President Kennedy continued the Cold War policy of resisting the spread of communism through both military and non-military means. He offered economic and development aid to other nations through initiatives like the Alliance for Progress and Peace Corps while also threatening military force if needed to defend against threats like those in Cuba and Berlin. Kennedy believed in pursuing peace without relying solely on weapons and sought to ease tensions with the Soviet Union through agreements like the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

1. President Kennedy continued the
Cold War policy of resisting the
spread of communism by
offering to help other nations
and threatening to use force if
necessary.
JFK and the Cold War

2. 1960 Election
• Democratic nominee
– John Fitzgerald Kennedy =
Senator from Mass.
• Republican nominee
– Richard Nixon = Vice
President under Ike
• Two factors that helped
JFK win – t.v. and civil
rights

3. Kennedy the Candidate
• Well-organized
campaign
• $ backed by large,
wealthy family
• Obstacles:
– Age: only 43
– Religion: Roman
Catholic

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Kennedy Election
• John F. Kennedy – from a wealthy, politically powerful
family
• Good looking, young, and comfortable in front of the
television cameras
• People felt Kennedy represented the future
• Election of 1960
• Adopted the term “new frontier”
• Played on the nation’s Cold War fears
• Claimed the nation’s prosperity was not reaching the poor
• One of the closest elections in history
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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
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7. Televised Debate
• 1st
televised debate ever
between presidential
candidates
• Nixon: expert on foreign
policy
– Wanted to use the debate to
expose JFK’s weakness.
• JFK – cool and calm
• “Image replaced the printed
word.”

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TV 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

9. Election Outcome
• The Presidential election of 1960 was the
closest in American history. John F.
Kennedy won the popular vote by a slim
margin of approximately 100,000 votes.
Richard Nixon won more individual states
than Kennedy, but it was Kennedy who
prevailed by winning key states with many
electoral votes.

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Kennedy Takes Office:
Inaugural Address
Inaugural Address
• Focused on change
• Strong anti-Communist tone
• Did not specify his domestic policy goals because so much
division existed over domestic issues
• “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can
do for your country.”
• Gathered a group some called “the best and the brightest” as his
advisors
• Most of Kennedy’s advisors were young.
• Closest advisor was his brother, Robert (“Bobby”) Kennedy
• Cabinet members had less influence than White House advisors.
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12. The Best and the Brightest
• McGeorge Bundy (Dean of Harvard): Nat. Sec.
Advisor
• Robert McNamara (President of Ford): Sec. of
Defense
• Dean Rusk(President of the Rockefeller
Foundation): Sec. of State
• Bobby Kennedy: Attorney General

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Camelot Years:The Kennedy Mystique
• The press portrayed the Kennedys
as a young, attractive, energetic,
and stylish couple; with attention
to arts and culture and an average
every-day family
• Modern day Camelot
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14. Family
• JFK, wife Jackie, son John Jr., daughter
Caroline

15. Crisis Over Cuba
• Fidel Castro: self declared
Communist who welcomed
Soviet aid
• Took control of 3 oil
refineries operated by the
U.S. and British
• Took control of U.S. sugar
plantations

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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
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Bay of Pigs Invasion
Background
• Fidel Castro was
in power in Cuba.
• Came to power
after a guerrilla
war, promised to
restore people’s
rights and
freedoms
• Once in power,
he seized private
businesses and
made overtures
to Soviet Union.
Kennedy
• Kennedy learned
that the CIA was
training troops to
invade Cuba and
topple Castro.
• His advisors were
mixed.
• Kennedy was
worried about
Communism
spreading to Latin
America.
• Kennedy gave the
go-ahead.
The Invasion
• Bay of Pigs
invasion failed.
• Information was
leaked early.
• Air strikes failed.
• Castro prepared
for a land attack.
• Invaders were
captured and
ransomed back to
United States.
• Strengthened
Castro’s ties to
the Soviet Union

20. The Berlin Crisis
Citizens from E. Berlin
flocked into W.
Berlin
- Better economy
N.K. constructed the
Berlin Wall to
separate the two
(Aug. 1961)
- Sign of
Communist
oppression

