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670-678-Chapter 2010/21/025:46 PMPage 673Page 4 of 9A New Military PolicyVocabularythird world:during the ColdWar, thedeveloping nationsnot allied witheither the UnitedStates or theSoviet UnionANOTHERFrom the beginning, Kennedy focused on the Cold War. Hethought the Eisenhower administration had not doneenough about the Soviet threat. The Soviets, he concluded,were gaining loyalties in the economically less-developedthird-world countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Heblasted the Republicans for allowing communism to developin Cuba, at America’s doorstep.DEFINING A MILITARY STRATEGY Kennedy believed hismost urgent task was to redefine the nation’s nuclear strategy.The Eisenhower administration had relied on the policy ofmassive retaliation to deter Soviet aggression and imperialism.However, threatening to use nuclear arms over a minor conflict was not a risk Kennedy wished to take. Instead, his teamdeveloped a policy of flexible response. Kennedy’s secretaryof defense, Robert McNamara, explained the policy.A PERSONAL VOICE ROBERT S. MCNAMARA“ The Kennedy administration worried that [the] reliance onnuclear weapons gave us no way to respond to large nonnuclear attacks without committing suicide. . . . We decidedto broaden the range of options by strengthening and modernizing the military’s ability to fight a nonnuclear war.”—In RetrospectMAIN IDEASummarizingC What was thegoal of thedoctrine of flexibleresponse?C. AnswerTo allow the U.S.to fight limitedwars around theworld whilemaintaining anuclear balanceof power withthe Soviets.Vocabularyguerrilla: a soldierwho travels in asmall group,harassing andundermining theenemyP E R S P EC T I V EEISENHOWER’S WARNINGThe increase in defense spendingin the 1960s continued the trendin which Defense Departmentsuppliers were becoming moredominant in the American economy. Before leaving office,President Eisenhower warnedagainst the dangers of what hecalled the “military-industrial complex.” He included in his partingspeech the following comments:“This conjunction of animmense military establishmentand a large arms industry isnew in the American experience.The total influence—economic,political, even spiritual—is felt inevery city, every statehouse,every office of the federal government. We recognize theimperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail tocomprehend its grave implications. . . . The potential for thedisastrous rise of misplacedpower exists and will persist.”Kennedy increased defense spending in order to boostconventional military forces—nonnuclear forces such astroops, ships, and artillery—and to create an elite branch ofthe army called the Special Forces, or Green Berets. He alsotripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the United States. These changes enabledthe United States to fight limited wars around the world while maintaining abalance of nuclear power with the Soviet Union. However, even as Kennedyhoped to reduce the risk of nuclear war, the world came perilously close to nuclearwar under his command as a crisis arose over the island of Cuba. CCrises over CubaThe first test of Kennedy’s foreign policy came in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coastof Florida. About two weeks before Kennedy took office, on January 3, 1961,President Eisenhower had cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba because of a revolutionary leader named Fidel Castro. Castro openly declared himself a communist and welcomed aid from the Soviet Union.THE CUBAN DILEMMA Castro gained power with the promise of democracy.From 1956 to 1959, he led a guerrilla movement to topple dictator FulgencioBatista. He won control in 1959 and later told reporters, “Revolutionaries are notborn, they are made by poverty, inequality, and dictatorship.” He then promisedto eliminate these conditions from Cuba.The United States was suspicious of Castro’s intentions but neverthelessrecognized the new government. However, when Castro seized threeAmerican and British oil refineries, relations between the United States andCuba worsened. Castro also broke up commercial farms into communes thatwould be worked by formerly landless peasants. American sugar companies,The New Frontier and the Great Society 673

