Jfk and the Cold War

The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.

The Cuban Missile Crisis forever marked 1962 as the year the world almost witnessed a nuclear war. The Soviet Union, Cuba, and the United States were all teetering on the edge of a cliff that was crumbling from the weight of fear, tension, and secrecy. It also marked the official end of Americans innocent belief that they were safe in the glow of Lady Liberty’s torch. Yet amidst the dark shadow of nuclear threat one American president rose to this challenge and proved that peace through strength is the best strategy.

B. Support for #3: President Kennedy was most well-known for the Cuban Missile Crisis which began on October 14, 1962 and ended peacefully on October 28, 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest America had ever come to nuclear war (Reeves). President Kennedy wanted to put an end to racial discrimination.

This national style of negotiation may have contributed to the crisis through the actions or lack of actions perceived by the Soviets. For example, in June of 1961 and during the early months in office, President Kennedy attended a summit with Premier Khrushchev in Vienna to discuss cold war confrontations between the east and west, in particular the situation in Berlin. The failure of the two leaders to reach any

“The founding of the Peace Corps is one of President John F. Kennedy’s most enduring legacies.” (Founding). As soon as President Kennedy became the President, he vowed to help Americans be “active citizens.” One of his first moves in office was to create the Peace Corps. The way he came up with this idea of the Peace Corps was when he spoke to students at the University of Michigan during a campaign speech and challenged them to live and work in other countries to dedicate “themselves to the cause of peace and development.” (Peace). The main purpose for this was so “Americans can volunteer to work anywhere in the world where assistance is needed.” (John F. Kennedy, the 35th). This answers President Kennedy’s call to “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” (Founding).

Consisting of 44 years of violence and civil unrest from 1947 to 1991, the Cold War was a huge turning-point in history. The Cold War however was a war of avoidance, not combat. Defence systems were heavily funded as deterrence to actual war, the belief being a risk of mutual annihilation would be too great to be the side to make the first move. However, the Cold War caused a large variety of conflict and civil unrest around the world, such as the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The War split the world into supporting either the United States, or the USSR (Soviet Union). Both superpowers were associated with two very different political systems; Capitalism and Communism. The Soviets were very concerned about the spread

The Cold War was a state of political hostility, lasting from 1946 to 1991, between Communists Soviet Union and Capitalist Western powers. Two generations worth of tension was filled with propaganda, hot wars, threat of nuclear attacks, and developments in missiles and space technology. Domestic policy and American society changed in the years of the Cold War: more money was being allotted to the defense budget, committees were being created to root out any communists working in Hollywood or the government and Americans were living their life around the fact that they could enter into a nuclear war at any moment.

Kennedy had given a speech to the American people where he has said “We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction… Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. We must secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere” (Doc 6). President Kennedy was trying to calm the society by explaining they will be prevent the use of the missiles by withdrawing the Western Hemisphere. During the year of 1962, October 27 Premier Khrushchev stated in a message “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes. We have supplied them to prevent aggression against Cuba … With respect and confidence I accept the statement you set forth in your message of October 27, 1962. You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union” (Doc 8). This message was sent to the U.S after ordering a blockade of all offensive military equipment being sent into

The Cold War took place after World War II between the years of 1947 and 1991. It was a struggle for supremacy between both the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades. Major crises occurred such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some of the resulting issues. For many, the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue because it is always unknown as to what they could be used for. Neither side ever fought the other because the casualties would be tragic, but they did ‘fight’ for their beliefs using client states who fought for their beliefs on

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union took place after the World War II until the early 1990s. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were at the Cold War which employed nuclear arms race, space programs development race, weapons developments, counter-intelligence, military alliances, and propaganda. This Cold War made the world fear for the possible World War III. Ally nations for both sides were divided into either the democratic or the communism which were either on the United States side or the Soviet Union’s side. This Cold War was a political and strategic method to gain strategic territories for the military purpose and also for the economic gains.

Kennedy supported the country through foreign policy. One example includes the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union started to construct missiles in Cuba, causing increased tensions between the US and the Soviet Union. The Joint Chiefs of Staff wanted to invade the island, but JFK was fearful of another World War. JFK decided to implement a naval blockade surrounding Cuba; this was to keep the US from invading and attacking Cuba. Eventually, the negotiations between the US and Soviet Union were successful. Similar to the Wild West, JFK stood his ground to protect the US from another possible world war (Document J). JFK’s act of confrontation and lawfulness highlights how he is a great

The impacts of Kennedys choices against the Soviets did not just create changes in his political life, but his personal one as well. During the Cold War he and the vice president Lyndon B. Johnson, both promised the country they would keep a tough act on the Soviets, and

When Joseph Stalin died, power went to an obscure Communist official named Nikita Khrushchev. His goal was to have the Soviet Union be an equal to the United States militarily and economically. Although he tried to soften Stalin's brutal tactics, Soviet foreign policy remained the same. This ruthless treatment of satellite nations that tried to break free fostered further distrust between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. At the inauguration of our new president, John F. Kennedy, Khrushchev decided to test Kennedy's resolve with renewed pressure on Berlin via the construction of the Berlin Wall. However, none of these events were to equal the effect that came from one small island ninety miles off of the coast of Florida, the small island of Cuba.

The Missile Crisis developed in 1962 because Fidel Castro believed that America would soon try again to invade his country. He asked the Soviet Union for help in defending his island nation. The Soviet Union replied by sending small arms, tanks, and infantry units to Cuba, as well as secretly transferring nuclear missiles to missile silos that were under construction in Cuba. The Americans were shocked when one of their U-2 spy planes discovered the nuclear silos under construction in Cuba because it meant that for the first time the Soviet missiles were within range of most major U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C. This created a very difficult problem for American President John F. Kennedy for which he needed to find a solution. He could not allow the missile silos to finish being constructed because that would place the United States in danger. That meant that either he would have to try diplomatic means to attempt to negotiate the removal of the weapons, or he would have to use the might of the American military to remove the weapons by force. Neither option looked particularly favourable. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (the President's military advisors) urged a swift and strong military invasion to destroy the silos before the Soviets could react. Kennedy was concerned, however, of the possibility of Soviet nuclear retaliation for the invasion because invasion was clearly an act of war. Up until that point, neither side had been willing to risk direct

Soviet leader Krushchev quickly agreed to protect Cuba. Cuba was in a strategic location to place missile launch sites that could strike nearly all of the continental United States. During the Cold War the United States had many missile launch sites placed all over the world and pointed at the Soviet Union. The United States was allied with Turkey, so the American military had a base there to work their U-2 from and many missile sites pointed at the Soviet Union. These missiles in Turkey made Krushchev want to build surface to air missile sites on Cuba to balance the power and show his force. Krushchev would soon start sending ships and submarines loaded with equipment to start building medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In May 1962, Krushchev wrote in his memoirs: “This will be a means of protecting Cuba from another U.S. Invasion of Cuba like the Bay of Pigs in 1961, also to counter the U.S. emerging lead of deploying strategic missiles.”