Chapter 17 – section 1

Kennedy Administration
Jan. 1961-Nov. 63
Obstacles Kennedy faced in
election
 Young – 43 years old – youngest
ever elected
 Catholic – every Pres. had been
Protestant afraid would be
controlled by Pope.
 Liberal – afraid he would not be
tough on Communists
Republican candidate in
1960?
 Richard Nixon – Eisenhower’s Vice
Pres.

 Kennedy won by a close margin

Kennedy used TV to
his advantage
 Hired professional TV
consultants
 Looked polished and

relaxed – makeup and clothes

 Looked into camera
 Youthful, handsome, well spoken

 Nixon was uncomfortable, sweaty

 Latin America

US intervened anywhere it had

interests (economic, political,
militarily)
In Guatemala, US overthrew
gov’t to protect the United Fruit
Company.
In Argentina, installed Pinochet.
CUBA
Cuba
Dominated by the US,
Castro overthrew Batista and
nationalized the land.
US protested by refusing to
by Cuban goods
CUBA
Cuba turned to Soviet Union for
help, who agreed in return for
their support in Cold War
SU now has ally near US
Cuba causes many problems
for US.
Bay of Pigs - April 17, 1961
 Eisenhower propsed a CIA plan for
military training for Cuban exiles against
Castro.
 Idea – Cubans would invade with US
help and the people of Cuba would
support them and Castro would be
overthrown.
Bay of Pigs result
 Failure
 They
miscalculated Castro’s communist
appeal
Berlin wall as a symbol of the
Cold War.
 Itseparated communism from
capitalism
 Symbolized capitalist freedom and
communisms closed society
 Had to build a wall to keep them in
Why did Khrushchev think
Kennedy was weak?
He did not use military force to
support the Bay of Pigs
invasion
How did the BOP contribute to
the CMC?
Cuba felt threatened and asked
the Soviets for help.
Soviets put missiles on Cuba 90
miles from US
US had missiles in Turkey
What caused the CMC?
US had missiles in Turkey
Cubans asked for help
Soviets placed nuclear missiles
in Cuba
What options did Kennedy
have?
Invade Cuba
Nuclear attack
Quarantine (blockade) boats
with missiles
What was the outcome of
CMC?
Soviets removed the missiles
US promised not to attack Cuba
Secretly US removed missiles
from Turkey
Lead to talks between the 2
countries
Khrushchev soon lost power
New Frontier
 Kennedy’s proposals to improve
country
 Help poor
 Improve economy – cut taxes, stimulate
economy
 Space – man on moon by end of decade

 MOST DIED IN CONGRESS (except for

the Space program) #7
Space race and the Cold war
 Missilescould be sent into space and
reenter anywhere.
Warren Supreme Court
 Liberal
 Changed towards individual rights
Gideon v Wainwright
All must be provided a lawyer
even if government has to pay
for it.
Who killed Kennedy? The
Assassin?
 Lee Harvey Oswald – Nov. 22 1963
Dallas, Tx. (pg 628 quote)
 Oswald Killed by Jack Ruby on his
way to prison, before he could talk

 Zapruder film, CD-Rom, audio

Warren Commission
 Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl
Warren formed a group to investigate
the assassination
 Commission ruled Oswald acted alone

 Conspiracy theories – who wanted him

dead?
Who followed Kennedy?
 VicePresident Lyndon Baines Johnson
from Texas
Why do people believe in a
conspiracy?