Transcript USSR - WLWV Staff Blogs

THE EARLY COLD WAR
Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy
1945-1963
What is the Cold War?
• Combination of factors
• Political
• America vs. Soviet Union (commies vs. democracies)
• Nonstop massive tension
• Who can control more of the world (get other countries to team
up with them)
• Weapons will help get control (or protection)
• US and USSR NEVER directly fight, but there are fights over
communism around the world (Korea and Vietnam are the big
ones)
• Social
• Postwar America (baby boom and suburbs)
• Fear of Communism – more than ever before
• Conformity is good (but leads to backlash in the 60’s)
• Civil Rights reform is happening in parallel to the Cold War
POLITICS AND FOREIGN
POLICY AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE COLD WAR
Truman
• Not college educated
• Small and scrappy
• Surrounded by the Missouri
Gang of politics
• Had troubles, but was down to
earth
• “If you can’t stand the heat, get
out of the kitchen”
Shaping the Postwar World - UN
• United Nations Conference April 25, 1945 to set up
the UN – US Senate passed it on July 28, 1945
• Looked like League of Nations
• General Assembly was the basis of the UN
• Security Council led by the Big 5 (each of whom had
the right of veto)
The Big 5
United States
England
France
Soviet Union
China
• Initially in 1946 Bernard Baruch (US delegate) called
for an independent agency of the UN to inspect nuclear
arms building but the USSR vetoed it
Yalta - February 1945
• A bomb was not yet ready and FDR needed
Stalin’s help with Japan
• Stalin would enter the Pacific front within 90 days
of the Germany’s demise
• USSR would receive:
• Control over areas they had wandered through in
Eastern Europe during WWII: Poland, Bulgaria, and
Romania. USSR promised that they would become
democratic nations…
• Control over RR’s in Manchuria and special privileges in
Manchurian seaports
• Southern Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands
• Some felt that FDR had sold out China and
Eastern Europe while others felt that at least this
set limits on Stalin’s ambitions
Tensions for US and USSR by the end of
WWII
• USSR was angry about the late entrance of America and
England in Europe
• USSR was angry about America and England keeping
USSR out of the Manhattan Project
• US stopped Lend Lease in 1945 and wouldn’t give USSR
a reconstruction loan in 1946 when we gave one to
England
Differing World Views
• USSR wanted “protection” to prevent a further attack
through Eastern Europe and therefore created a “sphere
of influence” across Eastern Europe
• America thought this looked like an empire
• FDR wanted an open world: decolonized, demilitarized,
and democratized with a UN
The Problem of Germany –
Splitting Germany
• Soviets wanted to milk Germany for war reparations
• US wanted to create an economically viable Germany to
strengthen Europe
• Caused a split between the USSR sphere and the spheres of the
other Allies
• Soviet Germany fell into the Eastern European sphere of USSR
control
Occupation of Germany after WWII
• Both sides shared
occupation of
Germany
• West Germany AND
West Berlin were
occupied by the
democratic countries
• East Germany AND
East Berlin were
occupied by the
USSR.
Berlin
Berlin Airlift
• Soviet Union cut off
access to Berlin from
Western Europe in 1948
• 2.1 mill residents of W
Berlin only had food to last
5 weeks
• Led to almost a year of the
Berlin airlift
• Blockade was lifted in May
1949
• This was the real
beginning of the Cold
War and the Iron
Curtain
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin
Airlift –
Propaganda
Crystallizing the Cold War
• Stalin kept pushing – wanted to stay in Iran
• Truman had to respond to every little thing
• George Kennan – came up with the idea of
containment
• Military and political preparedness for Soviet issues
• Containment: stop communism from spreading!
Crystallizing the Cold War
• Led to Truman Doctrine : US would support free
people fighting against attempted subjugation by
armed minorities or external pressures
(communists)
• $400 million in aid to Turkey and Greece
Problems in the Western Europe after WWII
• If, after WWII, you looked around the rest of
Europe you would have seen poor nations:
• Industrial capacity was greatly diminished
• millions of displaced people were living in refugee
camps
• the harsh winter of 1946-1947 destroyed many crops,
and the people were tired.
