John F. Kennedy

1961-1963

Election and Foreign Policy

I.Election of 1960

A. Candidates:

Dem: John F Kennedy (MA)(VP) Lyndon B Johnson (TX)

Rep: Richard Nixon (CA) (the current VP)(VP) Henry Cabot Lodge

B. Issues:

1. JFK’s Catholicism:

- No Catholic had ever led!

- Many wondered if JFK could separate his Catholic beliefs from his secular duties, but he announced his firm belief in separation of church and state!

2. Cold War

3. Civil Rights:a. Kennedy gained the support of MLK, Jr.

i. “Jack Kennedy has the moral courage to stand up for what he knows is

right”- MLK Jr.

ii. JFK and RFK helped to get MLK out of jail after he was arrested in

Atlanta at a sit-in.

C. Debates 1. Americans who listened to presidential

debates on the radio assumed that Nixon had won the debates.

2. Americans who watched the four

debates on television assumed Kennedy had won the debates.

a. Nixon had a tendency to look shady and nervous. He sweated a lot.

b. Kennedy came across very poised and charming. He was very attractive.

D. Results:

1. JFK and the Democrats win2. Electoral votes:

a. JFK 303 b. Nixon 219 c. Byrd 15

3. Popular vote was much closera. JFK 49.7%b. Nixon 49.5%

Kennedy received only 118,000 more votes than Nixon!!!

4. JFK is the youngest president ever - Inaugurated at the age of 43.

5. Inaugural address: "Let the word go forth . . . that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans-born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage."

6. This statement and Kennedy's enthusiasm appealed to many young idealists. Kennedy had also won the votes of many traditional Democratic voters- members of labor unions, African Americans, and other ethnic groups.

II. Foreign policy

A. JFK relied upon nuclear arms build-up along with flexible response to ensure American safety during the Cold War

1. Alliance for Progress:

- U.S. assistance program for Latin America that began in 1961

- Aimed to relieve the continent’s poverty and social inequities. Later included U.S. programs of military and police assistance to counter Communist subversion.

*JFK challenged Americans to think of ways they could serve, saying

"Ask not what your country can

do for you--ask what you can

do for your country."

2. Green Berets – Special Forces

a. From the beginning of his term in early 1961, JFK focused on the Cold War (Soviet relations)

b. JFK tripled our nuclear capability, increased troops, ships and

artillery, and created the Green Berets

3. Peace Corps: 1961

- Prompted individual citizens to work abroad and dedicate themselves to the development, progress, and peace of developing countries and cultures. Kennedy wanted to involve Americans more actively in the cause of global democracy, peace, development and freedom.

B. Issues in Cuba1. Castro’s Rise to Power [under Ike] a. 1959: Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban

dictator Batista. The U.S. government at first welcomed Castro, but the tide quickly changed as Castro failed to hold free elections, placed the press under strict censorship, and sentenced to death a number of his political enemies.

b. Castro began to denounce the U.S., seeking support from the Communist-bloc nations.

c. In 1961, Ike severed diplomatic ties to Cuba, closing the US embassy in Havana.

CRISIS OVER CUBAd. Just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba presented the first big test of JFK’s foreign policye. Openly Communist, Cuba was led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro who welcomed aid from the USSRf. Relations between the U.S. and Cuba were deteriorating

Bay of Pigs Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961Invasion 1961

2. Bay of Pigs Invasion:

a. 1960: following Castro's decision to sign a trade treaty with the Soviet Union, the Ike administration began financing and training a group of Cuban exiles

to overthrow the Cuban leader. b. Kennedy learned of the plan only nine

days into his presidency. Plan was approved under JFK.

c. April 17, 1961: about 1300 exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba, met 25,000 Cuban troops backed by Soviet tanks and were soundly defeated.

d. Kennedy declined to use the U.S. air force to help, and by the time the fighting ended on April 19th, 90 exiles had been killed and the rest had been taken as prisoners.

e. Two major results:

1. Kennedy’s young administration is embarrassed! 2. Castro is very wary

of the U.S. and turns even more to USSR

C. Kennedy – Khrushchev Relations 1. President Kennedy met with Soviet Premier Khrushchev in Vienna in June 1961, just

five weeks after the humiliating defeat of the U.S. Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Khrushchev “talked tough” announcing his intention to cut off Western access to Berlin; he threatened war if the U.S. or its allies tried to stop him. 

2. Many U.S. diplomats felt that Kennedy had not stood up to the Soviet Premier at the summit, therefore, giving Khrushchev the impression that he was a weak leader.

Paris, 1961Paris, 1961

Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin and nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev and nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev thinks that JFK is young, inexperienced, thinks that JFK is young, inexperienced,

and can be rolled.and can be rolled.

D. The Berlin Crisis 1. Many East Germans, who did not want to

live in a communist country, were moving to West Berlin, where they could either settle or find transportation to the west. This created both a symbolic and economic problem for Khrushchev.

