By Neil Hammond

US History: Cold WarUS History: Cold War

1960 Election• 1960 Election

– John F Kennedy

– Richard Nixon

• 1st televised presidential debate (Sep 26, 1960)

• Campaign centered around the economy and Cold War

– Both promised to boost the economy

– Both promised to fight communism

1960 Election• The Four

televised debates were crucial, influencing one of the closest races in Am history

1960 Election• JFK won the election. His inaugural

address is one of the most famous ever

– [The United States would] “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

– In the same address, he also said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

JFK and the Cold War• Flexible Response

– JFK felt the US relied too much on nukes under Eisenhower

– He spent more money on conventional and special forces

• Alliance for Progress

• Peace Corps

JFK and the Cold War• Space Race

– 1961 Yuri Gagarin…1st man in space

• JFK appeared in front of Congress and asked for help to get an American onto the moon

– 1962 John Glenn

– 1965 1st Apollo mission

– 1969 Neil Armstrong

– “That’s one small step for [a] man…one giant leap for mankind”

JFK and the Cold War: Berlin

• In 1961 JFK met with the Russian leader Kruschev

• K wanted the US, Brit and France to recognize East Germany and leave Berlin…JFK refused.

• K had a wall built in Berlin

JFK and the Cold War: Bay of Pigs

• 1959 Fidel Castro – communist – gained power in Cuba

• 1961…JFK used the CIA to try and get rid of Castro

• Bay of Pigs

JFK and the Cold War: Bay of Pigs

• In 1962, the Soviet Union stationed missiles in Cuba, instigating the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy ordered the Soviets to remove their missiles, and for several days the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Eventually, the Soviet leadership “blinked” and removed their missiles.