Republicans absolutely loved Nixon for his tough stance on communism and his position as vice president had given him prominence and experience where communism was concerned.. Democrats, meanwhile, nominated the relatively unknown John F. Kennedy, a young but accomplished senator from Massachusetts who had served with distinction in World War II and had won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1956 book Profiles in Courage .At only forty-three years old, Kennedy exuded a youthful confidence that contrasted sharply with Nixon’s serious demeanor—a contrast that was plainly evident in the first-ever live televised presidential debates in 1960. Tens of millions of Americans tuned in to watch the two candidates discuss the issues. Although radio listeners …show more content…
Americans to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. His enthusiasm spread across the country.
Kennedy’s first foreign policy crisis surfaced just months after he took office, when Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened to sign a treaty with East Germany that would cut off the city of Berlin from the United States and Western Europe. Although the Soviet Union never signed any such treaty, it did construct a massive wall of concrete and barbed wire around West Berlin in 1961 to prevent East Germans from escaping to freedom in the Western-controlled part of the city. Over the years, guard towers were installed, and the “no-man’s-land” between the inner and outer walls was mined and booby-trapped, making it incredibly difficult for East Germans to escape to West Berlin without being killed or captured.
Kennedy, hoping never to have to decide between nuclear war and political embarrassment again, devised a new strategy of “flexible response” to deal with the USSR. Crafted with the aid of foreign policy veteran Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, the flexible response doctrine was meant to allow the president to combat Soviet advances around the world through a variety of means. In other words, Kennedy could send money or troops to fight Communist insurgents, authorize the CIA to topple an unfriendly government, or, as a last resort, use nuclear weapons.
Hoping to topple Cuba’s Communist-leaning leader, Fidel Castro, Kennedy authorized the
In the early days of the crisis, JFK made a formal declaration to both the nation and to the U.S.S.R that any nuclear weapons launched from Cuba onto any target in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an attack on the US and would warrant a full retaliatory response (“The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962”). He followed up that statement by blocking the transfer of all offensive weapons in route to Cuba (Freidel and Sidey). Kennedy showed the people that he wasn’t going to sit idly by while there was such a large threat to the nation’s safety, he was going to act boldly. After many more stressful days passed, JFK, in an attempt to ensure that the situation didn’t escalate any further, agreed to not attack Cuba if the Soviet Union withdrew all weapons from the island nation (Swift). After 13 grueling days of diplomatic actions, the Soviet Union’s ships left Cuba with their hatches open in order to show the Americans that they were carrying the missiles with them (Swift). Kennedy’s choice to pursue a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis, despite intense Soviet aggression, may have saved countless American lives. John F. Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis boosted his reputation considerably and steered America away from a war with the
youngest man ever elected as President of the United States, as well as the first Roman Catholic.
The Kennedy Doctrine, which was to “Respond flexibly to communist expansion, especially guerrilla warfare” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 58), was executed in this history-making event to the letter. Kennedy could have, and had the power to cease the unfolding events with an all out air strike on the Soviet Union. Some say it is due to bureaucratic politics and the accessibility of information that was provided to the National Security Council by the CIA and air force that this did not occur. In responding flexibly to what The Soviet Union and Cuba were planning, America assessed the volatile situation, forethought possible outcomes and negated all their options albeit under a tight time constraint. America’s forces were mobilized and ready to strike, had word been given nuclear war was on the cards. Kennedy wanted to give The Soviet Union an out and put a halt to a possible war, rethink the situation and allow an alternative to occur. Due to this diplomacy, The Soviet Union entered into negotiations “the Kremlin offered a deal: no Soviet missiles in Cuba if Washington promised not to invade” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 87). By using the flexible response tactic, Kennedy was
In 1952, JFK ran successfully for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, in a year that saw Dwight Eisenhower elected president. The next year JFK married Jacqueline Bouvier, a beautiful and cultured young woman who would become one of the most famous First Ladies in history. JFK was now one of the Democratic Party's rising stars. He spent 1955 and 1956 writing Profiles in Courage (evidence suggests, however, that JFK's speechwriter, Theodore Sorensen, actually wrote much of the book), which was a best-seller and won a 1957 Pulitzer Prize. In 1956, JFK was nearly selected a the Democrats' Vice-Presidential candidate. Four years later, with the end of Eisenhower's second term, JFK's time had come: he won the 1960 Democratic nomination and defeated
The late president John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, “Sure it's a big job; but I don't know anyone who can do it better than I can” (“John F. Kennedy” BrainyQuote.com). Kennedy was a young and fresh political figure at the time of his election in 1960. The thirty-fifth president of the United States was born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the youngest president ever, as well as the first and only Roman Catholic president (Bass, et al.). His presidency was shortened by an assassin on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy preceded his presidency with a term in the U.S. House of Representatives (1947-1953) and a term in the U.S. Senate (1953-1961) (“John F. Kennedy” History.com). Kennedy, a
Kennedy was motivated to end the Cold War, Nixon’s comments about him being overwhelmed were starting to show. President Kennedy’s plan was to meet with the Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev in Austria, and work on each other’s trust. “Not only was the summit unsuccessful in its goal of building trust, but it also increased tensions between the two superpowers” (JFKlibrary.org, 2017). They were both torn between the divided city of Berlin. After World War II Germany was divided in two parts. The United States and its allies occupied West Germany. While the Soviet Union occupied East Germany. The Soviet Union ruled East Germany with a communist belief. President Kennedy and Khrushchev did not see eye to eye, and Khrushchev threatened Kennedy by saying he would cut off all allied access into West Berlin. What President Kennedy decided to do next started a chain of reaction that would not end for years
Aggressive and eager to prove himself, Kennedy viewed the Cold War as a struggle of good against evil that required tough action (Nuemen). Through his experiences of World War II, Kennedy held that democracies tended to move too slowly to oppose totalitarianism (Nuemen). He also took note of the narrow margin of victory that had brought him to power and allowed it to shape his security policy (Nuemen). Kennedy tended to defer to military and
Little Presidents relate in life and none in death. Most people know John F. Kennedy as the 35th President of the United States, the youngest president, and one of fewest presidents that was killed. But what was JFKs legacy?
