Election of 1960 and theKennedy Years

Camelot and the Cold War

Election of 1960

• John Fitzgerald Kennedy– Democrat– Catholic– Senator from

Massachusetts

• Lyndon Johnson– Senator from Texas– VP Candidate

Election of 1960

• Richard Nixon– Republican– Former VP– Cold Warrior

• Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.– Defeated by JFK for

Mass. Senate

Issues

• Kennedy proposes “New Frontier”– Science and Technology– Close the Cold War gap with

Russians– Civil Rights

• Nixon – continue the peace and prosperity

Debates

• Four televised debates

• Kennedy more camera friendly

• Put Kennedy ahead

Results

Foreign Policy Approaches

• Peace Corps

• Alliance for Progress

• Isolate Cuba

Berlin Wall - 1961

• Soviet leader Khrushchev orders construction of a wall enclosing West Berlin

• July: Kennedy goes to Berlin

• Wall becomes symbol of the Cold War

“…the neutrality laws were never designed to prevent individuals from leaving the United States to fight for a cause in which they believed…nor is an individual prohibited from departing from the United States, with others of like belief, to join still others in a second country for an expedition against a third.

There is nothing criminal in an individual leaving the United States with the intent of joining an insurgent group. There is nothing criminal in his urging others to do so. There is nothing criminal in several persons departing at the same time.”

- Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, April 20, 1961

Cuba

Fidel Castro Nikita Krushchev John F. Kennedy

Cuba

• 1952– Coup by Gen. Batista leads to increased US

corporate investment and tourism– Batista is ruthless dictator

• 1956-1959– Fidel Castro leads successful communist

revolution– Nationalizes US companies

Cuba

• Bay of Pigs Invasion– April, 1961– Eisenhower had planned to aid Cuban

exiles to attack Castro– Kennedy is left with decision

• April 15: JFK gives permission for invasion• Decides to withdraw US air support• Invasion crushed

Cuba

• Cuban Missile Crisis–October 1962

–Soviets try to install missiles in Cuba

–Detected by US spy planes

Missile Crisis

– JFK orders blockade of Cuba

– After tense standoff, Soviets withdraw weapons• US promises not to

invade Cuba• Later, US

withdraws missiles from Turkey

Critical Thinking

• How would you characterize the US-Cuba relationship throughout history?