670-678-Chapter 2010/21/025:47 PMPage 674Page 5 of 9which controlled 75 percent of the crop landin Cuba, appealed to the U.S. government forhelp. In response, Congress erected trade barriers against Cuban sugar.Castro relied increasingly on Soviet aid—and on the political repression of those who didnot agree with him. While some Cubans weretaken by his charisma and his willingness tostand up to the United States, others saw Castroas a tyrant who had replaced one dictatorshipwith another. About 10 percent of Cuba’s population went into exile, mostly to the UnitedStates. Within the large exile community ofMiami, Florida, a counterrevolutionary movement took shape. (top) Castrocelebrates aftergaining power inCuba.(above) The Bayof Pigs missionwas said to haveblown up inKennedy’s face.THE BAY OF PIGS In March 1960, PresidentEisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretlytrain Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. TheCIA and the exiles hoped it would trigger a massuprising that would overthrow Castro. Kennedylearned of the plan only nine days after his election. Although he had doubts, he approved it.On the night of April 17, 1961, some 1,300 to 1,500Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. military landed on theisland’s southern coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay ofPigs. Nothing went as planned. An air strike had failed toknock out the Cuban air force, although the CIA reportedthat it had succeeded. A small advance group sent to distract Castro’s forces never reached shore. When the maincommando unit landed, it faced 25,000 Cuban troopsbacked up by Soviet tanks and jet aircraft. Some of theinvading exiles were killed, others imprisoned.The Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of “NorthAmerican mercenaries.” One United States commentatorobserved that Americans “look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies,and incompetents to the rest.” The disaster left Kennedy embarrassed. Publicly, heaccepted blame for the fiasco. Privately, he asked, “How could that crowd at theCIA and the Pentagon be this wrong.” DKennedy negotiated with Castro for the release of surviving commandos andpaid a ransom of 53 million in food and medical supplies. In a speech in Miami,he promised exiles that they would one day return to a “free Havana.” AlthoughKennedy warned that he would resist further Communist expansion in theWestern Hemisphere, Castro defiantly welcomed further Soviet aid.THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow: SovietPremier Nikita Khrushchev, who promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms.During the summer of 1962, the flow to Cuba of Soviet weapons—includingnuclear missiles—increased greatly. President Kennedy responded with a warningthat America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba. Then, onOctober 14, photographs taken by American planes revealed Soviet missile basesin Cuba—and some contained missiles ready to launch. They could reach U.S.cities in minutes.On October 22, Kennedy informed an anxious nation of the existence ofSoviet missile sites in Cuba and of his plans to remove them. He made it clear thatany missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviet Union.674CHAPTER tion ofthose withdifferent politicalviewsSkillbuilderAnswers1. Between 10and 15 minutes2. Becausepower,resources, andwealth are concentrated inthese places.MAIN IDEAAnalyzingEffectsD What were theconsequences ofthe failed invasionfor the UnitedStates?D. AnswersFailure to oustCastro, loss ofworld prestige,embarrassmentfor JFK, ransomfor capturedcommandos.

670-678-Chapter 2010/21/025:47 PMPage 675Page 6 of 9Missile complexCuban Missile Crisis, October 1962Possible missile path *Range of quarantineU.S. military installation00200200400 miles400 kilometers17MINUTES)40 NNew YorkNEWashington, D.C.WDenverLEAtlantaS(12MS)TEES1,259 MILUINLESU N I T E D S TAT E SSATLANTICOCEAN1,000MILE30 N837 M1,020HoustonGulfofMexicoILESPACIFICOCEAN1,432 MILESMIMI1,500MILES(S985415MINUTES)1,81 ,52,000MILES(ChicagoMILEST r o pi c of C a n c e rCUBA110 W90 WHavana80 WGuantanamoCaribbean SeaU.S. spy planes reveal nuclearmissile sites in Cuba.O C T. 1 4*Missile path times and distancesare approximate.Khrushchev announcesplan to remove missilesfrom Cuba.Kennedy tells the nationof his intention to haltthe missile buildup.O C T. 2 2O C T. 2 4O C T. 2 5Kennedy implements a naval“quarantine” of Cuba, blockingSoviet ships from reaching theisland. (below) A U.S. patrol planeflies over a Soviet freighter.O C T. 2 8Soviet shipsapproaching Cubacome to a halt.GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER1. Movement About how long would it havetaken for a missile launched from Cuba toreach New York?2. Human-Environment InteractionWhy do you think it may have been importantfor Soviet missiles to reach the U.S. citiesshown above?The New Frontier and the Great Society 675

