KENNEDY and the
COLD WAR
section 1, Chapter 20
JFK became the 35th
president of the United States in January 1961. He said the world was in “its
hour of Maximum danger,” as Cold War tensions ran high.
Rather than shrinking from the danger, the United States
should confront the “iron tyranny” of communism
I. The Election of 1960
A. As a result of the economy, the launch of Sputnik,
and the USSR’s development
of
long-range missiles, many had fears that the U.S. was falling behind the
Soviets
militarily.
1.
The Democratic nominee for president was….
a. Kennedy promised active leadership to get America moving again.
2.
The Republican nominee for president was…
who had hope of riding on the coattails of Eisenhower.
3.
To factors helped put Kennedy over the top:
a.
b.
B. The televised debate affects votes
1.
Many thought Kennedy was_______, ___________, and did not necessarily like
the idea that he was _______________.
2.
Nixon favored the televised debate because he wanted to expose Kennedy’s
______________________.
3.
Kennedy had been coached by television producers and as 70 million TV viewers
watched, “_______________________________________.”
4.
Kennedy looked and spoke better than Nixon and that turned the tide.
C. Kennedy and Civil Rights------------------------------------
D. The Camelot Years—“And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for
you, ask what you can
do for your country!”
1.
Kennedy will win by fewer than ___________which was the closest election
since
1884.
2.
“___________________” were who Kennedy surrounded himself with. They
were: ______________—national security advisor;
________________—secretary
of defense; brother ___________—attorney general.
III. A New Military
Policy
A.
Kennedy believed that Eisenhower did not do enough to curb communist
aggressions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
1. He will blast the Republicans for allowing communism to...
2. Kennedy believed his most urgent task was to redefine the
nation’s…
3.
Kennedy did not like the idea of massive retaliation and proposed his own
strategy which would prevent nuclear strikes during minor conflicts.
4. The policy of…
a. An elite branch of the army called the Special Forces,
or___________were
created.
b. This enabled the U.S. to fight limited wars but also keep eye to eye
with
the Soviets in the nuclear arena.
IV.
CRISIS OVER CUBA
A.
The first test to Kennedy’s
foreign policy came in Cuba, just______________
coast of Florida.
1 Cuba’s revolutionary leader,________________, openly declared himself
a
communist and welcomed aid from the Soviets..
2. Eisenhower cuts off
diplomatic aid to Cuba.
B. Castro gained power by
removing the dictator________________.
1. Castro
stated that revolutionaries are not born, they are made of poverty,
inequality, and dictatorship.
2. Castro promises to remove these from Cuban life.
3. Instead, Castro seized three…
4. Castro relied on
Soviet aid and on political oppression.
5. Many Cubans felt that ____________had simply replaced______________.
6._____ of the Cuba’s population went into exile, mostly….
V. The Bay of
Pigs (Bahia de Cochinas)
A. In
March 1960, Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to train the Cuban exiles for
an invasion of Cuba.
B. Kennedy
learned of this invasion plan only 9 days after he had entered office but
he okayed it.
C. On the night
of April 17, 1961,________________________supported by the U.S.
military landed on the island’s southern coast at_________________.
1. Nothing went as planned as the U.S. air strike to take out the Cuban
air force..
2. A small advance force sent to distract Castro’s
forces….
3. When the main commando unit landed it faced…
4. Many of the Cuban exiles…
--The disaster left Kennedy embarrassed.
He will negotiate with Castro and get the surviving commandos ransomed
for $53 million in food and medical supplies. Kennedy warned that he would
resist communism in the Western Hemisphere. Castro continues to welcomes Soviet
aid.