Title: JFK
1JFK the Cold War
2JFK and the Cold War
- And so, my fellow Americans ask not what your
country can do for you--ask what you can do for
your country. My fellow citizens of the world
ask not what America will do for you, but what
together we can do for the freedom of man.
- JFK Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
3The Election of 1960
- TV Debate Impacts Voters
- JFK
- wealthy, handsome, charismatic
- Only 43
- Roman Catholic
- Kennedy looked and spoke better than Nixon, but
weak against Communism - Nixon more experienced
- 8 years as Vice President
- Former Governor
- Huge Anti-Communist
4TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTE
- On September 26, 1960, Kennedy and Nixon took
part in the first televised debate between
presidential candidates - Kennedy looked and spoke better than Nixon
- Journalist Russell Baker said, That night, image
replaced the printed word as the national
language of politics
5JFK CONFIDENT, AT EASE DURING DEBATES
- Television had become so central to people's
lives that many observers blamed Nixon's loss to
John F. Kennedy on his poor appearance in the
televised presidential debates - JFK looked cool, collected, presidential
- Nixon, according to one observer, resembled a
"sinister chipmunk"
6Kennedy and Civil Rights
- King arrested
- Nixon took no public position
- JFK telephoned Coretta to express sympathy
- Bobby Kennedy (RFK) persuaded the judge who had
sentenced King to release him on bail (helps JFK
appeal to the African-American community) - JFK won by fewer than 119,000 votes
71960 Presidential Election
8THE CAMELOT YEARS
- During his term in office, JFK and his beautiful
young wife, Jacqueline, invited many artists and
celebrities to the White House - press portrayed the Kennedys as a young,
attractive, energetic, and stylish couple with
attention to arts and culture and an average
every-day family - The press loved the Kennedy charm and JFK
appeared frequently on T.V. - The Kennedys were considered American Royalty
(hence Camelot reference)
9THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE
- The first family fascinated the American public
- For example, after learning that JFK could read
1,600 words a minute, thousands enrolled in
speed-reading courses - Jackie, too, captivated the nation with her eye
for fashion and culture
10THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
- JFK surrounded himself with what one journalist
described as the best and the brightest
available talent - Of all of his elite advisors who filled Kennedys
inner circle, he relied most on his 35-year-old
brother Robert, whom he appointed attorney general
RFK was Johns closest friend and advisor
11The Best and the Brightest
- McGeorge Bundy NSA
- Robert McNamara Secretary of Defense
- Dean Rusk Secretary of State
- Robert Kennedy Attorney General
- Had no previous law experience
12A New Military Policy
- Flexible response increased defense spending in
order to boost conventional military forces
nonnuclear forces such as troops, ships, and
artillery and to create an elite branch of the
army called the Special Forces, or Green Berets.
He also tripled the overall nuclear capabilities
of the U.S. - Goal allow the U.S. to fight limited wars
around the world while maintaining a nuclear
balance of power with the Soviets
13Flexible Response
- Challenged Eisenhowers idea of massive
retaliation - Pushed for the use of conventional weaponry and
military to combat Communism - U.S. couldnt rely on nuclear arsenal to protect
itself
14Alliance for Progress
- JFKs pledge of support for Latin America
- Considered a Marshall Plan for brown people
- 20 billion to support internal improvements
- Supported education and schools
- Built hospitals and promote health care
- Helped distribute land
- Pros helped some
- Cons much abuse and corruption
15Crises over Cuba
- The Cuban dilemma
- Fidel Castro comes to power in 1959
- Puts on mass public trials and executions
- U.S. denounces Cuba and accepts thousands of
Cuban refugees - Castro seizes U.S. businesses and Eisenhower cuts
off imports of Cuban sugar - 1960 Cuba signs a trade treaty with the Soviet
Union
16The Bay of Pigs
- In March 1960 Ike orders CIA to train Cuban
exiles for an invasion of their homeland - JFK notified of plan 9 days into his presidency
- JFK continues with the plan
- The plan day before the invasion, planes would
attempt to wipe out Castros air force, then
exiles would land at the beach, and the Cuban
people would rise up against Castro and overthrow
him
17Bay of Pigs (Cont.)
