Download File

Kennedy’s Cabinet
Table of Contents
Letter from Chair ​p. 3
Background to the Committee
Position Paper Format for JCC ​p. 3-5
The US National Security Council ​p. 5-6
Background ​p. 6-7
Topic 1: Berlin (East Germany/West Germany)
Germany After WWII ​p. 7-8
Berlin Blockade and Airlift ​p. 8-9
Formation of NATO ​p. 9-10
Topic 2: Arms Race
Nuclear Technology​ p.​ ​9-10
Cuban Revolution ​p. 11-12
Bay of Pigs ​p. 12-13
Positions ​p. 13-17
Letter from the Chair
Hi delegates! My name is Michelle Dong and I am a sophomore at Herricks High School.
I’ve been doing MUN since the beginning of freshman year and I haven’t looked back since. I
am so glad that you can join us tonight for HMUNC XI. Over the years, HMUNC has grown so
much and you should be proud that you are able to be a part of Herricks history. Whether you are
experienced or a beginner at MUN, you will for sure be able to participate in this exciting crisis
committee. We will be debating in a JCC, or a Joint Crisis Committee, of Kennedy vs. Kremlin.
Don’t worry about procedure or memorizing specific information. Instead, make this crisis your
own since you will be deciding the fate of the world. Be sure to remember that in crisis debates,
delegates are able to form their own agendas and make actions as the debate progresses. Just
remember to have fun!
How to write a Crisis Position Paper:
Position papers may seem intimidating, especially if you’ve never written one. Position
papers should include a brief introduction and a comprehensive breakdown of your country's
position on the topics that are being discussed in committee. A good position paper will not only
provide facts but also make proposals for resolutions. These papers should only be around one
page in length - get right to the point but do not only include only facts or only opinions.
For this specific JCC, position papers must be written in ​first-person format, in the time
period the committee is taking place in​. For example, in this committee, the Cuban Missile
Crisis has not yet happened. Therefore, you can not mention it in the paper In this case,
delegates are not representing countries, but rather, individuals. You are a member of the
Kennedy administration: you need to keep the best intentions of the USA in mind when
suggestions actions and defining your position, not your personal opinions as a student.
A position paper should follow this format:
Paragraph 1: General Introduction
❖ Overall background on your person’s position on the topic
❖ General background on your person and an introduction to his/her role in the Kennedy
administration and his/ her relationship with the President
❖ Citations from any major documents such as the US Constitution
(http://constitutionus.com/)
❖ Explain why this issue is controversial to this committee, how it will affect the
individuals within the committee, and the effect on the Soviet Union as a whole against
the United States.
Paragraph 2: Past Action
❖ Try and refer to actions that your specific person or department has taken in precedent to
this issue.
❖ Delve deeper into your specific department to find previous actions taken; if possible,
find documents that relate to the issue, or even newspaper articles from the time period.
Paragraph 3: Future Action/In-Committee Plan
❖ What would your person like to accomplish in the committee? Are your overall goals to
be to more moderate to attain diplomatic friendliness with USSR, or will you double
down to try and actively compete with USSR?
❖ What actions will your person take in the form of committee directives and actions, and
personal directives?
❖ THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION OF THE PAPER.
The United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council was created in 1947. The NSC is chaired by
the president, and is regularly attended by the Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of the
Treasury, Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security affairs.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the primary military advisor to the council, and the
Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The heads of other executive
departments and agencies are invited to any NSC meeting pertaining to their responsibilities. The
council’s primary function is to advise and assist the President in integrating all aspects of
national security and international affair policies as they affect the United States.
Background to the Cold War
The Cold War is the term used to describe the ideological and political conflict between
capitalism​ and communism​ that began after World War II, came to a close in 1945,“ending” with
the collapse of the USSR in 1991; however, there is still tension present between the two
ideologies. The Cold War saw the rise and fall of different super powers. Throughout the world,
the USSR vocalized the successes of Communism, helping countries implement this type of
government. The U.S. worked equally as hard in promoting a capitalist economic system usually
within the framework of a democratic government; however, the US was willing to support any
government that was not Communist. The Cold War is characterized by the threats of mutually
assured destruction, which are based on the threat of nuclear war and proxy wars. In these proxy
wars, the world’s two major superpowers (the US and the USSR) did not fight each other
directly, but rather they supported the opposition side in the conflict to the other with weapons
and sometimes even the deployment of troops (Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan). The tension
between the United States and the USSR existed before WWII due to the fact that deep
differences existed in the contrasting natures of their individual ideologies. They joined forces
to fight their common enemy, fascism, during WWII.However, once victory was secured,
clashing ideas and disagreements regarding the plans for a post WWII Europe led to a restoration
of previous mistrust. The Cold War will outlast more than one leader, spanning nearly five
decades.
