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301
History 8
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Kennedy’s Foreign Policy
Chapter 30-1 Abbreviated Lecture Notes
Pages 866 – 870
What do you know about early space exploration? Who was the first American
astronaut in space? Who was the first astronaut to land on the moon? What famous quote
was made when a man first stepped on the moon?
This section focuses on the crises faced by the Kennedy administration in Cuba
and Berlin.
New Directions
President John F. Kennedy tried new approaches, yet continued the anti
Communist foreign policy started by presidents Truman and Eisenhower. Kennedy
increased funding for nuclear weapons. At the same time, he tried to persuade the Soviet
Union to ban nuclear testing. America’s ability to respond to overseas threats improved.
Communist groups tried to take over their governments in different parts of the
world. They received help from the Soviet Union. These groups used guerrilla warfare,
surprise attacks by small groups. Special American military units were trained to fight
guerrilla wars under a plan called flexible response. These special forces included the
Green Berets. Special forces were prepared to fight guerrilla wars anywhere in the world.
In countries such as Latin America, Asia, and Africa where people were very
poor, promises of communism offered hope to the people. Kennedy believed that the way
to fight the spread of communism was to provide help to poverty-stricken countries. He
created the Peace Corps in March 1961, by executive order, which is a rule declared by
the president. By 1963 about 5,000 volunteers worked in more than 40 countries as
teachers, health workers, and advisers in farming, industry, and government. The
Alliance for Progress, a 10-year plan to assist Latin America’s growth, was proposed by
President Kennedy. He promised to help free people and free governments fight poverty.
By doing so, Kennedy hoped to prevent the spread of communism.
Cold War Confrontations
A foreign policy crisis erupted in Cuba shortly after Kennedy became president.
The United States and the Soviet Union also had a dispute in Europe. In 1959 Fidel
Castro became the leader of Cuba by force. The Soviet Union and Cuba formed an
alliance, or relationship. This alliance threatened the United States because Cuba is only
90 miles south of Florida. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the Eisenhower
administration created a plan to overthrow Castro.
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Kennedy took the advice of military advisers and the CIA and carried through with the
plan to overthrow Castro, even though he had his doubts. The CIA trained Cuban exiles
who were forced from their homes and settled in the United States. The United States
sent the specially trained Cuban refugees into Cuba in April 1961 to try to overthrow
Castro. They landed in southern Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Many mistakes were made.
Kennedy would not allow American air support. Cuban troops defeated the Cuban exiles
and the survivors were taken prisoner. The Bay of Pigs disaster caused Latin American
countries to distrust Kennedy. The Soviets viewed Kennedy as a weak leader. Kennedy
lost trust in his military advisers and the CIA. President Kennedy took the blame for the
embarrassing failure.
The Allies had still not settled the situation in Germany 16 years after World War
II. West Germany became independent in 1949. East Germany was still under Soviet
control. Berlin, in the center of East Germany, was still divided between the Soviets and
American, British, and French troops. Many people from East Berlin fled to West Berlin
to escape poverty and to find freedom. Soviet Premier Khrushchev talked to President
Kennedy at the June 1961 summit in Vienna, Austria. He said that the West had to move
out of Berlin by the end of the year. Kennedy refused. The East German government
closed the border between East and West Berlin in August with the help of the Soviets. A
huge cement wall with barbed wire on top was built by the East German government
along the border between East and West Berlin. This Berlin Wall closed off all
communication between the two parts of the city. It became a symbol of Communist
oppression.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
In mid-October 1962, an American spy plane took pictures of Soviets building
launching sites for nuclear missiles in Cuba. Nuclear missiles launched from Cuba could
hit the United States. Kennedy and his advisers met secretly to plan what they would do
about the Cuban missile crisis. They discussed invading Cuba and bombing the missile
sites. The missile sites were being finished more quickly than expected. President
Kennedy told the American people on television that Soviets were secretly building up
their supply of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The United States Navy closed off, or
blockaded, Cuba. Kennedy promised to destroy any Soviet ship that attempted to break
through the blockade. He also promised that the United States would consider an attack
on any country from bases in Cuba to be an attack on the United States.
Kennedy warned that the United States would fire nuclear missiles at the Soviet
Union if this happened. Khrushchev sent ships toward the blockade anyway. Some ships
carried missiles. The whole world waited nervously while the two largest world powers
appeared headed for nuclear war. Two days after Kennedy’s warning, some Soviet ships
turned around. Others kept going. The United States planned to attack Soviet missile sites
in Cuba from the air. There were five days of tension as the world waited for a nuclear
war. Then the Soviet ships turned back, and Soviet leaders agreed to remove their nuclear
missiles from Cuba.
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Wanting to avoid a nuclear disaster in the future, leaders from the United States
and the Soviet Union worked on improving their relationship. A hot line, or direct
telephone connection between Moscow and Washington, D.C., was established in the
summer of 1963. Kennedy and Khrushchev were then able to speak with each other
immediately in the event of a crisis. Both countries signed a treaty agreeing to ban
nuclear testing on land or underwater.
The rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union turned toward outer
space. The Soviet Union started the space race with the launch of the first successful
satellite, Sputnik, in 1957. Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, orbited the earth in April
1961. The United States sent the first American, Alan Shepard, Jr., into space a month
later. Kennedy challenged Americans to put a man on the moon and return him to Earth
within the decade. Congress approved additional funding for the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA). The launching facility in Florida was expanded. A
control center was built in Houston, Texas. John Glenn became the first American to
orbit the earth in 1962. In July 1969, the American Apollo Project spacecraft Eagle
landed on the moon. Americans watched television in amazement as fellow American,
Neil Armstrong, became the first person to step on the moon.
Americans listened as Armstrong announced, “That’s one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.” Ten more Americans landed on the moon before the Apollo
Project ended in 1972.
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