military presence in West Berlin.Khrushchev insisted the U.S. end

its military presence in West Berlin.Kennedy refused.Kennedy refused.

Khrushchev ordered the building of the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin.

The Berlin Crisis

In response to Khrushchev’s actions, Kennedy requested a large increase in military spending.

He also sent 1,500 more U.S. soldiers to West Berlin.

The Berlin Wall became a symbol of the gulf between

the communist Eastthe democratic West and the communist East

The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Bi6tiWNCk



The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis

• Kennedy visits West Berlin, 1963

The Berlin Crisis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQhss4Yc



Documents

The Kennedy and Johnson Years Chapter 15. Kennedy and the Cold War Section 15-1