- Plan failed JFK failed to provide the necessary
resources to help the exiles and they were
rounded up by Castros men - It turned out to be a disaster when in April,
1961, 1,200 Cuban exiles met 25,000 Cuban troops
backed by Soviet tanks and were soundly defeated
We looked like fools to our friends, rascals to
our enemies and incompetents to the rest Quote
from U.S. Commentator
18Operation Mongoose
- JFK goes ahead with a plan called Operation
Mongoose in which govt agents worked to disrupt
the islands trade and continued working with
mobsters to assassinate Castro - Castro survives more than 600 assassination
attempts created by the CIA - Examples Exploding cigar, poisoned wetsuit,
poisoned milkshake, exploding conch shell, etc.
19The Cuban Missile Crisis
- In an attempt to counter any new American
intervention and to improve the Soviet position
in the nuclear arms race, Castro and Kruschchev
devised a daring plan installation of Soviet
missiles and nuclear bombers in Cuba
20Cuban Missile Crisis
- Oct. 14, 1962 U-2 flights showed 65 sites for
offensive medium-range ballistic missiles could
reach the U.S. in 3 minutes - When surveillance photos revealed nukes ready to
launch in Cuba, JFK said the U.S. would respond
to any attack from Cuba with an all-out nuclear
retaliation against the Soviets - JFK ordered a naval quarantine of the island
(used the word quarantine rather than
blockade since blockade was an act of war) - Oct. 22 went on national television informing
the Soviets of American policy and demanded their
retreat - American forces around the globe went on alert
- The world was on the brink of nuclear war
21Nuclear Chicken
- JFK pushes for naval blockade
- Goal
- Seize any ships going into/out of Cuba
- Force the immediate removal of missiles
- The Problem
- A direct attack on Soviets would be an act of war
- The existence of the missiles were an act of war
2213 DAYS
- For 13 days in October, 1962 the world stood
still as the threat of nuclear war gripped the
planet - War seemed imminent
- The first break in the crisis occurred when the
Soviets ships turned back from the blockade
23Cuban Missile Crisis (Cont.)
- Eventually, the Presidents had worked out a
secret agreement - Khrushchev said that he would remove the missiles
if the U.S. agreed not to attack Cuba and removed
its missiles from Turkey - Kennedy publicly agreed to the 1st and privately
to the second - Was this necessary? Should Kennedy have gone on
T.V. or negotiated privately?
24The Fallout
Were eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other
fellow just blinked. Dean Rusk, Secretary of
State
- Russia blinks!
- Russia removes missiles from Cuba
- U.S. removes missiles from Turkey
- Quarantine ends, but embargo begins
- The Problems
- Khrushchev forced from office
- Kremlin begins nuclear expansion
- U.S. and Russia agree to test ban treaty
- Establish direct communication link the red
phone
25CRISIS OVER BERLIN
- In 1961, Berlin, Germany was a city in great
turmoil - In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift, almost
3 million East Germans (Soviet side) had fled
into West Berlin (U.S. controlled) to flee
communist rule
26SOVIETS SEEK TO STOP EXODUS
- The Soviets did not like the fact that East
Berliners were fleeing their city for the
democratic west - Their departure hurt the economy and the prestige
of the USSR - Just after midnight on August 13, 1961 the
Soviets began construction of a 90-mile wall
separating East and West Berlin
East Germany begins construction on the Berlin
Wall, which becomes a primary symbol of the Cold
War and Soviet oppression
27Trying to Ease Tensions
- Both Khrushchev and Kennedy began searching for
ways to ease the enormous tension between the two
superpowers - Two Agreements
- 1. Direct hotline between the White House and
the Kremlin - 2. Signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty
called for an end to all nuclear tests in the
ocean, the atmosphere and outer space by the
end of the year, 113 other nations had signed the
treaty
28The New Frontier
- Bold, new domestic programs
- Education
- Welfare
- Health Care
- Elderly Assistance
- Inner-Cities
- Continue FDRs social action
29New Frontier Goals
- Provide medical care for elderly
- Rebuild urban areas
- Education (focusing on Math Science)
- Bolster national defense
- Increase international aid
- Expand space program
30JFKs Problems
- Small Democratic majority in Congress
- Barely won the presidency
- Congress didnt support policies
- Christian Southern Conservative Democrats didnt
like him - Republicans werent supportive either
- Battled high inflation
- Contending in conflicts in Cuba, Berlin, and
Vietnam - Most legislation would NOT pass
31The Peace Corps
- JFKs call for American international
volunteerism - The Peace Corps is a volunteer program to assist
developing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin
America - The commitment
- Spend 2 years in developing nations
- Specialize in education, agriculture, irrigation,