• Situations like this make easy targets for political
theories that promise a better future – like
Communism (or like fascism after WWI).
Crystallizing the Cold War
• How do you stop the
spread of
communism??? Money!
• Marshall Plan:
Europeans would work
out a joint plan for their
recovery (eventually led
to EU) and the US would
help pay
• Over $12 billion which was
voted in April 1948 by
Congress
Rearmament
• Consistent war spending in US
• Creation of new sections of government:
• National Security Act of 1947
• Created the Department of Defense and the Secretary of Defense
(cabinet position)
• Joint Chiefs of Staff reported to the Sec of Defense (army, navy, and
airforce)
• Created the NSC (National Security Council) to advise the president on
security issues
• Created the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) to coordinate
government operations overseas
• Peacetime Draft
• Voice of America radio to the countries behind the
iron curtain
Rearmament
• Joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) in April 1949
• Defensive pact with 12 other Northern and Western
European countries
• Dramatic departure of American foreign policy –
entanglements were here to stay
• U.S.A., Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. Greece
and Turkey joined in 1952. West Germany
joined in 1955.
Defense Treaty Organizations
Warsaw Pact
• In response to the rearmament of West Germany and
its membership in NATO in 1955, the Soviet Union
created the Warsaw Pact to ally itself with seven
other Eastern European countries. Members:
• U.S.S.R., Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania
The Bipolarization of Europe
China
• Oops the Truman Doctrine
didn’t work here…
• Nationalist China under
Chiang Kai Shek (Jiang
Jieshi) fell to Communist
Mao Zedong and his
followers in 1949
• Nationalists fled to Taiwan
• First time American Aid to
prevent communism did NOT
work – eeek!
The Arms Race
• USSR exploded their first atomic bomb 3 years ahead of
our expectations in September 1949
• They had spies within our Manhattan Project – duh.
• Truman therefore called for American development of the
H-Bomb (Hydrogen Bomb) which we first tested in 1952
• The Soviets developed their own H-Bomb in 1953
• The arms race had begun even though a war at this level
of nuclear magnitude would destroy the world, except for
cockroaches and Twinkies…
The Arms Race
Arms Race—USA
• 1st Atomic Fission Bomb—
July 1945
• 1st Hydrogen Bomb—
November 1952
Arms Race—USSR
• 1st Atomic Fission Bomb—
August 1949
• 1st True Hydrogen Bomb—
November 1955
Tsar Bomba
KOREAN WAR
1950-1953
Conflict in Korea
• Japan controlled Korea
from 1910 until the end
of WWII. In 1945, when
the war ended, Korea
was divided between
America and the USSR.
• The USSR would
support the northern half
of the country – above
the 38th parallel. The
USA got the region
south of 38º.
Conflict in Korea
• As in Germany, two nations
developed – one communist,
one democratic.
• The USSR supported the North
Korean communist government
and militarized North Korea.
• South Korea was led by
Syngman Rhee. Because
Rhee’s goal was to force both
Koreas to unite by force, the
U.S. did not heavily arm the
South Korean army.
Syngman Rhee taking Oath of Office
July 24, 1948
Conflict in Korea
• After WWII, America began to reduce its forces in
South Korea and both sides withdrew by 1949
• North Korea’s army invaded South Korea on June
25, 1950. With the invasion, the USA turned
around to help South Korea.
• To gain support in its aid to Korea, the USA went
to the United Nations and asked for assistance to
defend South Korea.
• The Soviet Union was protesting the UN meeting
and since they could not veto the vote, the UN
decided to help South Korea.
Korea Changes America
• NSC-68: National Security Council Memo from 1950
recommending a quadrupling of defense spending in US
• Korea allowed it to happen
• 13% of the GDP - $50 billion a year – was soon spent
on the military
• NSC-68 important because it demonstrates the belief
of the interconnectedness between American
economy and military – and the limitless
possibilities of the two
Conflict in Korea
• Even though 16 nations sent 520,000 troops
to aid South Korea, war was not declared by
the U.S. against North Korea.
