JFK and the Cold War

Flexible Response

Global instability Soviet Union supported “wars of national liberation”

Kennedy felt Eisenhower relied too heavily on nuclear weapons

Flexible Response- aid to nations resisting communism Build-up of troops Build-up of conventional weapons

JFK expanded Special Forces, elite army unit to wage guerilla warfare in limited conflicts

Alliance for Progress

Latin Americans unfriendly towards US US too involved in Latin Governments US corporations seen as imperialists

Alliance for Progress- cooperative aid projects with Latin American governments to improve relations Create a “free and prosperous Latin America” More stability Less likely to support Communist revolutions

US pledged $20 billion to help LA countries Establish schools Better housing Health care Land distribution

Worked in Chile, Columbia, Venezuela, Central American Republics

Other rulers used money to keep themselves in power (funded weapons, dictatorships, etc.)

Peace Corps

Started at University of Michigan in Ann ArborPeace Corps- Organization sent Americans to

provide humanitarian services in less-developed nations Training Two years in countries that requested assistance

Laid out sewage systemsTrained medical techniciansTaught EnglishBuilt roadsStill active today- one of Kennedy’s most enduring

legacies

Space Race

Yuri Gagarin, 1961 (USSR astronaut)- first person to orbit Earth

USSR beat US in Space Race again (Sputnik 1957)US can’t allow world to think Communism is better than

CapitalismJFK sets goal to land on the moon by end of the decade

Increased space technology developmentJohn Glenn, 1962- first American to orbit Earth1965, Apollo Missions begin1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael

Collins headed to the moon Armstrong- first man to walk on the moon “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind

Demonstrated US technological superiority over the Soviet Union

Bay of Pigs

Fidel Castro overthrows Cuban dictator, 1959 Establishes ties with Soviet Union- Khruschev wants to strengthen

Cuba’s military Land reforms Seized foreign-owned businesses (many American-owned)

Eisenhower ordered CIA to train Cuban exiles to invade Cuba

JFK approved invasion April 1961 armed Cuban exiles invaded the Bay of Pigs (southern Cuba)

Disaster Boats ran aground Kennedy cancelled air support to keep invasion a secret Castro’s forces killed or captured the invaders

Exposed US plan to overthrow neighboring governmentMade US look weak and disorganized

Berlin Wall, June 1961

Nikita Khruschev (USSR leader) wanted to stop East Germans (Soviet Zone) from leaving to go to West Berlin (US/French/British Zone)

Khruschev demanded Allies withdraw from Berlin because it was entirely in the Soviet Zone

Kennedy refused and reaffirmed West’s commitment to West Berlin

Khruschev built Berlin Wall through Berlin, blocked movement between East and West Berlin Guards stationed along the wall, shot people trying to

escape Symbol of Cold War divisions

Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

USSR place long-range missiles in CubaCuba only 90 miles from Florida dangerous threatJFK orders:

Naval blockade to stop delivery of missiles Existing missile sites dismantled Warned against Soviet attack on US soil full-scale response

Soviets didn’t meet Kennedy’s demands fear of nuclear warSecret negotiations between US and USSR

US secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey US publicly promised not to invade Cuba USSR removed missiles from Cuba

Forced US and USSR to consider consequences of nuclear war1963 Treaty between US and USSR banning nuclear testingUSSR seen as weak Khruschev falls from power dramatic

military build-up in USSR to regain might