John F.

Kennedy
1961-1963

1960 Campaign and Election

Or
Kennedy-Nixon Debates

Significances of the 1960

Nixon Kennedy Campaign
Television debate : Appearance
versus substance
Television ads: campaign
spending $
Main Issues:
missile gap
religion

Close election results

http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=tRpxKHlRQUc

The Election of 1960

The election of 1960
was the closest since
1884; Kennedy
defeated Richard
Nixon by fewer than
119,000 votes.

Did You Know?

He was a decorated
naval officer in World War
II.
He received the Pulitzer
Prize for his book,
"Profiles in Courage."
He served exactly 1,000
days in office.
He was the first
president born in the 20th
century and the youngest
president ever elected.
He is the only Roman
Catholic president
He could read 1600
words a minute.

Kennedys Inaugural Address

Kennedy was the youngest person ever to be elected president. His
youth helped provide the theme to his inaugural address:
Let the word go forth
That the torch has been
passed to a new
generation of Americans
The energy, the faith, the
devotion which we bring
to this endeavor will light
our country and all who
serve itAnd so, my fellow
Americans-ask not what
your country can do for
you-ask what you can do
for your country.

The Camelot Years

With JFKs
youthful glamour
and his talented
advisors, the
Kennedy White
House reminded
many of a modernday Camelot, the
mythical court of
King Arthur.

Crisis Over Cuba

The first test of Kennedys
foreign policy came in Cuba,
just 90 miles off the coast of
Florida. Revolutionary leader,
Fidel Castro, openly declared
himself a communist and
welcomed aid from the
Soviet Union.

The Bay of Pigs

On the nights of April 17,1961,
some 1500 Cuban exiles
supported by the U.S. military
landed on the islands
southern coast at Baja de
Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs. The
CIA and the exiles hoped it
would trigger a mass uprising
that would overthrow Castro.
It didnt! Cuban forces, backed
by Soviet tanks and jet aircraft,
easily repelled the exile invasion.
Some of the exiles were killed,
others imprisoned.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

In October, 1962,
photographs taken
by American planes
revealed Soviet
missile bases in
Cuba-and some
contained missiles
ready to launch.
They could reach
U.S. cities in
minutes.

What to do?
1. Do nothing.
2. Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet
Union to remove the missiles.
3. An air attack on the missiles.
4. A full military invasion.
5. The naval blockade of Cuba, which was
redefined as a more restrictive quarantine.
[12]

The Crisis

Soviets armed Cuba with nuclear missiles

On October 22,
Kennedy ordered
a naval blockade
of Cuba to prevent
further deliveries
of Soviet weapons.
He also demanded
that the Soviets
remove the missiles.
Khrushchev promised to
challenge the blockade,
calling it outright banditry.

Dear Mr. President, .... Imagine, Mr. President, what if we were to

present to you such an ultimatum as you have presented to us by
your actions. How would you react to it? I think you would be
outraged at such a move on our part. And this we would understand.
Having presented these conditions to us, Mr. President, you have
thrown down the gauntlet. Who asked you to do this? By what right
have you done this? Our ties with the Republic of Cuba, as well as
our relations with other nations, regardless of their political system,
concern only the two countries between which these relations exist.
And, if it were a matter of quarantine as mentioned in your letter,
then, as is customary in international practice, it can be established
only by states agreeing between themselves, and not by some third
party. Quarantines exist, for example, on agricultural goods and
products. However, in this case we are not talking about
quarantines, but rather about much more serious matters, and you
yourself understand this.

For a few days, nuclear war and massive destruction was a

distinct possibility for every American. In schools, children
practiced air raid drills, a common occurrence during the Cold
War. People who had built bomb shelters began stocking
them with food and other provisions. Even the president called
his family to the White House where they could be protected in
the presidential nuclear shelter.

Suddenly, on October 24, many of the Soviet ships stopped short

of the blockade line, turned, and sailed home. Were eyeball to
eyeball, said Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and I think the
other fellow just blinked. On October 28 Khrushchev agreed
to dismantle the missile bases in response to Kennedys promise
not to invade Cuba.

Soviet ship Poltava on its way to Cuba (CIA photo)

Soviet ships turned back at the last minute

The Compromise

Members of ExComm and JFK planning a compromise

Soviet missiles removed from Cuba

U.S. promises not to invade Cuba
U.S. removed missiles from Italy and Turkey

The Compromise

Members of ExComm and JFK planning a compromise

Soviet missiles removed from Cuba

U.S. promises not to invade Cuba
U.S. removed missiles from Italy and Turkey

JFK signs Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963

Hotline b/t the S.U. and U.S. leaders

Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: no
testing of nuclear weapons aboveground
JFK foreign policy success

The New Frontier

President Kennedys
legislative program to
provide medical care
for the elderly.

To rebuild blighted
urban areas.

To aid education.

To bolster the national

defense.

To increase
international aid.

To expand the space

program.

To provide volunteer
assistance to developing
nations in Asia, Africa,
and Latin America.

And to promote civil rights.

Insert notebook notes

here

In the fall of 1963,

public opinion polls
showed that
Kennedy was losing
popularity because
of his advocacy of
civil rights. On
November 22,
1963, President and
Mrs. Kennedy went
to Texas to mend
political fences
with
members of the
states Democratic
Party.

Tragedy in Dallas

Crowds lined the

streets of Dallas
to greet the
President. In front
of them sat Texas
Governor John
Connally and his
wife Nellie.

As the car approached a state building known as the Texas State Book
Depository, rifle shots rang out.

Kennedy was
shot in the head.
His car raced to
a nearby
hospital, where
doctors
frantically tried
to revive him,
but it was too
late. President
Kennedy was
dead.

On Sunday, Nov. 24,

as millions watched
live television
coverage of Oswald
being transferred
between jails, a
nightclub owner
named Jack Ruby
broke through the
crowd and shot and
killed Oswald.

Because there is not trial

mystery and conspiracy
theories abound. In
1963, the Warren
Commission
investigated
and concluded that
Lee Harvey Oswald
had shot the president
while acting on his own.