• Technically America was just participating in a UN
police action
• 90% of the U.N. troops were American and
the South Korean Army gave another 590,000
troops.
United Nations:
Canada,
Greece,
South Africa,
South Korea,
Colombia,
Luxembourg,
Thailand,
Australia,
Ethiopia,
Netherlands,
Turkey,
Belgium
France
New Zealand,
United Kingdom,
Philippines
United States
The Shifting Map of Korea
[1950-1953]
Korea and the end of MacArthur
• MacArthur was embarrassed that the Chinese
were so successful
• Wanted massive retaliation – blockade of China
and bombarding of Manchuria
• D.C. didn’t want to escalate this battle and bring
in the USSR
• Typical Cold War ideology
• MacArthur publicly began attacking the
president’s decision
• Truman removed MacArthur from command on
April 11, 1951
• MacArthur’s popularity from WWII made this one of the
biggest blows to Truman
Pictures of the Korean War
• Both sides tried to come to
Ceasefire
a truce in 1951, but
deliberations dragged on for
two years while thousands
were killed in battle.
• Communist forces wanted all
prisoners of war returned
whether they wanted to or not
• July 1953 finally saw a
Guards along the DMZ
peace and an exchange of
prisoners that wanted to go
back to their countries.
• The cease fire line was also
stationed at the existing
battle line of the 38th
parallel, plus a
demilitarized zone was
established between the
two countries.
Maintaining the Status Quo –
At What Price?
• There were approximately 54,000 American casualties with the
Chinese, North Korean, and South Koreans losing approximately
1 million.
• The U.S. had spent $67 billion on what turned out to be a fight to
maintain the status quo.
• While communism didn’t spread, South Korea and democracy
did not make any gains either.
• Containment had worked though…
• The Korean War also led to increased fears of Communist
aggression at home in America.
FOREIGN POLICY
UNDER EISENHOWER
Eisenhower – conservative return to normalcy
1953-1961
“I like Ike”
John Foster Dulles
• With the election of Ike
in 1952, a new Secretary
of State came in with
new ideas: John Foster
Dulles
• Containment was no
longer enough –
Communism would be
stopped and captured
peoples would be
liberated
Ike and Dulles in 1956
Massive Retaliation
• Eisenhower’s New Look for foreign policy
• Military spending would focus on the air with the
• Strategic Air Command (SAC): a fleet of superbombers carrying nuclear bombs
• All based on the theory of massive retaliation –
if the commies come after us, we destroy them.
Yeah.
• Thought to be cheaper than conventional military
• But would it actually be used?
Stalin Dies
• At the same time Ike
wanted to work with
the new Soviet premier
– Nikita Khrushchev
(also became leader in
1953)
• Ike wanted “open
skies” over US and
USSR and Khrushchev
said no to Ike’s “open”
attempt at espionage
Problems with Massive Retaliation
• Couldn’t use it anywhere
• Hungarian revolution in 1956 was crushed by the
USSR
• America couldn’t help without nuking Eastern
Europe and therefore America didn’t help
• Was actually really expensive
• When he left office in 1960, Ike warned of the growth of
the military-industrial complex that this
interrelatedness between massive military spending and
the American economy had caused
National Defense Budget (1940-1964)
The
Korean
War
Ike’s
Terms in
Office
Truman vs. Eisenhower
Eisenhower: Massive Retaliation
(Dulles)
Truman: Containment (Kennan)
• Marshall Plan
• Mutual Security
• Truman Doctrine
• Berlin Airlift
•
• NATO
•
• NSC 68
• Korean War
•
•
•
Agreements
Brinksmanship
M.A.D (mutually assured
destruction)
Domino Theory
CIA and covert operations
Eisenhower Doctrine
• Dollar Diplomacy
POLITICS AND CHANGE IN
AMERICA
Start the second packet!
