JFK Foreign Policy

Question 1

What foreign policy background did JFK have?

Answer 1

• Wrote a thesis called ‘Why England Slept’, about the buildup of Nazi German power and appeasement of Nazi Germany by the United Kingdom

Question 2

What was the Berlin Crisis?

Answer 2

• Soviet leader Khrushchev demanded the West withdraw from West Berlin.
• Kennedy met Krushchev in 1961, with the issue was unresolved- JFK refused and increased U.S. military spending.
• The Berlin Wall was constructed (August 1961) to stop East Germans from fleeing to the West.
• Krushchev still believed JFK was weak. He saw Berlin as a weak spot that could be exploited to control the West
• In 1963, Kennedy travelled to West Berlin and stated his commitment to the city and freedom in general (jam doughnut)

Question 3

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 3

• October 1962
• The U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba- the soviets put them in Cuba because they were at a disadvantage in terms of nuclear weapons.
• JFK ordered a naval blockade of Cuba.
• The 13-day crisis brought the world close to nuclear war. Kennedy addressed the Nation, and the US reached Defcon-2
• Exclusion zone set up
• Krushchec offered to remove missiles in exchange for ending the blockade, not invading Cuba and added that the US remove missiles from Turkey
• Kennedy accepted but ignored removing missiles from Turkey- Krushchev accepted
• Resolution: USSR removed missiles from Cuba; U.S. secretly removed missiles from Turkey

Question 4

What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?

Answer 4

• April 1961
• Failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba.
• CIA-backed invasion by Cuban exiles ended in disaster.
• 1600 exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs but with inadequate US support. Majority of exiles were captured and the local population remained loyal to Castro
• Strengthened Castro’s position and embarrassed JFK.

Question 5

What did JFK do in Vietnam?

Answer 5

• Increased U.S. military presence in Vietnam.
• Increased military advisors from 800 to 23,000 to support South Vietnam.
• They trained the SV army (250,000) but SV army could not beat the 12,000 vietcong
• McNamara believed stats showed US victory was assured
• US used a ‘flexible response’ including ‘strategic hamlets’ guarded by the army but the Viet Cong was better at winning peasant support
• Buddhist protests increased e.g., self-immolation (Thich Quang Duc)
• Did not commit combat troops, but laid the groundwork for later escalation under Johnson.

Question 6

What were the aftereffects of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 6

• Krushchev, previously dismissive of Kennedy, saw the US willing to act and having superior military strength
• Hotline was installed
• The 2 sides took steps to reduce tension- Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)
• Kennedy seemed to triumph while Krushchev soon fell, but Kennedy’s actions (like the Bay of Pigs) contributed to the crisis
• US General Curtis LeMay called it ‘the greatest defeat in our history’
• Kennedy’s admin perhaps became over-confident with the consequences in Vietnam

Question 7

Why wouldn’t Kennedy withdraw from Vietnam?

Answer 7

People would see this as a failure and not re-elect him, even when his brother and various world leaders advised withdrawal from Vietnam as Diem refused to bring in reforms, and was eventually assassinated by his own generals