Transcript The Election of 1960

The Election of 1960
5) Despite the success of the Eisenhower
Administration, youthful Senator John F.
Kennedy from Massachusetts was rapidly
gaining momentum in the polls and represented
a significant Democratic challenger. To many
voters Kennedy symbolized youth and
progressive change from the more traditional
approaches of Republican rule in the conformist
1950s.
The Election of 1960
9) The election was extremely close and tense.
Kennedy won with only a 100,000 vote margin
in the popular vote out of 68 million total votes
cast.
The Election of 1960
10) Kennedy’s stirring
and optimistic
inaugural address
directly spoke to the
American youth with a
famous call to service
that stated, “Ask not
what your country can
do for you; ask what
you can do for your
country.”
Cuban Revolution
4) The U.S. had treated Cuba as an unofficial colony
since the end of the Spanish American War in
1898 and had supported business-friendly
leaders with little concern for how they treated
the Cuban people.
Cuban Revolution
5) In 1959, Fidel Castro led a popular revolution that
toppled the Batista regime. Castro established a
Communist dictatorship and moved to
confiscate all U.S.-owned businesses and
properties in Cuba.
Cuban Revolution
6) Thousands of anti-Castro Cuban refugees fled the
island and set sail across ninety miles of ocean
and sought asylum in the United States.
Cuban Revolution
7) Before the U.S. could intervene, the new Soviet
Premier, Nikita Khrushchev eagerly recognized
Castro’s regime in Cuba. The U.S. government
threatened to invoke the Monroe Doctrine, but
Khrushchev declared it a dead policy and
indicated that he would shower the U.S. with
missiles if Cuba was attacked.
The Bay of Pigs (1961)
1) Shortly after taking office, Kennedy was
persuaded to back a CIA plan to use Cuban
refugees to topple the Castro regime.
The Bay of Pigs (1961)
2) Over 1200 Cuban refugees were trained
and armed by the United States and were
hastily sent to Cuba to invade the Bay of
Pigs and lead a popular uprising against
Castro in mid-April 1961
The Bay of Pigs (1961)
8) CIA officials knew that the initial invasion would
be a disaster, but believed that Kennedy would
order a full-scale invasion of U.S. air and ground
forces once he realized that the rebels were
surrounded.
The Bay of Pigs (1961)
9) The ground invasion commenced on the early
morning of April 17th as the 1200 Cuban rebels
landed at the Bay of Pigs. Castro’s forces
responded quickly and completely surrounded
the rebels within three days.
The Bay of Pigs (1961)
11) President Kennedy assumed full responsibility
for the failure, admitted to U.S. involvement in
the invasion, and fired the head of the CIA. The
embarrassing fiasco led Kennedy to remark that,
“victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an
orphan.”
Berlin Wall (1961)
1) U.S. presence in West Berlin was a continual
source of frustration for the Soviet Union since
the failed blockade of 1947-48. Nikita
Khrushchev continually un-nerved U.S. leaders
by threatening to use military force to occupy
Western Berlin.
Berlin Wall (1961)
2) Hundreds of East Germans used U.S.-controlled
West Berlin as a means to escape to noncommunist countries in Western Europe. This
defiance of Soviet authority became too strong to
ignore and Khrushchev moved to restrict the drain
of refugees.
Berlin Wall (1961)
3) Obvious U.S. involvement in the failed Bay
of Pigs invasion had also severely strained
U.S.-Soviet relations in April 1961.
Berlin Wall (1961)
4) In August 1961 the Soviets began construction of
the Berlin Wall to prevent access to the western
sector of the city. A massive wall of concrete and
barbed wire was erected around the U.S. sector
and was patrolled by armed guards.
Berlin Wall (1961)
5) The Wall became a symbol of the tyranny that was
typically associated with the communist world.
The wall also served as a literal representation of
what Winston Churchill had ominously referred
to as “the iron curtain” in 1946.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
1) The failed Bay of Pigs invasion and several
assassination attempts on Fidel Castro
only strengthened Cuban relations with the
Soviet Union.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
2) On October 16th 1962, aerial photographs taken
by American spy planes revealed that the
Soviets had secretly constructed several nuclear
weapons sites within Cuba. Only ninety miles off
the coast of Florida, the nuclear missiles could
quickly and easily strike most targets in the
continental United States.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
3) For the next thirteen days the two
superpowers stared each other down,
waiting for the other side to blink first.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
5) In a televised address on October 22nd, Kennedy
announced the disturbing discovery to the
nation. He ordered a massive naval “quarantine”
of Cuba to prevent Soviet reinforcement and
demanded that Soviets immediately dismantle
the nuclear sites.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
8) In response to the U.S. naval quarantine,
Khrushchev authorized his Soviet field
commanders in Cuba to launch their nuclear
weapons if the island was invaded by U.S.
forces. The world held its collective breath for
close to a week as a fleet to Soviet ships sailed
across the Atlantic towards Cuba.
?
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
9) Khrushchev blinked first and offered a series of
compromises to prevent further escalation of the
crisis. In exchange for the Soviet promise to
dismantle their nuclear sites in Cuba, Kennedy
agreed on October 28th to end the naval
quarantine of Cuba and pledged never to invade
the island.