Post WWII Politics
• Truman had served most of FDR’s 4th term (1945-1949)
• After the war, a conservative backlash allowed the
Republicans to win control of Congress in the midterm
elections of 1946
• The Democratic Party would respond with “Cold War
Liberalism”
• Moderate liberal policies + Anti-Communism
Election of 1948
• Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey – governor
of New York
• Democrats weren’t thrilled about Truman, but Ike
wouldn’t run – so Truman got the Democrat ticket
• This angered Southern Democrats who fractioned off again
and called themselves Dixiecrats
• Dixiecrats nominated Strom Thurmond (SC Gov) on the
States Rights ticket
• Former VP Henry Wallace was nominated by the
new Progressive Party
• “bizarre collection of disgruntled former New Dealers, starry-
eyed pacifists, well-meaning liberals, and communistfronters”
Election of 1948
• Dewey spent most of the
•
•
•
•
•
election riding on his
assumed victory since the
Democrats were split 3-ways
Truman travelled around the
country giving rousing
speeches
Wallace was pro-Soviet
Thurmond was racist…
While a Dewey victory was
expected, the people chose
Truman
Considered the biggest
presidential election upset of
all time
The famous Chicago Tribune
early edition headline
Election of 1948
• Truman:
24,179,345
• Dewey:
21,991,291
• Thurmond:
1,176,125
• Wallace:
1,157,326
Truman’s Fair Deal
• I know…too many deals…but this one called for:
• Improved Housing
• Full Employment
• Higher Minimum Wage
• Better farm price supports
• New TVA’s
• Extension of Social Security
• The Republicans and Dixiecrats shot down all but:
• Raising minimum wage
• Housing Act of 1949 – provided public housing
• Social Security Act of 1950 – extended coverage to more
Election of 1952
• Democrats nominate Adlai Stevenson (Gov
of Illinois)
• Republicans choose Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Republicans choose communist hunter, Richard
Nixon, as his running mate to appeal to the hardcore
conservatives…
• “I like Ike”
• Awesome war leader who had also been president of
Columbia University from 1948-1950 – well rounded
• Nixon fought dirty…shocking I know
• Was found to be scamming money when he was in
the Senate and gave his famous Checkers speech so
Ike wouldn’t dump him
• First TV election
• Ike promised at the last minute to go to Korea
and fight himself!
Election of 1952
• Eisenhower: 33,963,234
• Stevenson: 27,314,992
Eisenhower as President
• Conservative backlash
• More socially than politically – Ike
was looking back to a simpler
time
• Above the fray
• Serene and about keeping the
piece
• Didn’t really push any major
agendas
• Dealt with the end of Korea,
McCarthy, and Civil Rights
issues even though he did not
fight for Civil Rights
Eisenhower Republicanism at Home
• Ike believed in “dynamic conservatism”
• Be liberal with things dealing with people
• Be conservative with money and government
• Was worried about “creeping socialism”
• Kept most New Deal programs under the fear that it would
be the end of the Republicans if he got rid of Social Security
or unemployment
• Interstate Highway Act (1956) was a Public Works
Program
• Rarely balanced the budget
• Biggest peacetime deficit in 1959
• But can the Cold War really be called “peacetime”?
• Caused many recessions
THE SECOND RED SCARE
1946-1954
US freaks out about Communist spies post WWII, when
most actual spying was during the 1930’s and early
1940’s…
Fear of Communism Builds in America
• In America, at the height of WWII, approximately 100,000
people claimed loyalty to the Communist party
• Many high-profile spy cases during the late 1940’s and
early 1950’s also heightened America’s fear about
Communists and our nation’s security.
• The Soviets developing their own Atomic Bomb freaked
out Americans too
• Because they did it with secrets stolen from the Manhattan Project
• In 1950, a physicist working on the
The Rosenberg Spy
Case
Manhattan Project, Klaus Fuchs,
admitted to giving the USSR
information about the American atomic
bomb.
