Eisenhower & Eisenhower & KennedyKennedy

The Cold War Reaches The Brink

President TrumanPresident TrumanIncreases in Tension Under the Truman

Administration

1.The Berlin Blockade2.The Fall of China3.The Korean War

What is next?

Office of the President1945 to 1953 1952 Presidential Election

Eisenhower & Nixon Elected to Office

1952 Presidential 1952 Presidential ElectionElection

Dwight Eisenhower v. Adlai StevensonDwight Eisenhower v. Adlai Stevenson

Eisenhower & Nixon Re-Elected to Office

1956 Presidential 1956 Presidential ElectionElection

Dwight Eisenhower v. Adlai StevensonDwight Eisenhower v. Adlai Stevenson

President President EisenhowerEisenhower

Increases in Tension Under the Eisenhower

Administration

4. Sputnik (ICBM Creation)

5. The U2 Incident

What is next?

Office of the President1953 to 1961 1960 Presidential Election

Episode 7: Hail to the Chief Eisenhower

20:00

1960 Presidential 1960 Presidential ElectionElection

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (D) Richard Nixon (R)

Senator from Massachusetts

Vice President under Eisenhower

The Debate That Changed the The Debate That Changed the

WorldWorld

Nixon Kennedy Debate - 9.26.1960

Question.Question.What won John F. Kennedy the 1960 Presidential

Election?

Question.Question.What were three problems that John F. Kennedy

faced while running for President in 1960?

1. Religion2. Name/Father

3. Age

Kennedy & Johnson Elected to Office

1960 Presidential 1960 Presidential ElectionElection

John F. Kennedy v. Richard NixonJohn F. Kennedy v. Richard Nixon

Presidential Inauguration of JFK

President KennedyPresident KennedyIncreases in Tension Under the Kennedy

Administration

6. Bay of Pigs Incident7. The Berlin Wall

8. The Cuban Missile Crisis

What is next?

Office of the President1961 to 1963

The Cuba Problem

Bahia de CuchinosBahia de CuchinosThe Bay of Pigs IncidentThe Bay of Pigs Incident

Fidel CastroFidel Castro

“By the beginning of 1960, Cuba was for all practical purposes a Communist dictatorship

and, in military perspective, a Soviet satellite.”

“When Kennedy took over early in 1961, he found a proposal… for [1,200] armed Cuban exiles… to be landed in an area called the Bay of Pigs to detonate a popular uprising… the operation was a total disaster from the start, primarily because Castro was able to read all about it, in advance, in the US media…

Castro’s troops, well prepared for the incursion, killed 114 of the invaders and took the rest, 1,189, nearly all of whom were

executed or later died in Castro’s prisons.”

“Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan.”John F. Kennedy

The Berlin WallThe Berlin Wall“That same year, Kennedy played a role in another

major event of the decade and the Cold War—the Soviet construction of the Berlin Wall, which divided the

German city into East and West Berlin. Khrushchev… constructed the Berlin Wall to divide the east and west sides of the city, tearing apart families and preventing

economic exchange. This move demonstrated the Soviet's might and willingness to go toe-to-toe with the

United States.

To Kennedy's credit, he did not back down. He visited Berlin in 1962 and paid tribute to the spirit of Berliners and to their quest for freedom when he declared to the

crowds ‘All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take

pride in the words, Ich bin ein Berliner.’

He also offered this commentary on the Soviet regime: ‘For those who say communism is a better system, let

them come to Berlin.’

His popularity soared.”

The Cuban Missile The Cuban Missile CrisisCrisis

Thirteen Days in Thirteen Days in OctoberOctober

1962: Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev worried by US nuclear missiles in Turkey, sends more than 42

medium range nuclear-capable missiles, 24 long range nuclear-capable missiles (never arrived), 24 SAMs, and 42,000 Soviet troops and technicians to

Cuba.

Thirteen Days in Thirteen Days in OctoberOctober

October 14th: US U2 spy planes take the first clear pictures of the missiles. Moscow denies deployment.

Thirteen Days in Thirteen Days in OctoberOctober

October 22nd: President Kennedy imposes a sea blockade of Cuba and puts armed forces on

heightened alert, ready to order a strike on Cuba.

President Kennedy - Cuban Missile Crisis Speech

Thirteen Days in Thirteen Days in OctoberOctober

October 26th: Moscow announces it will remove missiles in return for guarantees US will not invade Cuba and, under a secret deal, remove US missiles

from Turkey.

Very.Very.How Close Was Nuclear War?

“There is no doubt the world came close to nuclear war, probable closer than at any other time, before or since. On

October 22nd all American missile crews were placed on maximum alert. Some 800 B47s, 550 B52s, and 70 B58s

were prepared with their bomb-bays closed for immediate take off… Over the Atlantic were 90 B52s carrying multi-megaton bombs. Nuclear warheads were made active on 100 Atlas, 50 Titan, and 12 Minuteman missiles, and on American carriers, submarines, and overseas bases. All

commands were in a state of Defcon-2, the highest state of readiness next to war itself.

“Then and for some years afterwards, [The Cuban Missile Crisis] was considered

the finest hour of the Kennedy Presidency.”

Kennedy & The USSRPlans for Peace

November 22November 22ndnd, , 19631963

Peter Jennings - The Kennedy Conspiracy

““In his inaugural In his inaugural address, Kennedy address, Kennedy said that the torch said that the torch

had been passed to a had been passed to a new generation. With new generation. With Kennedy’s death, the Kennedy’s death, the

torch was passed torch was passed back to an old back to an old

generation – the generation – the generation of generation of

Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan – leaders and Reagan – leaders

who, though not who, though not much older, would much older, would

systematically systematically destroy the promise destroy the promise of the Kennedy years of the Kennedy years as they returned the as they returned the country to war and country to war and

repression.”repression.”

“If he had lived, the world would have been different. I feel quite confident of that.”

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara