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NCSCOS Goal 11
Election of 1960
-John F. Kennedy–Dem.
• Senator from Mass.
-Richard Nixon Rep.
• Eisenhower’s VP
-religious issue
• Kennedy Catholic
-impact of television
• First-ever TV debates,
Kennedy more appealing
-Kennedy wins very close
election
• Gains black vote by civil
rights stance
takes a hard line on
communism
The election in November of 1960 was the closest since 1884; Kennedy won by
fewer than 119,000 votes. Since Kennedy had been elected by the slimmest of
margins, he lacked a popular mandate—a clear indication that voters approved
of his plans. As a result, he often tried to play it safe politically.
Cuban Revolution
-1959 Fidel Castro leads
revolution
• Promised democracy in Cuba,
would lead them there
-turns to communist system
• Began to rely on Communist aid
from Soviets
-confiscated lands of large
corporations
• Government takeover, building
communism
-trade barriers set
• Against Cuban sugar
-seen as threat to the U.S.
-many Cubans go into exile
• Come 90 miles to Florida in the
U.S.
Bay of Pigs
-Cuban exiles to try to
overthrow Castro
• Eisenhower allows CIA to
train them, Kennedy
continues mission
-U.S. gives exiles military aid
• Cuban exiles and U.S. troops
invade at Bay of Pigs
-Attack at the Bay of Pigs
is a great failure
• Defeated by Cuban/Soviet
troops at great cost
-embarrassment to the U.S.
and Kennedy
-Cuba turns to USSR for
more aid
Berlin Wall
-millions of East Germans
moved West
• Escape brutal Communists,
take money with them
-Soviets want East Germany
recognized as new nation
-wall built to separate East
and West
• No longer allowed to leave
and go West
-seem as symbol of
communism
• And symbol of the Cold War
The system of the Berlin
Wall at the end of the 70s
From right to left:
1 - East Berlin
2 - Border area
3 - Backland Wall
4 - Signal fence
5 - Different kind of barriers
6 - Watch towers
7 - Lighting system
8 - Column track
9 - Control track
10 - Anti-vehicle trenches
11 - Last Wall, AKA the "Wall"
12 - Border
13 - West Berlin
Cuban Missile Crisis
-Soviets place missiles in Cuba
– very close to U.S.
-Oct. 1962
-U.S. spy planes get intelligence
• Missiles could reach U.S. cities
in minutes
-Kennedy demanded removal
-U.S. blockades Cuba
• No ships allowed within 500
miles of Cuba; USSR still sends
ships; world waits
-brink of war
USSR backs down
• Removes missiles from Cuba as
long as the U.S. promises not
to invade Cuba
• U.S. removes missiles from
Turkey
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price,
bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to
assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
~JFK Inaugural
Easing Tensions
-Hotline established
between leaders
• Could communicate at once
if another crisis arose
-signed treaty banning
nuclear testing above
ground
• Limited Test Ban Treaty
attempts to limit number of
nuclear weapons built and
tested
• Protected the atmosphere
The Limited Test Ban Treaty limited the
nuclear-competing nations to testing
nuclear weapons. They were no longer
allowed to test them above ground, which
prevented the manufacture of weapons.