CHAPTER 23.2
JFK AND THE COLD WAR
KENNEDY CONFRONTS GLOBAL
CHALLENGES
• AS KENNEDY ENTERED
THE WHITE HOUSE, THE
NATION’S RIVALRY
BETWEEN THE SOVIET
UNION DEEPENED.
A MORE FLEXIBLE RESPONSE
• KENNEDY FELT THAT
EISENHOWER HAD
RELIED TOO HEAVILY ON
NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
• KENNEDY SUPPORTED A
“FLEXIBLE RESPONSE”
WHERE HE ASKED FOR
A BUILDUP OF
CONVENTIONAL
TROOPS AND
WEAPONS.
A MORE FLEXIBLE RESPONSE
• KENNEDY ALSO
SUPPORTED THE
SPECIAL FORCES, A
SMALL ARMY UNIT
ESTABLISHED IN THE
1950’S TO WAGE
GUERRILLA WARFARE.
AID TO OTHER COUNTRIES
• TO IMPROVE LATIN
AMERICAN RELATIONS,
KENNEDY PROPOSED
THE ALLIANCE FOR
PROGRESS, A SERIES OF
COOPERATIVE AID
PROJECTS WITH LATIN
AMERICAN
GOVERNMENTS.
AID TO OTHER COUNTRIES
• OVER A 10 YEAR
PERIOD, $20 BILLION
WAS PROMISED TO AID
LATIN AMERICA.
• IN CHILE, COLUMBIA,
VENEZUELA, AND THE
CENTRAL AMERICAN
REPUBLICS, REAL
REFORM TOOK PLACE.
AID TO OTHER COUNTRIES
• IN OTHER COUNTRIES,
THE GOVERNING
RULERS USED THE
MONEY TO REMAIN IN
POWER.
THE PEACE CORPS
• THE PEACE CORPS,
CREATED TO HELP LESS
DEVELOPED NATIONS FIGHT
POVERTY, TRAINED YOUNG
AMERICANS TO SPEND TWO
YEARS ASSISTING IN A
COUNTRY.
• PEACE CORPS IS STILL
ACTIVE TODAY AND HAS
BECOME ONE OF
KENNEDY’S MOST
IMPORTANT AND
WITHSTANDING LEGACIES.
THE COLD WAR MOVES INTO SPACE
• DURING THIS TIME OF
INCREASED TENSION
BETWEEN THE U.S. AND
THE SOVIET UNION,
THE TWO COUNTRIES
ENGAGED IN A SPACE
RACE.
THE COLD WAR MOVES INTO SPACE
• KENNEDY WANTED
AMERICANS TO BE THE
FIRST TO REACH THE
MOON.
• ON JULY 20, 1969, NEIL
ARMSTRONG BECAME
THE FIRST HUMAN
BEING TO WALK ON THE
MOON.
CRISES OF THE COLD WAR
• PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S
EFFORTS TO COMBAT
COMMUNIST
INFLUENCE IN OTHER
COUNTRIES LED TO
SOME OF THE MOST
INTENSE CRISES OF THE
COLD WAR.
THE BAY OF PIGS
• CUBA AND ITS LEADER,
FIDEL CASTRO, BEGAN
FORMING AN ALLIANCE
WITH THE SOVIET
UNION AND ITS
LEADER, NIKITA
KHRUSHCHEV.
THE BAY OF PIGS
• DURING EISENHOWER’S
PRESIDENCY, THE CIA HAD
SECRETLY TRAINED AND
ARMED CUBAN EXILES
KNOWN AS LA BRIGADA.
• ON APRIL, 17, 1961, 1400
ARMED CUBAN EXILES
LANDED AT THE BAY OF
PIGS ON THE SOUTH
COAST OF CUBA.
BAY OF PIGS
• DISASTER STRUCK AS
KENNEDY CANCELLED
AIR SUPPORT FOR THE
EXILES IN ORDER TO
KEEP U.S.
INVOLVEMENT A
SECRET.
• MOST OF LA BRIGADA
WERE EITHER KILLED
OR CAPTURED BY
CASTRO’S ARMY.
