Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis –

1. The Cold War
1945-1989
Khrushchev’s
view of Kennedy
Reasons for the Cuban Missile Crisis

2. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
In today’s class I am learning to:
• Describe Nikita Khrushchev’s
opinions about John F Kennedy
• Analyse the extent to which these
events helped cause the Cuban
Missile Crisis

3. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Nikita Khrushchev
became Soviet Premier
in 1953, when he was
age 59. By 1962 he 68
years old.
John F Kennedy became
US President in 1961,
when he was 43 years
old. By the time of
the Cuban Missile
Crisis he was 45.

4. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
The two men first met
in June 1961 at the
Vienna Summit.
The meeting discussed
issues such as:
• Events in Berlin
• The Bay of Pigs
invasion
• Other areas of
disagreement

5. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
The two men also
argued about the USA
and USSR’s
involvement in Laos,
in south east Asia.
Kennedy later claimed
that he had felt
bullied during the
Vienna Summit, saying
Khrushchev “beat the
hell out of me”.

6. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Khrushchev believed he
got on well with
Kennedy in Vienna, but
he thought the US
President was very
inexperienced.
He tried to lie to him
about Soviet military
strength, wrongly
claiming to have more
nuclear missiles.

7. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Khrushchev saw Kennedy
as being a young and
inexperienced
President.
He may have believed
that because of this
Kennedy would be too
weak and scared to
stop the Soviets
putting nuclear
weapons into Cuba.

8. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
During his election
campaign, JFK had
taken a strong anti-
Communist line - but
he was still under
pressure from anti-
Communists in the USA.
Kennedy was unlikely
to be able to back
down from Soviet
aggression.

9. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
At the summit,
Khrushchev tried to
force Kennedy to take
American troops out of
Berlin.
He threatened to sign
a new treaty with East
Germany, ending the
agreement signed by
the USA and USSR after
World War Two.

10. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
In August 1961, the
Soviets agreed to
build the Berlin Wall,
which would separate
the east and west of
the city.
At the Vienna summit,
Kennedy made the
mistake of telling
Khrushchev the USA
would not stop this.

11. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
The building of the
Berlin Wall caused
American anger and
complaints – but they
took no action stop it
being built.
Khrushchev may have
believed that Kennedy
would also not do
anything to stop the
Soviets in Cuba.

12. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
However events in Cuba
were very different
from those in Europe.
Cuba was a country in
the same continent as
the USA and Khrushchev
knew Kennedy could not
allow the Soviets to
be seen to gain
control there.

13. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Khrushchev may have
even hoped that JFK
would take military
steps to remove Soviet
missiles.
This would then have
justified the USSR
taking military action
to remove the western
presence from Berlin.

14. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Khrushchev knew that
Kennedy faced various
domestic problems.
Civil rights was a huge
issue. This included
riots which took place
after a black man
(James Meredith) was
not allowed to attend
the University of
Mississippi.

15. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
President Kennedy also
faced various economic
problems.
When he took power
there was a recession;
by May 1961, 7% of
Americans were out of
work. Also, between
December 1961 and June
1962, stock market
values fell by 22%.

16. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Some Americans saw
Kennedy as being weak
on Communism.
They worried he had
not done enough to
stop Communist
expansion around the
world. It was also
feared that the USA
was behind the USSR in
the Space Race.

17. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
In 1961, Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
became the first man
in space.
This scared Americans
because they believed
it showed that Soviet
military technology
was more advanced. JFK
then promised to put a
man on the moon.

18. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
Kennedy’s domestic
problems made him
worry about his
chances of re-
election.
Khrushchev may have
believed that
Kennedy’s domestic
problems would
distract him from
taking action in Cuba.

19. Khrushchev’s view of Kennedy
However Khrushchev
also knew that
domestic problems
might encourage
Kennedy to take action
in Cuba.
This would let the US
President take a
strong stance against
Soviet actions and
help his leadership.