2. June 1961: Khrushchev demanded that the West must recognize the sovereignty of East Germany and remove all troops from West Berlin.

3. The President did not want to risk war over Berlin but did not want to lose the faith of the American people, either.

CRISIS OVER BERLIN4. In 1961, Berlin, Germany was a city in great turmoil5. 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

Germany’s

geographic division

(note Berlin)

6. Their departure hurt the economy and the prestige of the USSR. To stop the flood of people into West Germany, Khrushchev ordered the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961.

7. The barbed-wire fence (that later became a concrete wall) divided the city of Berlin in half, and provided a physical symbol of the Iron Curtain.

E. Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)E. Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

1. Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow2. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev promised to defend Cuba with Soviet weapons3. During the summer of 1962 the flow of Soviet weapons into Cuba – including nuclear – increased greatly

E. Cuban Missile Crisis 4. Summer '62: Khrushchev reached a

secret agreement with the Castro regime to supply nuclear missiles capable of protecting Cuba against another American-sponsored invasion.

5. Oct 15, ‘62: American spy planes photographed missile sites under construction. It was soon determined that Cuba possessed missiles capable of reaching most of the U.S.

Khruschev Embraces CastroKhruschev Embraces Castro

6. Kennedy and his advisers agreed to place a naval blockade around Cuba while demanding the removal of the missiles and the destruction of the sites.

7. Khrushchev, recognizing that the crisis could easily escalate into

nuclear war, finally

agreed to remove the

missiles in return for

an American pledge

not to reinvade Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis

We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Russians, and the other man blinked!Russians, and the other man blinked!

8. This is the closest we came to nuclear war!!!nuclear war!!! This scare will lead to renewed efforts at reducing the world’s nuclear power…

F. Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

1. Following the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy and Khrushchev sought to reduce tensions between their two nations, realizing how close they'd come to nuclear war. 

Khrushchev: “The two most powerful nations had

been squared off against each other, each with its finger on the button.” 

JFK: “It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite

sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.”

2. On August 6, 1963, after more than eight years of difficult negotiations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The treaty: a. prohibits most nuclear weapons tests or

other nuclear explosions b. pledges the participants to work towards

complete disarmament, an end to the arms race, and an end to the contamination of the environment by radioactive substances

3. In addition, the "Hotline”, a direct line of communication between Washington and Moscow, was established to help reduce the possibility of war by miscommunication.

G. Vietnam War: 1965-1973G. Vietnam War: 1965-1973

The Roots of US Involvement Vietnam

a. The French occupied Vietnam in the mid 1800’s.

b. By 1883 the French had complete control of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam which were combined to form French Indochina.

c. During World War II the Japanese occupied Vietnam finally withdrawing in 1945

d. The French attempted to reassert its control over Indochina in 1946.

e. The US wanted to strengthen its ties with France and fight communism in Asia.

The Conflict in Vietnam

1. Remember: The Vietnamese go to war with French forces in Vietnam over their independence.(1946)

2. Ho Chi Minh gave a speech echoing the U.S. Declaration of Independence in hopes that the U.S would support the Vietnamese.

3. However, the U.S. backed France because they did not like Minh’s communist ties and felt that France was a vital ally in stopping the spread of communism.

4. Remember: a cease-fire was agreed upon at the Geneva Accords and the 17th parallel divided North (communist) and South (nationalist) Vietnam.

5. In hopes that South Vietnam might be kept non-communist, President Eisenhower backed the nationalist leader Dinh Diem

6. Diem was very unpopular, and by the 1950’s Communist opposition groups in the south formed resistance groups called the Vietcong. In 1957, they started a revolution.

7. Ho Chi Minn began supplying this group with arms for guerrilla attacks.

8. Rebel forces, called Vietminh, came from north Vietnam to aid the Vietcong (communists) who stayed in the South. They formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) in an attempt to overthrow Diem

9. Kennedy wanted to improve the image of the U.S. in the world

10. Aiding South Vietnam gave the U.S. a way to assert its power

11. Kennedy fully agreed with the Domino Theory- if Vietnam fell to communism the rest of Southeast Asia would soon follow.

12. In 1960 there were 900 military advisers in South Vietnam training Diem’s army and by 1963 it increased to 16,000

13. As Vietcong attacks increased, Kennedy authorized U.S. forces to use direct combat.

14. Political conflict also increased as Buddhist leaders openly opposed Diem’s rule, and he waged a brutal campaign to control them.

15. Hundreds were arrested or killed and in response monks publicly set themselves on fire

Monk Suicides

16. In turn, U.S. officials threatened to withdraw support for Diem unless he ended the campaign.

17. After refusing to talk about issues Kennedy raised, the U.S. began quietly encouraging a group of South Vietnamese army officers to plot Diem’s overthrow.

18. U.S. advisers had been prepared to fly Diem out of the country but in November of 1963 the plotters murdered him.