Communist Threats Faced by John F. Kennedy

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Communist Threats Faced by John F. Kennedy

• Chapter 16 Section 1

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• President John F. Kennedys inaugural address
  1961 "Let every nation know, whether it wishes
  us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear
  any burden, meet any hardship, support any
  friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and
  success of liberty

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Kennedy and Communism

• 3 months into office Kennedy orders the Bay of
  Pigs Invasion
• Failed attempt to use Cuban exiles to overthrow
  Fidel Castros Communist government in Cuba
  (Humiliated U.S.)
• Many thought the young president was not fit for
  major leadership

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Kennedy meeting Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev
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Cuban Missile Crisis

• October 1962 American U2 Spy planes
  photographed Soviet ballistic missile sites being
  constructed in Cuba
• Missiles had the capabilities of sending nuclear
  warheads into the U.S. in minutes

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Kennedys Dilemma

• If the U.S. attacked the sites it would be seen
  as aggression and could lead to nuclear war
• If the U.S. did nothing, Russia would be stronger
  than the U.S. in the region AND it could prevent
  the U.S. from retaliating IF war occurred

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