The Kennedy family name is synonymous with fame and fortune and “perfection”. But things have never been perfect behind the scenes of one of the most powerful families in American history. The first well-known Kennedy was Joseph Kennedy. He went to school at Harvard, but he was not very liked due to his religious practices. He did get married two years after his graduation to Rose Fitzgerald daughter of the Boston Mayor.(“Joseph Kennedy”2). They had a total of nine children; Joseph Jr., John (Jack), Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert (Bobby), Jean, and Edward (Ted).(“Joseph Kennedy”2). This was a very large family and he was able to support them with his work. The Kennedys were one of the most famous families in politics. People
On November 22, 1963 the lives of John F. Kennedy, Harvey Lee Oswald, Jack Ruby, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Lyndon B. Johnson. John Connally, Abraham Zupruder, and several others , all took a dramatic turning point. On November 22, 1963 President John Fittzgerald
During the 1960s, the world was changing in significant ways. Big shifts were taking place, impacting the lives of citizens and altering the American way of life. However, it is easy to study that time period and only focus on those large changes, when, in the background, small, everyday things are taking place that play just as big a role. More specifically, when people look into the lives of presidents during the 1960s, they typically start at their big decisions, life–shattering speeches, and, if interesting enough, their deaths. Although this can be an effective way of seeing the big picture, it’s also important to zoom in and study the smaller things that took place. In the pages to follow, material will be given that carefully details two weeks in the life of President John F. Kennedy: November 8-22, 1963.
When Kennedy became president in 1961, he was eager to come to a more solid agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States in regards to Berlin for he feared that a confrontation would result in a nuclear war. Khruschev thought Kennedy weak and tried threatening him during their meeting in Vienna but in the weeks that followed the United States showed that they would not give in to the Soviets terms of unification. The United States made it clear that it would defend their rights to "the freedom of West Berlin, Allied rights in West Berlin, and Western access to West Berlin" but it made no move to fight for East Berlin. (Smyser, Page 156.) Thus, on August 13, 1961, barbed wire was rolled along the sector border between
The Cuban Missile Crisis was to be President Kennedy’s greatest moments of his Flexible Response Doctrine. On October 14, 1962, a U-2 reconnaissance plane got a photograph of evidence of the missiles in western Cuba. President Kennedy met with his advisors in secret for several days to discuss the issue at hand. The president decided to place a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more supplies, and demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. [JFK in History: Cuban Missile Crisis (n.d.)]. The public was informed of the building crisis on October 22, 1962 while the world held its breath for what was to come next. The possibility of a nuclear war loomed over the U.S. and Soviet Union. If Khrushchev wouldn’t order the removal of the missiles then Kennedy was ready to launch an all out attack on the Soviet Union and Cuba.
Khrushchev fervently believed in communism and the prospects of the Soviet Union as a world power. He was much older and more experienced than Kennedy, but in global relations, the United States held the upper hand. Khrushchev was well aware of the Soviet Union as the weaker power and used intimidation to create a sense of apprehension within the United States. The threat of nuclear war for Khrushchev was not to reach a boiling point with Kennedy, but to give “the Americans a taste of their own medicine” (Dobbs 37). Therefore, the American and Soviet people felt unremitting trepidation because of possible nuclear war.
President Kennedy’s way of keeping peace between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis was extraordinary. First of all, JFK made sure that the naval blockade did not have any contact with soviet ships. According to Soviet chairman Khrushchev, this resulted in the two nations avoiding “irreparable and fatal consequences.” In addition, even though Cuba was being aggressive by taking military action, JFK attempted to keep the peace between the United States and Cuba. For instance, when the Cubans shot down an unarmed American plane on a reconnaissance mission, JFK felt extreme pressure from the U.S. military to arm the planes and fire back if they were fired upon. Despite pressure from the military, JFK did not arm the planes because, “a chain reaction will quickly start that will be very hard to stop”. This shows that even in the face of danger and the pressure from the U.S. military, JFK tried his best to keep the peace between the Soviet Union and the United States.