Transcript Bay of Pigs Invasion

Bay of Pigs Invasion
Presented by:
Alex Rigney
Questions That Will Be Answered
• What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?
• Who were the major players before, during,
and after the invasion?
• Who created this plan and why?
• Why was it a failure?
• What further implications did the invasion
have?
The Invasion Plans
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an operation carried out by CIA-trained
Cuban Exiles; their objective was to overthrow the regime of Fidel
Castro in Cuba by landing at the Bay of Pigs and causing an uprising
of the Cuban people
• After they succeeded defeating Fidel Castro, the United States
would install a pro-U.S. government in Cuba; Castro’s government
was a Socialist regime which aligned them with the United States’
enemy in the Cold War, the U.S.S.R. or Soviet Union.
• http://www.tubechop.com/watch/219613
April 17, 1961
• Twelve hundred Cuban exiles land at the Bay
of Pigs on the morning of April 17
• The rebels are immediately confronted by
Fidel Castro’s army; his army outnumbers the
exiles by the thousands
• After taking heavy casualties, the exiles
surrender and are taken prisoner by the
Castro regime
1
The Major Players in the
Invasion
1. President Dwight
“Ike” Eisenhower
2
2. President John F.
Kennedy
3
3. CIA Director Allen
Dulles
4. Cuban Premier Fidel
Castro
4
Ike & JFK
• U.S. President 1953-1961
• Supreme Commander of
Allied Forces in WWII and
later NATO
• Republican
• Favored covert operations
by the CIA to win the Cold
War
• U.S. President 1961-1963
• Democrat
• Favored massive military
buildup to combat Cold
War; eventually sought to
end Cold War peacefully
with U.S.S.R.
• Assassinated in 1963
*Eisenhower informs Kennedy, while he is the President-elect,
that the Bay of Pigs Invasion is being prepared to be executed
when he enters office in 1961
Allen Dulles
CIA Director 1953-1961
•Orchestrated various coups around the
world including Iran, Guatemala, and
Chile
•He often carried out operations
without President Kennedy’s approval
•Considered one of the crucial
foundations for the modern United
States intelligence community
•He is eventually forced to resign by
Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs Invasion
•He later serves on the Warren
Commission which investigates the
assassination of JFK
Fidel Castro
Cuban Premier 1959-2008
•Led a revolution in 1958 that
ousted pro-United States
dictator Fulgencio Baptista
•Installed a Socialist
government in Cuba 90 miles
from the United States; this
made Cuba an immediate
security threat to the United
States
•He successfully defeats the
Cuban Exiles at the Bay of Pigs,
but he continues to fear an
imminent U.S. invasion of Cuba
•Eventually he builds a secret
communication with Kennedy
before he is assassinated; the
two sides were preparing to
restore a friendship between
the two nations
The CIA’s Real Intentions
• Allen Dulles directs his Central Intelligence Agency to create a
plan that will oust Fidel Castro from power and reinstall a proU.S. leader
• Dulles and his assistant director, Richard Bissell, attempt to
convince President Kennedy to approve the plan; JFK has his
reservations about the plan
• Kennedy does not want the invasion to be traced back to the
United States if it fails; he is guaranteed by the CIA it will
succeed
• http://www.tubechop.com/watch/219630
The CIA’s Real Intentions (cont’d)
• CIA Director Dulles convinced President Kennedy to approve
the plan even though he knows the exiles cannot defeat Fidel
Castro’s forces without U.S. direct involvement
• And this is his plan: when the exiles have difficulty defeating
Castro and causing a Cuban uprising, the United States will
provide air support and eventually invade the island and
conquer it
• All of President Kennedy’s advisors and Joint Chiefs of Staff
favor an invasion of Cuba before and after the Bay of Pigs so
that Communism will be removed from that country
Dulles does not anticipate JFK’s stubbornness
President Kennedy’s Refusal
• Despite reports from the
Cuban exiles that they are
being defeated by Fidel
Castro, President Kennedy
refuses to send in the air
force to reinforce the exiles
• JFK shocks his advisors by
allowing Communism to
“triumph” in the incident
• This displays Kennedy’s
astonishing resiliency
against his closest advisors
A Reassuring Statement
• President Kennedy exposes himself to the
media to explain the Cuba situation:
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thsVoWNbmP
U&feature=related
• Despite the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion,
the United States will continue to make the
security of the nation their top priority
Taking the
Blame
•Statement released by the
White House following the
failure at the Bay of Pigs:
“President Kennedy has
stated from the beginning
that as president he bears
sole responsibility for the
events of the past few
days. He has stated it on all
occasions and he restated
it now so that it will be
understood by all.”
• Kennedy issues a statement
implicating himself for the
failure at the Bay of Pigs
• A week after the invasion,
JFK’s approval rating
actually rises to 83%; it
helped him gain a rapport
with the American people
• Secretly, he believes that
the CIA truly did not inform
him on the plans for the
invasion of the Bay of Pigs
CIA Resignations
• Director Allen Dulles,
Deputy Director of
Plans Richard Bissell,
and Deputy Director
Charles Cabell are
forced to resign due to
the failure
•JFK loses confidence in
the CIA for the remainder
of his Presidency
•He is famous for
declaring that he wanted
“to splinter the CIA into a
thousand pieces and
scatter it to the winds.”
Further Implications from the Bay of
Pigs Invasions
• John F. Kennedy includes his brother Robert Kennedy, the Attorney
General, in every decision making process from this point forward
due to a distrust with his advisors
• President Kennedy does weaken the CIA following the failed Bay of
Pigs Invasion by slashing their budget and installing a director he
believes will be more accountable
• Kennedy does authorize an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro; it’s
called Operation Mongoose
• Contrary to Operation Mongoose, JFK almost reaches a secret
friendship with Castro before he is assassinated
• The firing of Allen Dulles from the CIA could be a catalyst for JFK
assassination in 1963; there are conspiracy theories that implicate
the CIA and their former director in the murder of John F. Kennedy
Bibliography
Dallek, R. (2003). An unfinished life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963.
Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.
Douglass, J. W. (2008). JFK and the unspeakable: Why he died
and why it matters. Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books.
Golway, T. (2010). JFK day by day : a chronicle of the 1,036 days
of John F. Kennedy's presidency. Philadelphia, PA: Running
Press
Norton, M. B., & Norton, M. B. (2012). A people & a nation: A
history of the United States. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.