THE BERLIN WALL GOES UP
• AFTER MEETING WITH
SOVIET LEADER NIKITA
KRUSHCHEV, KENNEDY
REFUSED TO
RECOGNIZE EAST
GERMANY OR TO HAVE
THE U.S. ALONG WITH
GREAT BRITAIN AND
FRANCE WITHDRAW
FROM BERLIN.
THE BERLIN WALL GOES UP
• THE SOVIET LEADER
RETALIATED BY
CONSTRUCTING A WALL
THROUGH BERLIN ,
STOPPING MOVEMENT
BETWEEN THE SOVIET
SECTOR AND THE REST
OF THE CITY.
THE BERLIN WALL GOES UP
• FOR THE NEXT 30
YEARS, THE BERLIN
WALL SYMBOLIZED THE
COLD WAR DIVISION
BETWEEN EAST AND
WEST.
THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS
• DURING THE SUMMER
OF 1962, AMERICAN
INTELLIGENCE
AGENCIES DISCOVERED,
THAT SOVIET
TECHNICIANS AND
EQUIPMENT ARRIVED
IN CUBA.
THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS
• PHOTOGRAPHS PROVED
THAT THE SOVIETS
PLACED LONG RANGE
MISSLES IN CUBA.
• KENNEDY ORDERED A
NAVAL BLOCKADE TO
STOP THE SOVIETS
FROM DELIVERING
MORE MISSLES.
THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS
• AS SOVIET SHIPS
HEADED TOWARD THE
BLOCKADE, AMERICANS
BRACED FOR WAR.
• NEITHER KENNEDY NOR
KRUSHCHEV WANTED
NUCLEAR WAR.
THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS
• KENNEDY AGREED NOT
TO INVADE CUBA AND
TO REMOVE MISSLES IN
TURKEY.
• THE SOVIETS AGREED
TO REMOVE MISSLES IN
CUBA.
THE IMPACT OF THE CUBAN MISSLE
CRISIS
• THE CUBAN MISSLE
CRISIS, AS IT BECAME
KNOWN, BROUGHT THE
WORLD TO THE EDGE
OF NUCLEAR WAR.
• BOTH SIDES AGREED TO
WORK OUT A PLAN TO
EASE TENSION.
THE IMPACT OF THE CUBAN MISSLE
CRISIS
• IN 1963, THE U.S. AND
THE SOVIET UNION
AGREED TO A TREATY
BANNING THE TESTING
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
THE IMPACT OF THE CUBAN MISSLE
CRISIS
• THE MISSLE CRISIS LED
TO KRUSHCHEV’S FALL
FROM POWER, AND
NEW SOVIET
LEADERSHIP WAS LESS
INTERESTED IN
REACHING
AGREEMENTS WITH
THE WEST.
THE IMPACT OF THE CUBAN MISSLE
CRISIS
• THE RESULT WAS A
HUGE SOVIET ARMS
BUILDUP.
THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT
• ON NOVEMBER 22,
1963, J.F.K. WAS SHOT
TWICE WHILE RIDING IN
A PRESIDENTIAL
MOTORCADE.
• HE WAS PRONOUNCED
DEAD A SHORT TIME
LATER.
THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT
• LEE HARVEY OSWALD, A
MARXIST, WAS
ACCUSED OF KILLING
KENNEDY AND WAS
SHOT AND KILLED
HIMSELF TWO DAYS
LATER BY JACK RUBY.
THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT
• IT WAS SUSPECTED
THAT RUBY KILLED
OSWALD TO PROTECT
OTHERS INVOLVED IN
THE MURDER.
• CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN
CONCLUDED OSWALD
ACTED ALONE.
THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT
• THE REPORT OF THE
WARREN COMMISSION
LEFT A FEW QUESTIONS
UNANSWERED, AND A
CONSPIRACY THEORY
HAS PERSISTED,
ALTHOUGH NONE HAS
GAINED WIDE
ACCEPTANCE.
THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT
• KENNEDY’S SUCCESSOR,
LYNDON JOHNSON, SET
OUT TO IMPLEMENT
MANY OF KENNEDY’S
PROGRAMS.