John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960 at 43, promised energy at home and firmness toward the Soviets. The Sputnik shock and a communist revolution in Cuba, 90 miles from Florida, put the Cold War close to home.
Key idea
The Bay of Pigs invasion failed (1961); the Berlin Wall went up (1961); in the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) the U.S. and the USSR came close to nuclear war before the Soviets removed their missiles; the space race led to Apollo 11's Moon landing (1969).
Why it works
In April 1961 about 1,400 Cuban exiles trained by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs and were defeated within days. In August the East Germans built a wall through Berlin to stop people escaping to the West. In October 1962 spy planes found Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy rejected an immediate air strike, set up a naval "quarantine" of Cuba, and demanded the missiles' removal. For thirteen days (October 16 to 28) the world waited. The Soviets agreed to remove the missiles; the U.S. promised not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove its own missiles from Turkey. Afterward the two sides set up a hotline and signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963).
Work it through
Worked example: Reading the deal
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis end, and what did each side give?
- The Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba, under inspection from the air.
- The U.S. publicly promised not to invade Cuba.
- The U.S. privately agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey, a part kept secret for years.
Answer: A trade: missiles out of Cuba for a no-invasion pledge, plus the secret Turkey deal.
Common mistake
Many students think Kennedy saw the Moon landing. Kennedy set the goal in 1961 and was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963; the landing came on July 20, 1969, under President Nixon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon while Michael Collins orbited above.