History Notes Essay

I. Kennedy and the Cold War
1. Kennedy Defeats Nixon in 1960

● Even during the Cold War, many problems were still occurring in our country A. The Candidates

● Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy were running against each other ● Both served in WWII and were born in the 20th century
● They were passionate about foreign affairs
● Kennedy was born into a prosperous family with is grand-father serving in the senate and his father was a Great Britain ambassador.
He went to Harvard
● Nixon was born into a struggling family and had to balance work to support his family, and school

B.
Televised Debates Make the Difference

● Kennedy was healthy and looked relaxed for the televised debate, while Nixon, just getting out of surgery, was very pale and looked very unhealthy. ● People cared more about how the men looked and spoke more than what they had to say

C. Kennedy Wins a Close Election

● Kennedy showed a lot of support and reacted quickly to unexpected events more than Nixon
● Kennedy won by a hair with only a 120,000 vote difference

2.
Kennedy Launches New Cold War
Strategies

● Kennedy turned his focus to Cuba and his first goal was to build up the nation’s armed forces
● Kennedy urged Americans to, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”

A. Building the Nation’s Military

● Kennedy was working towards a Flexible Response: prepared the
United States for any type of Conflict

B.
Pursuing New Initiatives in the “Third World”

● The Soviets used propaganda for “Third World” countries that communism promoted equality while capitalism created poverty and inequality. ● Believed that democracy combined with prosperity would limit and contain communism
● Peace Corps: Sent American volunteers to developing countries to promote freedom
● Alliance for Progress: Promised to resurrect America’s Good
Neighbor’s Policy to Latin America

3.
Confronting Communism in Cuba

● Cuba became communist causing many to flee to Miami

A. Bay of Pigs Invasion

● Before leaving office, Eisenhower planned for the CIA to train Cuban exiles to invade and overthrow the Cuban Government
● Bay of Pigs Invasion: A poorly managed invasion in which 1,400 people were killed or captured. This turned many Cuban Americans against
Kennedy and it strengthened Cuban government
● Kennedy to responsibility for the failure but still stressed non-communism B.
The Cuban Missile Crisis

● Cuban Missile Crisis: The Soviets were building nuclear missiles around
Cuba to protect Castro from another American invasion
● Kennedy formed a blockade to stop the missiles from being launched
● Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles because of the blockade C. The Results of the Crisis

● Kennedy stayed calm during the Crisis but, maturely handled it as both countries were on the verge of nuclear war
● A Hot Line was installed from Washington D.C. to Moscow to improve communication 4.
The Berlin Crisis

● Kennedy and Khrushchev focused on Berlin as their problem
● While they wanted each other to give up their sides in Berlin, they each refused creating more tensions

● Berlin Wall: Wall the Khrushchev ordered be built to separate East
Berlin

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