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The Berlin Crisis
Berlin’s Significance
• Khrushchev demanded
that the United States
recognize East Germany
as an independent
Communist nation.
• West Berlin was an island
of freedom.
• Many East Germans fled to
West Germany through
Berlin.
• Kennedy refused to be
bullied, sent troops into
West Germany, built
nuclear shelters, and
waited for Khrushchev’s
next move.
The Berlin Wall
• On August 13, 1961,
Khrushchev closed the
crossing points between
East and West Berlin.
• A high concrete wall was
built to prevent further
escapes to freedom.
• Kennedy sent more troops,
and Vice President Lyndon
B. Johnson visited West
Berlin.
• Kennedy said “A wall is a …
lot better than a war.”
• Over time, the wall was
extended and fortified.
• “Ich bin ein Berliner”

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• Since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Fidel Castro
had grown increasingly antagonistic towards the
United States and their interests. The Eisenhower
and Kennedy administrations authorized the CIA
to come up with ways to remove him: attempts
were made to poison him, anticommunist groups
inside Cuba were actively supported, and a radio
station beamed slanted news at the island from
Florida. The CIA even contacted the mafia about
working together to assassinate Castro. Nothing
worked. 23
Background

24. Bay of Pigs
• Ike gave permission
to the CIA to train
Cuban exiles for a
Cuban invasion
• JFK continues with
the plan
• April 17, 1961 1400
Cuban exiles landed
at the Bay of Pigs

25. Bay of Pigs
• A huge failure
• No airstrike prior to the invasion
• No help from a diversionary unit
• Failed because of the selection of a poor landing
site
• Overestimation of the Cuban people’s
willingness to support a strike against Castro

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The Cuban Missile Crises
• A U.S. U-2 spy plane detected Soviet surface-to-air
missiles (SAMs) in Cuba.
• The Soviets argued that the SAMs were defensive
missiles and swore that they didn’t have offensive
missiles in Cuba.
• Later U-2 flights showed that the Soviets had lied.
Buildup
• U.S. actions in the Bay of Pigs and Berlin crises
encouraged hard-line leaders in the Soviet Union.
• The Soviets were worried about another invasion of
Cuba and U.S. nuclear missiles placed in Turkey.
• Kennedy was worried about accusations of being
“soft on communism.”
Crisis
Begins

27. 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

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Cuban Missile Crisis
• Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missiles if the United
States pledged to never invade Cuba.
• Both Kennedy and Khrushchev took steps to ease tensions
between their countries.
• They set up a hotline to allow direct communication during
times of crisis.
• The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed, ending
atmospheric and underwater testing of nuclear weapons.
Managing
the
Crisis
• Kennedy assembled a group of advisors, known as the
ExComm, to help him plan a response.
– ExComm military members favored an air strike, perhaps
followed by a land invasion of Cuba.
– Others argued for a naval blockade. Kennedy agreed with
this plan.
• The world watched as Soviet ships carrying missile parts
approached the naval blockade. They turned back.
Effects
of the
Crisis

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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
• 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
• For almost a week, the world was on the brink of nuclear
war
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31. Cuban Missile Crisis
• 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?

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Kennedy and Khrushchev

33. Easing Tensions
• 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

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How did Kennedy’s foreign policy reflect his views
of the world?
• Trained and sent volunteers to Africa, Asia, and
Latin America to serve for two years
• Most volunteers were young college graduates
• Increased goodwill toward the United States
Kennedy’s
Foreign
Policy
• Believed in peace that did not have to be enforced
with weapons of war
• Believed in peace for Americans and for all men and
women around the world
Peace
Corps
• Offered billions of dollars in aid to Latin America to
build schools, hospitals, roads, power plants, and
low-cost housing
• Intended to counter communism’s influence
Alliance
for
Progress

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Kennedy Foreign Policy and the Cold War
• Kennedy also followed the Cold War policies of
his predecessors.
• He continued the nuclear arms buildup begun by
Eisenhower.
• He continued to follow Truman’s practice of
containment.
• He developed the strategy of flexible response.
– Strengthening conventional American forces so
the nation would have other options than
nuclear weapons in times of crisis 35

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