Kennedy FP Flashcards
Space
put $9bil in but no real success
Yuri Gagarin first person to orbit the earth April 1961 (Soviet)
Peace Corps
seen as Kennedys biggest success
young volunteers sent to help poorer nations
help through teaching and technical aid
Operation Mongoose
attempts to kill Castro
CIA boasted 800 sabotage operations in 1961
poisoning cigars, contaminating diving suit with TB
150 arson attacks and bombs in power and railway stations
CIA approached the mafia who wanted their Havana operations back
Bay of Pigs
April 1961
1600 exiles to land in Cuba to kill Castro
Eisenhower’s plan
Failures of Bay of Pigs
Castro announced he was Communist after
published in US papers before event
some invaders landed miles away or boats sank from unexpected coral
Castro was very popular
Success of Bay of Pigs
approval rating went to 82%
showed an effort to stop communism
no americans died
Diem
US knew of a plot to assassinate but didn’t intervene
assassinated 2nd Nov 1963
Vietnam Buddhist persecution
Diem allowed flying of flags in honour of his brother but banned celebration of Buddhas birthday.
10,000 protested, soldiers sent in 7 killed.
73-year-old buddhist set himself alight
Made headlines in USA and other such deaths followed
Madame Nhu- barbecue martyrs ‘let them burn and we shall clap our hands’
Brain drain
By 1961, 4 million East Germans had fled to the West. Lots were doctors, lawyers, teachers.
Berlin Wall
August 1961. Sealed off its hundred mile frontier with barbed wire, four days later erected a 30 mile wall
If an East German comes within 3 miles of the wall, they’re shot. 15 feet high
Significance of Berlin Wall
Stopped East Germans escaping and brought stability, increased West German antagonism towards Soviets, increased Cold War tensions (soon after both nations resumed nuclear testing), showed East Germany had to trap its people, showed capabilities of Soviets
Response to Berlin Wall
1963 !!2 years later!!
Kennedy made a speech in West Berlin
‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ meant to mean ‘I am a Berliner’ but meant ‘I am a donut’
West Berliners were enthusiastic and welcoming
Cause of Cuban Missile Crisis
14th Oct 1962 U2 spy plane photographs missile sights in Cuba
Kennedy options in Cuban Missile Crisis
do nothing (too passive for Cold War warrior), launch a tactical nuclear attack (anger Soviets and war crime), invasion (difficult as it’s an island), diplomacy (long and US aren’t trusted)
Cuban Missile Crisis action
‘quarantined’ Cuba
Line around 800 miles
If Soviets crossed it, deceleration of war
American people informed 22nd Oct
B-52 bombers on alert and 156 ICBMs ready to go
de escalation of Cuban Missile crisis
decreased quarantine to 500 miles to give Khrushchev more time to think. Russian ships sent near border. 26th Oct prepared for possible invasion of Cuba
Khrushchev offered to get missiles out of US don’t invade, next day another offer for US to also remove missiles from turkey, ignored and accepted first offer
Success of Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviets were the ones that backed down, Khrushchev realised US had nuclear and naval supremacy and were ready for war.
Outcomes of Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy did secretly remove missiles from Turkey
hotline installed between Kremlin and White House
Signed Partial Nuclear Test Ban Aug 1963
Strategic hamlets
from early 1962 fortify villages to isolate peasants from Vietcong. Claims he’ll help the villages so received money from US but used it on his palace
peasants resented being moved from lands they’d farmed on for generations and leaving ancestral graves
Advisors in Vietnam
was 800 at succession
immediately upped to 3000 by Dec 1961
Nov 1963- 17,000
Diems soldiers failures
250,000 soldiers couldn’t defeat 12,000 Vietcong
National Security Council
recommended ground troops but Kennedy preferred advisors
Oct 1961, sent Maxwell Taylor
Ap Bac
Jan 1963, Vietcong force located. 2,000 ARVN troops and 113 American armoured personnel carriers, American operated helicopters, bombers and advisors surrounded Ap Bac.
350 guerillas, AVRN refused to attack, 5 helicopters and 3 pilots lost and refused a rescue mission
Estimation of control in Vietnam
49% controlled by Saigon
9% Vietcong
Rest in dispute
