JFK Foreign Policy
Background:
1960 election:
● Election 1960 Republican Nixon vs Democrat Kennedy
● Nixon: Eisenhower’s vice, ‘tricky dicky’- corruption, checkers speech.
● Closest election of 20th century- popular vote 100 000 in favor of Kennedy
Kennedy:
● His youth and charisma was a change after the grandfatherly Eisenhower
● Looks and family brought unprecedented glamour to white house
● Wealthy- relate to other elites. Helps with image and helped him with advertising and TV commercials.
● Addison's disease- life threatening hormonal imbalance, colitis, chronic prostatitis. Needed large quantities of
medicine. Not fit to run?
● Undistinguished career in congress, no experienced as a politician
● Irish American- would be the first
● Catholics- fears that order would be taken from the pope & traditional values may interfere
● Wealth- difficult to connect with people + general public
First TV Debate:
● 70 million watched
● Nixon- overconfident, no makeup, sweating, did not prepare
● Kennedy- tanned, holiday in Cape Cod, confident, ‘presidential’
● TV polls- Kennedy won. Radio polls- Nixon won.
● Civil rights- high expectations. JFK secured MLK’s release from jail October 1960, helped him win crucial black
vote. Phoned his wide coretta king.
● Narrow victory for Kennedy- did not have a strong mandate for change
The New Frontier:
● JFK’s manifesto, introduced in july 1960 speech, ambitious promises
● Most interested by foreign policy but also ambitious domestically
● At the heart of this was the idea of equality and opportunity for all
● ‘Get america moving again’ contrasted with elderly eisenhower and stagnation
● (domestic) ‘War on poverty’ promised to lower taxes and energise business
● (domestic) challenged americans to deal with ‘poverty and surplus’
● (domestic and foreign) conquer ‘ignorance and prejudice’ and ‘science and space’
● (foreign) ‘peace and war’- he is a cold warrior. Wanted the US to defend itself with more vigour against
Communist influence. Tougher on communist than Eisenhower.
● Some suggest jfk delivered more in his 1036 days in office than eisenhower had in 2 terms
● Some suggest it was style over substance and little was achieved
Kennedy’s government:
● ‘A new generation of leadership’
● Irish mafia- key advisers surrounding the president
● McNamara- defence secretary. Economist background, therefore viewed things very statistically. Eg, the
McNamara fallacy- making decisions based solely on quantitative observations and ignoring all others.
- In Vietnam thought more advisers ad war material might stabilise the situation
● Rusk- Secretary of State 1961-69
● LBJ- vice president
Foreign policy promises:
● Containment of communist
● Cold warrior- tougher than predecessors
- Emphasised how democrats where better than republicans at defending the nation against evil
- Suggested Eisenhower administration was stuck in a cold war rut
● Importance of the third world
● Vietnam- Delivered on short term promises. Long term promises were a disaster.
● Lifelong fascination with ‘peace and war’
JFK spoke of the ‘Unsolved problems of peace and war’ in his New Frontier speech.
Europe:
, The Vienna Summit (3-4 June 1961)
● Several disputes had compelled Krushchev and JFK to meet at the first time in Vienna to discuss the main issues
between the two powers
● Khrushchev- volatile/ aggressive character. Thought JFK naive + weak. Underestimated him.
● Two main areas of discussion- Laos and Berlin Crisis. Also discussed Cuba.
● Agreement regarding Laos** but Berlin was troublesome
● Krushchev wanted US to remove troops from West Berlin and sign a peace treaty but Kennedy refused
● No agreement made
● Soon after Khrushchev increased defence expenditure and Kennedy followed suit
● Seen as diplomatic triumph for US as JFK had not backed down to Khrushchev’s demands
Berlin:
Why was the wall built?
● After WW2, Germany split into 4. 1948- Berlin Blockade, Stalin cut off allies access to West Berlin. Blockade
stopped in 1949
● Refugee crisis- 1950s. East Germany lost a large amount of population. From 1949-58 over 2 million East
Germans defected to the West. 30,000 more East Germans had escaped the West in July alone.
● Persistent reminder of the East’s unpopularity. West Berlin was a glittering example of Western prosperity
● Khrushchev thought Kennedy was naive and weak
● 13 August- barbed wire wall was built to stop East Germans fleeing to the west.
● Kennedy- calm. Wall showed Khrushcev did not want to seize the whole of Berlin- a wall was better than a war.
● Kennedy not criticised by media or Republicans
● Instructed Dean Rusk to exploit the situation for propaganda as far as possible.
● USSR wanted Western forced to remove troops but he refused as he though WB would become too vulnerable to
Soviet invasion
● JFK wanted to protect freedom of WB
● 13 August 1961- USSR started building a wall
● Became a symbol of Communist oppression
● Did ease some tensions between US and USSR
Kennedy’s reaction:
● Sends LBJ and US general to Berlin
● ‘Better to have a wall than a war’
● Instructed Dean Rusk to exploit the situation for propaganda as far as possible.
● 22nd October 1961- Checkpoint Charlie- Soviet and US troops engaged in a standoff on either side of the wall.
One of the most tense moments of the cold war.