670-678-Chapter 2010/21/025:47 PMPage 676KEY PLAYERSJOHN F. KENNEDY1917–1963NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV1894–1971John F. “Jack” Kennedy grewup in a politically powerfulfamily that helped make hisdreams possible. His parentsinstilled in him the drive toaccomplish great things.During World War II heenlisted in the navy and wasdecorated for heroism. In1946, he won his first seat inCongress from a Boston district where he had neverlived. While a senator, he wona Pulitzer Prize for his bookProfiles in Courage.Although he radiated selfconfidence, Kennedy sufferedmany ailments, includingAddison’s disease—a debilitating condition that hetreated with daily injectionsof cortisone. “At least onehalf of the days that he spenton this earth were days ofintense physical pain,”recalled his brother Robert.“No matter how humble aman’s beginnings,” boastedNikita Khrushchev, “heachieves the stature of theoffice to which he is elected.”Khrushchev, the son of aminer, became a CommunistParty organizer in the 1920s.Within four years of Stalin’sdeath in 1953, Khrushchevhad consolidated his power inthe Soviet Union.During his regime, whichended in 1964, Khrushchevkept American nerves onedge with alternately conciliatory and aggressive behavior.During a 1959 trip to theUnited States, he met forfriendly talks with PresidentEisenhower. The next year, infront of the UN GeneralAssembly, he took off hisshoe and angrily pounded iton a desk to protest the U-2incident.Page 7 of 9For the next six days, the worldfaced the terrifying possibility ofnuclear war. In the Atlantic Ocean,Soviet ships—presumably carryingmore missiles—headed towardCuba, while the U.S. Navy prepared to quarantine Cuba and prevent the ships from coming within500 miles of it. In Florida, 100,000troops waited—the largest invasion force ever assembled in theUnited States. C. Douglas Dillon,Kennedy’s secretary of the treasuryand a veteran of nuclear diplomacy, recalled those tension-filleddays of October.A PERSONAL VOICEC. DOUGLAS DILLON“ The only time I felt a fear ofnuclear war or a use of nuclearweapons was on the very first day,when we’d decided that we had todo whatever was necessary to getthe missiles out. There wasalways some background fear ofwhat would eventually happen,and I think this is what wasexpressed when people said theyfeared they would never seeanother Saturday.”—quoted in On the BrinkThe first break in the crisisoccurred when the Soviet shipsstopped suddenly to avoid a confrontation at sea. Secretary of StateDean Rusk said, “We are eyeballto eyeball, and the other fellow justblinked.” A few days later,Khrushchev offered to remove themissiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. The United States alsosecretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. The leaders agreed, and the crisisended. “For a moment, the world had stood still,” Robert Kennedy wrote years later,“and now it was going around again.”KENNEDY AND KHRUSHCHEV TAKE THE HEAT The crisis severely damagedKhrushchev’s prestige in the Soviet Union and the world. Kennedy did not escapecriticism either. Some people criticized Kennedy for practicing brinkmanshipwhen private talks might have resolved the crisis without the threat of nuclearwar. Others believed he had passed up an ideal chance to invade Cuba and oustCastro. (It was learned in the 1990s that the CIA had underestimated the numbers of Soviet troops and nuclear weapons on the island.)The effects of the crisis lasted long after the missiles had been removed. ManyCuban exiles blamed the Democrats for “losing Cuba” (a charge that Kennedyhad earlier leveled at the Republicans) and switched their allegiance to the GOP.676CHAPTER 20

670-678-Chapter 2010/21/02MAIN IDEAAnalyzingEffectsE What were theresults of theCuban missilecrisis?E. AnswersKennedy stavedoff war;Khrushchev’sprestige tarnished; manyCuban exilesblamedDemocrats for“losing Cuba”and switchedallegiance toGOP; Castro limited exiles’ accessto Cuba.5:47 PMPage 677Page 8 of 9Meanwhile, Castro closed Cuba’s doors to the exiles in November 1962 by banning all flights to and from Miami. Three years later, hundreds of thousands ofpeople took advantage of an agreement that allowed Cubans to join relatives inthe United States. By the time Castro sharply cut down on exit permits in 1973,the Cuban population in Miami had increased to about 300,000. ECrisis over BerlinOne goal that had guided Kennedy through the Cuban missile crisis was that ofproving to Khruschev his determination to contain communism. All the while,Kennedy was thinking of their recent confrontation over Berlin, which had led tothe construction of the Berlin Wall, a concrete wall topped with barbed wirethat severed the city in two.THE BERLIN CRISIS In 1961, Berlin was a city in great turmoil. In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift, almost 3 millionEast Germans—20 percent of that country’s population—hadfled into West Berlin because it was free from Communistrule. These refugees advertised the failure of East Germany’sCommunist government. Their departure also dangerouslyweakened that country’s economy.LD STAGEW ORTHE BERLIN WALL, 1961In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev, theSoviet premier, ordered the BerlinWall built to stop the flow ofrefugees from East to West Berlin.Most were seeking freedom fromCommunist rule.The wall isolated West Berlinfrom a hostile German DemocraticRepublic (GDR). Passing from Eastto West was almost impossiblewithout the Communist government's