• Implicated in his case was Julius
Rosenberg – he passed the info from
Fuchs to the Soviets
• The Rosenbergs were activists for
the communist party
• In an attempt to force more information
out of Julius, the prosecution also put
Ethel (his wife) on trial.
•Neither gave any information, and instead they pleaded the 5th
amendment.
•The Rosenbergs were found guilty of espionage and sentenced
to death by electric chair. They were executed in June 1953
•Later Soviet information seems to indicate that Julius was
exchanging information with the USSR, but that Ethel played no
major role in the espionage.
Loyalty Review Board - 1947
• Existed to determine whether or not employees of the
government were loyal to the United States.
• The U.S. attorney general created a list of 90 “subversive”
organizations.
• If you were a member of one of these, you were
considered suspicious.
• From 1947 – 1951, the Loyalty Review Board investigated
3.2 million employees and dismissed 212 as security
risks.
• Almost 3000 more resigned because they did not want to be
investigated or because they were protesting the investigations as
civil rights violations.
• Ripple effect: Over a thousand gay men and lesbians were fired
from federal government work in the 1950’s
HUAC
• The House of Representatives set up the House
Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1938
and this blossomed during the late 40’s
• Committee member Richard Nixon helped to catch
supposed Communist spy, Alger Hiss in 1948
• HUAC also targeted Hollywood.
• They believed that Communists were sneaking
propaganda into movies.
• In September 1947, 43 witnesses were called before
HUAC.
• Most were friendly and agreed that the movie industry
was tainted by Communism, though they had problems
naming specific examples.
The Hollywood 10
• Ten witnesses were called to testify
about Hollywood, but they refused
because they felt that HUAC was
unconstitutional.
• These men were sent to prison
because they refused to answer
questions – they became known as
the Hollywood Ten.
• To show support for HUAC, Hollywood
executives started a blacklist of
people who they felt had a Communist
background.
• In all, approximately 500 actors,
writers, producers, and directors had
their careers ruined because they
could no longer work in Hollywood.
McCarran Internal Security Act
• The Red Scare was growing at such a pace that
Congress soon decided the Loyalty Review Board was
not effective enough.
• They passed the McCarran Internal Security Act in
1950. This made it unlawful to plan any action that might
lead to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship in
the U.S.
• President Truman vetoed the bill by saying that in
America, “we punish men for the crimes they commit, but
never for the opinions they have.” Congress passed the
bill over his veto.
McCarthyism
• Senator Joseph McCarthy was an
See Excerpt of 1950 speech
page 822
anti-communist activist
• In an attempt to make an election
issue (to get himself reelected in
1952) McCarthy said in a speech in
1950 that Communists were taking
over America.
• McCarthy soon stated that he had
the names of over 200 Communists
who were working in the U.S. State
Department.
• His “finger-pointing” tactics fed off
of Americans’ fear of Communism.
McCarthyism and the Red Scare Grow
• Few people spoke out against McCarthy because they
either feared Communism or feared McCarthy turning his
wrath on them.
• Rosenberg case and others were fuel to his fire
• In 1954, McCarthy made accusations against the U.S.
Army harboring Communists - this led to a public
investigation.
• McCarthy’s tactics of bullying witnesses and forcing
people to “name” other “communists” came to light and
alienated many Americans.
• Not to mention taking on the Army was biting off more than he
could chew…
The Red Scare Fades
• Part of the public’s investigation
Watch Good Night and Good
Luck or read The Crucible
of McCarthy was led by newsman
Edward R. Murrow – his show
fought against the general
acceptance of McCarthy and
enlightened Americans to his
unconstitutional actions.
• After this final investigation, the
Senate censured McCarthy for
improper conduct in 1954. In
1957, McCarthy died.
• His 20th century witch trials
became a focus point for the dark
side of the Cold War.