Topic 1: Berlin (East Germany/West Germany)
Division of Germany and Berlin
Germany After WWII
Following World War II, Germany was divided into an East and a West as mentioned
earlier. In addition, Berlin itself was divided into an East Berlin controlled by the Soviets and a
West Berlin controlled by the US, Britain, and France. Soon after the Western allies had
consolidated their zones of occupation, they began reforming the German currency as part of a
plan to revive the German economy. The Soviets were extremely alarmed at the prospect of a
strong Germany, seeing as they had already been twice invaded by Germany. The USSR
responded by introducing their own currency for East Germany. This was also a response to the
introduction of the Marshall Plan and the announcement of the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall
Plan, named after Secretary of State George Marshall, was an economic recovery and financial
aid package for the struggling nations of Europe which had been devastated by World War II.
The rationale behind the plan was that a successful and thriving Europe would be less prone to
the adoption of communism. The plan lasted from 1947 to 1951. This anti-communist position
was cemented with the announcement of the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The Truman Doctrine
was a doctrine established by President Harry Truman and can be summed up in his words
addressing a joint session of Congress; “It must be the policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”
In other words, we adopted a foreign policy of containment of communism.
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
US Planes Respond with Airlift of Supplies
All of this pushed the Soviets into action in June 1948, when they imposed a blockade on
West Berlin by cutting off all routes into West Berlin. They cut off entrance through the roads
and the railways. The 2.5 million people living in West Berlin were cut off from food and other
necessary supplies. The threat of widespread starvation was high. The Western allies decided to
respond with a massive airlift of supplies into West Berlin. American and British planes
successfully carried over two millions of supplies in over 270,000 flights. The Soviet blockade
was a failure and the USSR lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949. The Berlin Blockade and
subsequent airlift represented the major conflict between us and the USSR. Since then, Berlin
and the Berlin airlifts have become symbols of our resolve to stand up to the Soviets. However,
the situation in Germany is far from resolved as Germany remains a nation divided, both by
border and by ideology.
Formation of NATO/Warsaw Pact
In light of Soviet expansion into Eastern Germany as well as the fact that the Soviets had
developed nuclear weapons, we took action to protect ourselves and other non-communist
nations by forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. This organization is a
military alliance of 12 non-communist nations, including the United States, in Europe and North
America. All members of the organization have agreed to defend each other in case of Soviet
attack. An attack on one nation is considered to be an attack on all the nations in the alliance.
The countries included in NATO are us, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey, and West
Germany. The Soviet opposition to NATO is the Warsaw Pact, created in 1955. The Warsaw
Pact is a military alliance that exists between the Soviet Union and its seven satellites. The
nations under the Warsaw Pact are the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. With Western Europe under NATO and Eastern
Europe under the Warsaw Pact, Europe is divided by what Churchill once famously called, the
“iron curtain.” These two opposing alliances and division of Europe truly outlines the ongoing
battle between democracy and free markets versus communism
Topic 2: The Arms Race
Nuclear Technology
Cold War US nuclear bomb (B53)
Following World War II, the nature of war underwent a fundamental change. Just as
open battlefields and cavalry charges were replaced by trenches and machine guns in World War
I, the use of vehicles such as tanks, ships, and airplanes operated by people was beginning to be
overtaken by a new technology. The arms race began during WWII and it was between us and
Germany. After the war, we and the Soviets divided up the remaining Nazi nuclear scientists
depending on where they had lived at the end of the war. These scientists helped us develop our
new weapons technology. This new technology was shown by the use of atomic weapons by the
United States at Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Afterwards, the
development of nuclear weapons by both us and the Soviet Union quickly began to skyrocket.
Along with the development of these weapons both we and the Soviet Union wanted to place our
nuclear weapons in close proximity to our rival in case of nuclear war. We decided to place
many of our nuclear weapons in Turkey, a close neighbor of the USSR, and the Soviet Union
may take advantage of the recent Communist revolution in Cuba to place nuclear weapons in
Cuba, just 90 miles away from our shores. With heightened tensions between our two
superpower nations, the arms race represents a competition for supremacy in the form of nuclear
weaponry.
