JFK: castro and cuba

Question 1

Issues with Cuba: context

Answer 1

• January 1959: Finel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista (US backed dictator of Cuba): meant socialist country was less than 100 miles from Florida
• Castro nationalised hundreds of American businesses and allies of Batista fled to US
• Castro feared US may overthrow him
• Eisenhower failed to address Cuba but had instructed a plan to overthrow Castro with cuban exiles
• Castro humiliated US by travelling to a UN meeting and meeting Khrushchev, Nasser, and Malcom X talking of racism and poverty
• Eisenhower didn’t react with only 3 months of presidency left

Question 2

Cuba: Bay of Pigs

Answer 2

• Kennedy inherited Eisenhower’s CIA plan and authorised it
• April 1961: big failure
• majority of 1,600 exiles captured by 20,000 cubans
  Kennedy humiliated but received an 82% approval
• made Khrushchev believe Kennedy was naive even more so
• Khrushchev formed closer trading relationship with Castro
• October 1962: Khrushchev placed soviet missiles on Cuba: brought US citizens in the range of soviet missiles for the first time

Question 3

Cuba: Cuban Missile Crisis 13th-24th October

Answer 3

• closest the world has come to nuclear war
• 13 days in October 1961
• 15th October: U-2 spy plane discovers soviet missiles in cuba
• 18th October: Bobby K meets with soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko, who tells him USSR only keeping them there for defence
• 19th October: EX-COMM suggests quarantining Cuba
• 22nd October: Kennedy gives TV speech to nation
• 23rd October: soviet ships heading to Cuba and stopped 750 miles away under Khrushchev’s orders
• 24th October: Khrushchev refused to move missiles from Cuba

Question 4

Cuba: Cuban Missile Crisis 25th - 28th October

Answer 4

• 25th October: Kennedy orders flights over Cuba to be increased from once to twice per day
• 26th October: EX-COMM begins discussing invading Cuba, Khrushchev sends telegram, offering dismantle the sites if Kennedy promises not to invade Cuba
• 27th October: U-2 plane shot down over Cuba, Kennedy receives 2nd telegram, demanding that he also dismantles US missile sites in Turkey, Kennedy agrees to first telegram proposal and secretly the second one
  28th October: Khrushchev delivers a speech saying he has agreed to Kennedy’s arrangement

Question 5

Results of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 5

• doomsday clock registered the crisis to have rating of 12 minutes to midnight
• DEFCON 2 highest state of readiness ever
• public not aware of US missiles in turkey and Italy but Kennedy basked in public support
• missiles removed from Cuba within 2 months and a hotline was set up between the White House and the Kremlin
  Khrushchev weakened by crisis and was overthrown within 2 years
• partial nuclear test ban treaty signed August 1963