Red Scare Clips
CONTAINMENT IN
PRACTICE
Foreign Policy under Eisenhower
“False Lull” in Europe
• In 1955 it seemed as if things were getting better with the
Cold War
• Soviets left Austria (whoa)
• Khrushchev denounced the “bloody excesses” of Stalin
– who never became the hero Lenin did
• May 1955 – Geneva conference that accomplished
nothing, but left people feeling happy and sunny 
Back to Reality…Hungary
• Late 1956 Hungarians
Stalin’s desecrated
head
revolted for their freedom
from the USSR
• Expected America to help –
but couldn’t with massive
retaliation
• Hungarians were
slaughtered or fled as
refugees
• America allowed 30,000
refugees in
Time’s Man of the Year –
Hungarian Freedom Fighter
Issues Begin in Iran
• The government of Iran began to take control of its oil
resources and resist the influence of Western companies
there
• America believed that this was under the influence of
the USSR
• The CIA caused a coup in 1953 to install a new leader
in Iran – the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi
• He’d be exiled later and Iran would turn against the
West
• President Nassar of Egypt was a
Suez Crisis
nationalist, but he was looking for
outside funding for a dam project to
irrigate and provide power
• America and England offered help until
Nassar began to deal with the communists
• In response to the US’s and
England’s withdrawal of funds,
Nassar nationalized the Suez Canal
• Previously controlled by English and
French stockholders
• Dulles wanted to prevent armed
intervention from England and France
as well as the Soviets who were
hoping to gain another ally
• England and France still attacked
Egypt, with a coordinated attack with
Israel in October 1956
• America refused to supply the allies with
Nasser and Khrushchev in 1956
oil and they had to withdraw after a week
• UN police force arrived to keep order
America Becomes Obsessed with
Middle Eastern Oil
• In 1940 the US still supplied 2/3 of the world’s oil and only
1/20 came from the Middle East
• By 1948 America became a net oil importer while the
Middle East increased oil production
• America worried about the Soviets gaining control of the
Middle East oil supply:
• Eisenhower Doctrine promised military and economic
aid to Middle Eastern countries threatened by
communism
• Helped Lebanon when Egypt and Communists were threatening it
in 1958
OPEC
• Middle Eastern countries weren’t really at risk from
communism (except Afghanistan later), but were at risk
from nationalism!
• They wanted control of their own oil (instead of Western
businesses) and took it
• OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
was formed in 1960
• Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela
• Would set oil prices and control trade, much to the chagrin of
America
Khrushchev in America - 1959
• Khrushchev wanted a
summit conference with
Western leaders
• Ike invited Khrushchev
to America
• K spoke to the UN and
promised complete
disarmament
• With no dates or plans…
• Meeting at Camp David
– nothing happened, but
people were happy
Nina Kukharchuk (Mrs. Khrushchev),
Mamie Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and
Ike
The United States’ Poor Choices in Latin
America
• Spent billions on Europe and only millions in Latin
America
• Did have the CIA lead coups
• CIA coup ousted a left leaning Guatemalan government
in 1954
• Supported Democratic leaders even if they were
butchers…
• Like Fulgencio Batista in Cuba
• Had gotten huge investments of American capital and
some government support
THE ARMS RACE AND
SPACE RACE
Whoever dies with the most toys wins…
The Arms Race
• USSR exploded their first atomic bomb 3 years
ahead of our expectations in September 1949
• They had spies within our Manhattan Project
• Truman therefore called for American development
of the H-Bomb (Hydrogen Bomb) which America
first tested in 1952
• The Soviets developed their own almost H-Bomb in
1953
• The arms race had begun even though a war at this
level of nuclear magnitude would destroy the world,
except for cockroaches and Twinkies…
The Arms Race
Arms Race—USA
• 1st Atomic Fission Bomb:
July 1945
• 1st Hydrogen Bomb:
November 1952
Arms Race—USSR
• 1st Atomic Fission Bomb:
August 1949
• 1st True Hydrogen Bomb:
November 1955
Tsar Bomba
The Space Race
• Both the Soviets and Americans had captured
German rocket technology at the fall of WWII.