sewage treatment, or health care - Promote democracy and American influence
- Remains one of the most lasting legacys of JFKs
presidency
32RACE TO THE MOON
- On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
became the first human in space - Meanwhile, Americas space agency (NASA) began
construction on new launch facilities in Cape
Canaveral, Florida and a mission control center
in Houston, Texas
33The Space Race
- JFKs promise to be the first to the moon
- 1962 NASA sends John Glenn, first American in
space - Used Saturn V rocket to propel out of Earths
orbit - 1969 Saturn V rocket launches Apollo 11
- First successful moon landing
- Neal Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins
34A MAN ON THE MOON
Armstrong
- By July 20, 1969, the U.S. would achieve its goal
- An excited nation watched as U.S. astronaut Neil
Armstrong took the first steps on the moon - Space and defense-related industries sprang up in
Southern and Western states - Kennedys vision succeeded
One small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind
35KENNEDY ADDRESSES INNER CITY BLIGHT AND RACISM
- In 1963, Kennedy called for a national assault
on the causes of poverty - He also ordered his brother, Attorney General
Robert Kennedy to investigate racial injustice in
the South - Finally, he presented Congress with a sweeping
civil rights bill and a sweeping tax cut bill to
spur the economy
36The Arrival in Dallas
- JFK, LBJ, and families arrive in Dallas for a
political rally - The families separate for an escorted drive in
downtown Dallas - Shots fired JFK shot in the head and the throat
- Eyewitnesses argue about the number and locations
of shots
37JFK SHOT TO DEATH
- As the motorcade approached the Texas Book
Depository, shots rang out - JFK was shot in the neck and then the head
- His car was rushed to a nearby hospital where
doctors frantically tried to revive him - President Kennedy was dead (11/22/63)
38Assassinated
- Assassinated November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas,
in an event that shook the nations confidence
and began a period of internal strife and
divisiveness, especially spurred by divisions
over US involvement in Vietnam.
39The Plot Thickens
- The Birth of a Conspiracy
- Lee Harvey Oswald had connections with Russia and
supported the revolution in Cuba - Arrested 80 minutes after the assassination
- Evidence found at the Book Repository, where he
shot Kennedy - Oswald shot by Jack Ruby, 2 days later
40The Big Questions
- Why did Lee Harvey Oswald kill Kennedy?
- Why did Jack Ruby kill Oswald?
- Was this part of a larger conspiracy?
41Sunday, 24 November, 1963 On Sunday morning,
while millions watched on TV, Oswald was murdered
in the basement of a Dallas jail by Jack Ruby,
the owner of a Dallas strip-tease joint called
the Carousel . Rumors spread rapidly, and a
shocked nation demanded answers.
Jack Ruby, right, shoots Oswald, center, to death
11/24/63
42Three-year old John Kennedy Jr. salutes his
fathers coffin during the funeral
43LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON BECOMES PRESIDENT
- The Vice-President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, became
President after JFK was assassinated - The nation mourned the death of the young
president while Jackie Kennedy remained calm and
poised
A somber LBJ takes the oath of office aboard Air
Force One with the Jackie next to him
44The Warren Commission
- Chief Justice Earl Warren starts federal
investigation - Goal
- Prevent speculation about conspiracy
4524 September, 1964 After ten months of secret
hearings, Chief Justice Earl Warren presented the
Commissions report to President Johnson. The
Commission found that Oswald, acting alone, had
assassinated President Kennedy. Mainstream media
hailed it as the most massive, detailed and
convincing piece of detective work ever
undertaken, unmatched in the annals of fact
finding.
4624 November, 1964
The US government releases 26 volumes of
testimony and exhibits which contained the
evidence on which the Warren Report was
purportedly based. The New York Times reported
that the 26 volumes overwhelmingly supported the
conclusions of the Warren Commissions Report
that the assassination was no conspiracy but the
work of one unhappy man, Lee Harvey Oswald.
47WARREN COMMISSION FINDINGS
1. There were three shots fired and which struck
Kennedy.
2. The shots came from the sixth floor of the
Texas School Book
depository building.
3. One shot fired passed through Kennedy and
struck Governor
Connally.
4. The shots were fired by a lone gunman, Lee
Harvey Oswald.
5. The killing of Kennedy was due purely to a
lone-nut assassin.
48The Legacy of the assassination
- Devastated the country and shocked the world
- Seemed to end the dream of innocence of the 1950s
- Coincided with a broader wave of social change
the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement,
escalation in Vietnam, and the Free-Speech and
Anti-War Movements - LBJ becomes president and will take a stronger
position on Vietnam and Civil Rights