permission.During the 28 years the wall wasstanding, approximately 5,000 people succeeded in fleeing. Almost200 people died in the attempt;most were shot by the GDR borderguards. In 1989, East Germanyopened the Berlin Wall to cheeringcrowds. Today the rubbled concreteis a reminder of the Cold War tensions between East and West.The “death strip” stretched like a barrenmoat around West Berlin, with patrols,floodlights, electric fences, and vehicletraps between the inner and outer walls.Walls and other barriers 10–15 feethigh surrounded West Berlin. Thelength of the barriers around the citytotaled about 110 miles.Guard dogs and machine guns disuaded most people from crossingover illegally, yet some still dared.04 miles0 4 C SEANORTHSEAWest BerlinFED. REP.OF GERMANYBonnThe Berlin Wall was first made of brick and barbed wire,but was later erected in cement and steel.0100 miles0100 kilometersPOL.EastBerlinGER. DEM.REPUBLICCZECH.The New Frontier and the Great Society 677

670-678-Chapter 2010/21/025:47 PMPage 678Page 9 of 9“ I want peace.But, if you wantwar, that is yourproblem.”Khrushchev realized that this problem had to besolved. At a summit meeting in Vienna, Austria, inJune 1961, he threatened to sign a treaty with EastGermany that would enable that country to close allthe access roads to West Berlin. When Kennedy refusedSOVIET PREMIERto give up U.S. access to West Berlin, Khrushchev furiNIKITA KHRUSHCHEVously declared, “I want peace. But, if you want war,that is your problem.”After returning home, Kennedy told the nation in a televised address that Berlin was “the great testing place ofWestern courage and will.” He pledged “[W]e cannot and willReading from this note card during anot permit the Communists to drive us out of Berlin.”speech in West Berlin, KennedyKennedy’s determination and America’s superior nuclear proclaimed “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I amstriking power prevented Khrushchev from closing the air and a Berliner”).land routes between West Berlin and West Germany. Instead, the Soviet premier surprised the world with a shocking decision. Just after midnight on August 13, 1961,East German troops began to unload concrete posts and rolls of barbed wire alongthe border. Within days, the Berlin Wall was erected, separating East Germany fromF. AnswerWest Germany.CommunistsThe construction of the Berlin Wall ended the Berlin crisis but further aggrawanted to stopvated Cold War tensions. The wall and its armed guards successfully reduced theMAIN IDEAthe flow of EastGermanflow of East German refugees to a tiny trickle, thus solving Khrushchev’s main Analyzingrefugees intoproblem. At the same time, however, the wall became an ugly symbol of MotivesWest Berlin andF What ledCommunist oppression. Ffurther isolate the thriving city.SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO EASE TENSIONS Showdowns between Kennedy andKhrushchev made both leaders aware of the gravity of split-second decisions thatseparated Cold War peace from nuclear disaster. Kennedy, in particular, searched forways to tone down his hard-line stance. In 1963, he announced that the two nationshad established a hot line between the White House and the Kremlin. This dedicated phone enabled the leaders of the two countries to communicate at once shouldanother crisis arise. Later that year, the United States and Soviet Union also agreedto a Limited Test Ban Treaty that barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere.Khrushchev toerect the BerlinWall?1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining itssignificance. John F. Kennedy flexible response Fidel Castro Berlin Wall hot line Limited Test Ban TreatyMAIN IDEACRITICAL THINKING2. TAKING NOTESUsing diagrams such as the onebelow, list two outcomes for each ofthese events: first Kennedy-Nixondebate, Bay of Pigs invasion, Cubanmissile crisis, and construction ofthe Berlin Wall.OutcomeEvent3. EVALUATING DECISIONSHow well do you think PresidentKennedy handled the Cuban missilecrisis? Justify your opinion with specific examples from the text.Think About: Kennedy’s decision to impose anaval “quarantine” of Cuba the nuclear showdown betweenthe superpowers Kennedy’s decision not to invadeCubaOutcomeWhich of these outcomes leddirectly to other events listed hereor described in this section?678CHAPTER 204. ANALYZING VISUAL SOURCESExamine the cartoon above ofKennedy (left) facing off withKhrushchev and Castro. What doyou think the cartoonist was tryingto convey?5. DRAWING CONCLUSIONSWhat kind of political statement wasmade by the United States’ supportof West Berlin?

Kennedy's success in the debate launched a new era in American politics: the television age. As journalist Russell Baker, who covered the Nixon campaign, said, "That night, image replaced the printed word as the natural language of politics." KENNEDY AND CIVIL RIGHTS A second major event of the campaign took place in October.