• The development of long-range rockets to carry
nuclear warheads to the enemy was an important
part of the Cold War.
• This development was carried out through the
“Space Race” which was the competition between
both countries over space exploration
• A rocket that could carry a space shuttle or satellite
could carry a warhead wherever you wanted it to…
• America did not fare too well in the
The Space Race
Space Race.
• On October 4, 1957, the Soviets
launched the first satellite (Sputnik)
into space and America was
desperately far behind
• This caused panic in America since
Soviet rocket technology was
obviously superior
• US had to prevent the “missile gap”
from widening
• This is when American schools
began to focus on science and
math instead of anything else
(except foreign languages)
• NDEA National Defense and
Education Act (1958) was passed
to give scholarships to college
students in certain fields
The Space Race
• 1st Satellite in Orbit:
USSR: Sputnik: October
1957
• 1st Human in Space:
USSR: April 1961
• 1st Man on the Moon:
USA: July 1969
Nuclear Testing (5 min)
• Between America and
the Soviet Union it’s
amazing we all don’t
have 2 heads and fins…
• In October 1958, both
the USSR and USA
agreed to suspend
underground and
atmospheric testing (#2
and #3)
• Though inspections didn’t
happen because we hated
each other
JOHN F. KENNEDY
1961-1963
John F. Kennedy
• 43 when elected –
youngest president
ever
• Wealthy family
• Catholic
• Charming and young
and cute
• Smart - Harvard
• Surrounded himself by
intelligent young men
from the Ivy League
The New Frontier
• Medical insurance for the elderly (Medicare)
• Increase in Federal education expenditures
• Civil Rights Reform
• Stalled in Congress
• Peace Corps
• Tax Cut to stimulate the economy (example of how
he is still middle / conservative)
• Space Program – landing on the moon
Here Comes Castro
• At the age of 33, Dr. Fidel Castro
began a revolution to take control
of Cuba in 1959
• Spoke out against “Yankee
imperialists”
• Seized land for redistribution
• He was a communist…
• America stopped importing
Cuban sugar
• Washington broke diplomatic
relations with Cuba in 1961
• 750,000 Anti-Castro Cubans
have fled to America between
1960-1990
America’s Reaction to Castro
• US threatened to invoke the Monroe Doctrine because Cuba
was allied with USSR, but Khrushchev threatened bombing
America
• August 1960: America established the Organization of
American States to condemn communist infiltration in the
Americas
• Instituted a minor “Marshall” type plan for Latin America - $500 million
• In March 1960, Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to
secretly train Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow
Castro.
• The CIA assumed their invasion would start a mass anti-Castro
uprising.
• Kennedy was informed of this after taking office in January 1961.
• President Eisenhower cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba
in January 1961 during his last days in office.
Bay of Pigs – April 1961
• On April 17, 1961, over 1300 American trained Cuban exiles
landed on Cuba’s southern coast at the Bay of Pigs. Nothing
in the invasion went as planned:
• U.S. air strike failed to knock out the Cuban air force
• An advance distraction group never reached the shore
• When the troops landed, they faced 25,000 Cuban troops
supported by Soviet tanks and jets.
• The invading exiles were either killed or imprisoned.
• Castro celebrated the defeat of the “North American
mercenaries” and Kennedy was left embarrassed.
• The U.S. paid $62 million in food and medical supplies as
ransom for the surviving exiles.
The USSR Protects Cuba
• The Soviet Union
promised to defend
Cuba against further
attacks from the U.S.
with more arms.
• During the summer of
1962, the transport of
Soviet weapons,
including nuclear
missiles, to Cuba
increased greatly.
Castro and Khrushchev at the
UN 1960
The Cuban Missile Crisis – October 1962
• On October 14, 1962, U.S. planes photographed Soviet
missile bases in Cuba with missiles ready to launch.
• On October 22, Kennedy informed the nation of the
Soviet missile sites and his plans to remove them.
• Kennedy also stated that any missile attack from Cuba
would trigger a full attack on the Soviet Union.
