Kennedys Foreign Policies 2

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Kennedys Foreign Policies 2
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Cuban missile crisis

• 1962 photographs revealed the USSR were
  constructing missile bases in Cuba
• The world held its breath as the two superpowers
  were on the brink of nuclear war

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Cuban Missile Crisis

• Kennedy faced a dilemma
• if the U.S. attacked the sites it might have led
  to nuclear war with the U.S.S.R.
• If the U.S. did nothing, it would have the threat
  of nuclear weapons within its region

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What happened?

• Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine
• He began negotiations with Khrushchev
• Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles
• the U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba,
  and also secretly promised to remove U.S.
  ballistic missiles from Turkey within six months.

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Cuban missile crisis

• I think the other fellow just blinked US
  secretary of State
• Explain what Rusk meant by this statement

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Blackest hour of the crisis

• After responding to USSR a US reconnaissance
  plane was shot down over Cuba
• The military urged an invasion but Robert Kennedy
  convinced his brother to ignore the incident

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Improved relations

• Having come so close to nuclear war Kennedy and
  Khrushchev installed a hot line to ensure they
  could communicate instantly in future crises
• However the arms race continued