Our nuclear weapons serve mainly as a deterrent. The purpose of deterrence is to serve
as a large enough threat that the opposing party, whether it be us or the USSR, is convinced to
refrain from military action for fear of nuclear retaliation. A good deterrent must always be
ready to be used but never actually used. The use of nuclear deterrents is backed by the theory of
mutually assured destruction or MAD. MAD states that in the event of a global nuclear war, all
opposing sides would be completely and utterly destroyed. This idea, coupled with the existence
of vast nuclear weapons arsenals has been enough to prevent global nuclear war for now.
Cuban Revolution
A victorious Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution
A major revolution has occurred on the island of Cuba, a long-term American ally in both
business and politics, in which rebel leader Fidel Castro was able to take power. On December
2, 1956, Fidel Castro, the rebel leader and 82 other Communist revolutionaries landed in Cuba to
oppose Fulgencio Batista, the long-term Cuban strongman. Batista was supported by the US
government based on a close relationship established in the 1890s during the Spanish American
war. Due to strong ties with Cuba, US companies controlled much of its agricultural land.
Batista's forces handled the rebels with ease, however most of the important leaders made their
way into the Sierra Maestra mountains. The rebel forces began to rely on the peasants in small
villages for support. Batista ruthlessly attacked pro-Castro towns, which only stirred up more
support Castro and his rebels. On May 24, 1958, Batista launched Operación Verano. With
seventeen battalions, tanks, planes, and ships, they planned to enter the Sierra Maestra
Mountains in hopes of capturing the rebel leaders. Though greatly outnumbered, the rebels were
able to push Batista’s soldiers back. Batista's army was unprepared for the fighting conditions
and the guerilla style of warfare. After continuous fighting Batista and his generals decided the
situation was hopeless. Batista fled to Spain, and Santa Clara was taken by Che Guevara (a close
advisor and general for Castro) and his army who then turned towards Havana. Santiago was
surrendered without a fight. Castro's forces occupied the city, bringing their military victory to a
close.
After the revolution, Castro established himself as the dictator of a now communist Cuba.
Being only approximately 90 miles from the United States coastline, Cuba’s proximity makes it
a potential threat to our peace and security. It is not advisable to continue to allow a communist
nation to exist so close to us.
Bay of Pigs
Following the Communist take over of Cuba, Fidel Castro
forged strong economic ties with the Soviet Union. In
addition, Cuba’s strong links with with the US were severed
after the government nationalized American economic
assets, such as banks, sugar plantations, and oil refineries,
which means that they became state-owned by the Cuban
government. The President of the US at the time, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, was very concerned with the direction Cuba’s
government was heading, so in March 1961 he allocated
funds to the CIA to plan the overthrow of Castro’s regime.
This was later authorized by Kennedy early in his term as president. The CIA trained Cuban
exiles and opposers of the Castro regime. When the exiles landed on coast of southern Cuba (at a
beach known as the Bay of Pigs), they were far outnumbered
by Castro’s military; over 20,000 soldiers were sent. This
failed invasion made Castro concerned that a more organized
military effort was forth-coming from the United States and he
appealed for military support from the Soviet Union. This
provides the Soviets with the opportunity to put nuclear
warheads 90 miles from the United States.
At the same time, under the Kennedy administration,
Jupiter missiles with a range of 1,500 miles, have been
deployed in Western Europe to protect it from a possible
Soviet invasion. 30 Jupiter missiles have been placed in Italy and another 15 are deployed in
Turkey alone. Tensions between the two nations are at their highest. War between Cuba and the
United States would mean war between the Soviets and the United States. Delegates, it is your
job to prevent the issue from resulting in a nuclear war.
Questions to Consider:
● How should the international community respond to the standoff in Cuba?
● Should the US and the Soviets be required to remove their nuclear warheads from
such close proximity to each other?
● Should sanctions be placed on either party for bringing the world to the brink of
nuclear war
Positions
● National Security Advisor- McGeorge Bundy-​ You will serve as the chief advisor to
the President on issues of national security. You will able to suggest courses of action to
me and update me with key information.
● Secretary of State- Dean Rusk-​ You will serve as the President’s chief foreign affairs
adviser. You will have the power to personally negotiate treaties and such agreements
with members of the USSR committee. You will also have the power to interpret
existing treaties and terminate them if you so choose.