• U.S. Navy ships prepared to quarantine Cuba and
prevent ships (especially USSR ships in the Atlantic)
from coming within 500 miles of the island.
• 100,000 American troops waited to deploy in Florida. The
world waited for the terrifying possibility of nuclear war
for the next 6 days – this was known as the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
Crisis Ends
• The first break occurred
when the Soviet ships in
the Atlantic stopped instead
of confronting the US Navy.
• A few days later
Khrushchev offered to
remove the missiles from
Cuba for an American
pledge not to invade Cuba.
America agreed and also
secretly agreed to remove
its missiles from Turkey.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis
was the closest the Cold
War ever came to being
“Hot”. Really close it turns
out…
• By 1961, Communist Germany
The Berlin Wall
was having problems.
• Almost 3 million East Germans –
20% of the population – had fled
into West Berlin to escape from
Communist rule.
• These refugees were an
embarrassment to Communist
East Berlin and severely
weakened that region’s
economy.
• The Soviet Union tried to solve
Kennedy at the Berlin Wall - June 1963
the problem by asking the
United States to leave West
Berlin.
• Kennedy refused and said that
Berlin was a “testing place of
Western courage and will.”
The Berlin Wall
• On August 13,
1961 – East
German troops
began to erect a
wall of concrete
posts and
barbed wire
along the border
in the city.
The Berlin Wall
• Within days the wall
was complete and
Berlin was divided.
• Armed guards along
the Berlin Wall slowed
the flow of refugees
between the cities, but
also became a symbol
of Communist
oppression.
The Berlin Wall
JFK’s Flexible Response
• Flexible Response became the
mantra instead of Dulles’ massive
retaliation
• America looking stupid by
either giving up or nuking
someone wasn’t a good
choice…
• Kennedy saw flexible response
as developing an array of military
options that could be used for
different situations
• Led to an increase in both
conventional forces and Special
Forces like the Green Berets
• Who apparently eat snakes…
Brigadier General
Yarborough and JFK in
1961 - Yarborough
helped Kennedy
coordinate the “Green
Beret” aspect of the
Special Forces’
uniform
THE VIETNAM WAR
BEGINS
Eisenhower and JFK
The Vietnam War - Background
• Post WWII: with U.S. aid, France attempted
re-colonization of “Indochina”
•
By 1954 America was financing 80% of
France’s war – about $1 billion in a year
• The French lost control to Ho Chi Minh’s Viet
Minh forces in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu
• President Eisenhower declined to intervene
on behalf of France. - Too soon after Korea
• Vietnam was divided at 17th parallel
• Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist forces controlled the
North
• Ngo Dinh Diem, a French-educated, Roman
Catholic claimed control of the South
• A date was set for democratic elections to
reunify Vietnam
• Diem backed out of the elections (knowing Ho
Chi Minh would win), leading to military
conflict between North and South
US Military Involvement Begins Under
Eisenhower
• Repressive dictatorial rule by Diem
• Diem’s family holds all power
• Wealth is hoarded by the elite
• Buddhist majority persecuted
• Torture, lack of political freedom prevail
• The U.S. aided Diem’s government
• Ike sent financial and military aid
• 675 U.S. Army advisors sent by 1960.
• SEATO created in late 1954 (SouthEast Asia Treaty
Organization) like NATO and included England, France,
and US
• Concerned about the “Domino Theory”
American Involvement Continues Under
JFK
• The US was still
supporting, right wing
Diem even though he
made an easy target for
North Vietnamese /
Communist propaganda.
• JFK increased the
amount of military
advisers (troops) to
Vietnam in 1961
Ngo Dinh Diem with Sec of State Dulles
in 1957
Buddhist Monks Protest Diem
• Diem was such an
oppressive leader that
Buddhist monks began to
burn themselves in the
street to protest his
religious restrictions
• Kennedy supported a coup
against Diem in 1963
which led to Diem’s death
• Both Ike and JFK
“escalated” America’s
involvement in Vietnam