● Secretary of the Treasury- C. Douglas Dillon-​ It is your duty to develop plans to
increase our country’s income. It is also your job to manage revenue and control
government debt. You also will serve as the US representative to various international
finance groups such as the International Monetary Fund and several development banks.
You will have the power to draft and present financial legislation.
● Secretary of Defense- Robert McNamara-​ You will serve as the principal defense
policy adviser to the President. You have the power to formulate defense policy and
control the execution of these policies. It is your duty to ensure that America remains
safe and prepared in the case of military conflict.
● Secretary of Commerce- Luther H. Hodges-​ You have the duty of promoting economic
growth and job creation in the US. In addition, you have the duty to strengthen the US’s
international economic position and facilitate global trade by opening up new markets for
US goods and services. You also must control our nation’s resources. You have the
power to craft and introduce legislation regarding these issues.
● Secretary of Labor- Arthur Goldberg-​ You have the ability to draft and suggest
legislation involving workers’ unions, workplaces and working conditions, and all other
issues regarding workers’ rights and benefits. You also are in charge of ensuring that
America’s workers are content and fairly treated.
● Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare- Abraham A. Ribicoff-​ You are the
President’s top adviser on matters of health, welfare, education, and income security
programs. You can draft and suggest legislation regarding these issues. You must
protect the health of all Americans and ensure the availability of essential human
services.
● Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff- Lyman Lemnitzer-​ You are the most senior
ranking member of the Armed Forces. This means that you are also the principal military
adviser to the President. You may seek counsel from other members of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff to improve your advice. You have the power to transmit communications to the
commanders of the various combatant commands. However, you do not have the power
to exercise military command over any combatant forces.
● Secretary of the Navy- John B. Connally Jr.- ​You have complete command over all
affairs of the Department of the Navy which consists of the United States Navy and the
United States Marine Corps. Activities that are controlled by you include recruitment,
training, organizing, supplying, mobilizing, and demobilizing. You are also responsible
for the formulation and implementation of programs and policies that are consistent with
national objectives stated by the President.
● Chief of Naval Operations- George W. Anderson Jr.-​ You are the most senior
uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. You are one of the
most important military advisers and the highest-ranking active duty in the U.S. Navy.
You are also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Under the Secretary of the Navy, you
have the power to designate naval personnel and naval resources to the combatant
commanders.
● Director of Central Intelligence- John McCone-​ You are the head of the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA). This means that you have the power to direct the CIA’s
action. You manage the operations, personnel, and budget of the CIA. You have the
power to determine what actions the CIA takes with the sole approval of the President.
● Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration- James E.
Webb-​ You are the head of NASA. You lead the NASA team and manage its resources
to advance the agency’s missions and goals for American space exploration. You also
serve as the most senior space science adviser to the President. You have the power to
determine what actions NASA takes with the sole approval of the President.
● Chief of Staff of the Army- George H. Decker-​ You are a four-star general and the
highest ranking active-duty officer in the U.S. Army. You do not have any operational
command authority over Army forces. However, you have the power to exercise
supervision of Army units and organizations.
● Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force- Curtis Lemay-​ You are the most senior
uniformed officer assigned to serve in the United States Air Force. You are one of the
most important military advisers to the Secretary of Defense and the President. You do
not have any operational command authority over Air Force forces. However, you have
the power to exercise supervision of Air Force units and organizations.
● Ambassador to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics- Llewellyn E. Thompson Jr.You are America’s highest ranking diplomat other than the Secretary of State when it
comes to dealing with the Soviet Union. It is your job to maintain communications and
diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. You will have the power to send
communications directly to the Soviets and receive private communications.
● United States Attorney General-​ ​Robert F. Kennedy- ​You represent the United States
in legal matters generally. You are the head of the Department of Justice and the chief
law enforcement officer of the federal government. You also are responsible for
providing the President and other executive department heads with legal advice and
opinions. As JFK’s brother, your suggestions will be highly regarded.
● Secretary of the Interior- Stewart Lee Udall- ​You are the head of the Department of
the Interior. You are responsible for ensuring the continued protection of America’s
natural resources and heritage. It is your duty to ensure that our traditional cultures are
honored and that tribal communities are respected. Most importantly, you handle energy
production and the supplying of energy. You have the power to craft legislation and
provide advice to the President regarding these issues.