● October 1961- Red army tanks arrived and refused to let anyone pass. 18 hour standoff. 10 USSR tanks vs 10
US tanks in central berlin. 22 Oct-28 Oct.
● Only ended when JFK suggested Khrushchev remove his tanks and the US would reciprocate. Solved
diplomatically by Bobby Kennedy.
● June 1963- Kennedy travelled to West Berlin to reiterate US commitment to the city. Gave one of his most
famous speeches.
- ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’
- Hugely popular tour, large crowds of 300,000
- Showed solidarity and reassured people of WB
Impact:
● Increased cold war tensions- soon after its construction, both the US and USSR resume nuclear testing
● Those who tried to cross wall without permission shot- at least 171 killed
● Peter Fletcher 18 years old. Shot in 1962 trying to escape, left to bleed to death. Caught world’s attention
● Many escaped via tunnelling, jumping out of windows, climbing barbed wire, and hot air balloons.
● Khrushchev represented one of the final blows to his time as a leader. Critics claim his actions were impulsive,
painted USSR in a bad light, Forced into retirement in 1964.
● Stabilised Germany and Berlin because lines of demarcation were now clearly drawn.
● Berlin remained divided for next 36 years
● Building a wall reduced tensions in Europe by having a solution acceptable to both sides.
● August 1963- Khrushchev- speech in Yugoslavia ‘Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to
scream, I squeeze on Berlin.’
● Western view- triumph. Demonstrated Germany needed to wall its people in.
● Soviet writers- claimed victory because the West had been unable to stop its construction.
● Getting away with constructing the wall might have been encouraged with Khrushchev's adventurism in Cuba.
Background:
1960 election:
● Election 1960 Republican Nixon vs Democrat Kennedy
● Nixon: Eisenhower’s vice, ‘tricky dicky’- corruption, checkers speech.
● Closest election of 20th century- popular vote 100 000 in favor of Kennedy
Kennedy:
● His youth and charisma was a change after the grandfatherly Eisenhower
● Looks and family brought unprecedented glamour to white house
● Wealthy- relate to other elites. Helps with image and helped him with advertising and TV commercials.
● Addison's disease- life threatening hormonal imbalance, colitis, chronic prostatitis. Needed large quantities of
medicine. Not fit to run?
● Undistinguished career in congress, no experienced as a politician
● Irish American- would be the first
● Catholics- fears that order would be taken from the pope & traditional values may interfere
● Wealth- difficult to connect with people + general public
First TV Debate:
● 70 million watched
● Nixon- overconfident, no makeup, sweating, did not prepare
● Kennedy- tanned, holiday in Cape Cod, confident, ‘presidential’
● TV polls- Kennedy won. Radio polls- Nixon won.
● Civil rights- high expectations. JFK secured MLK’s release from jail October 1960, helped him win crucial black
vote. Phoned his wide coretta king.
● Narrow victory for Kennedy- did not have a strong mandate for change
The New Frontier:
● JFK’s manifesto, introduced in july 1960 speech, ambitious promises
● Most interested by foreign policy but also ambitious domestically
● At the heart of this was the idea of equality and opportunity for all
● ‘Get america moving again’ contrasted with elderly eisenhower and stagnation
● (domestic) ‘War on poverty’ promised to lower taxes and energise business
● (domestic) challenged americans to deal with ‘poverty and surplus’
● (domestic and foreign) conquer ‘ignorance and prejudice’ and ‘science and space’
● (foreign) ‘peace and war’- he is a cold warrior. Wanted the US to defend itself with more vigour against
Communist influence. Tougher on communist than Eisenhower.
● Some suggest jfk delivered more in his 1036 days in office than eisenhower had in 2 terms
● Some suggest it was style over substance and little was achieved
Kennedy’s government:
● ‘A new generation of leadership’
● Irish mafia- key advisers surrounding the president
● McNamara- defence secretary. Economist background, therefore viewed things very statistically. Eg, the
McNamara fallacy- making decisions based solely on quantitative observations and ignoring all others.
- In Vietnam thought more advisers ad war material might stabilise the situation
● Rusk- Secretary of State 1961-69
● LBJ- vice president
Foreign policy promises:
● Containment of communist
● Cold warrior- tougher than predecessors
- Emphasised how democrats where better than republicans at defending the nation against evil
- Suggested Eisenhower administration was stuck in a cold war rut
● Importance of the third world
● Vietnam- Delivered on short term promises. Long term promises were a disaster.
● Lifelong fascination with ‘peace and war’
JFK spoke of the ‘Unsolved problems of peace and war’ in his New Frontier speech.
Europe:
, The Vienna Summit (3-4 June 1961)
● Several disputes had compelled Krushchev and JFK to meet at the first time in Vienna to discuss the main issues
between the two powers
● Khrushchev- volatile/ aggressive character. Thought JFK naive + weak. Underestimated him.
● Two main areas of discussion- Laos and Berlin Crisis. Also discussed Cuba.
● Agreement regarding Laos** but Berlin was troublesome
● Krushchev wanted US to remove troops from West Berlin and sign a peace treaty but Kennedy refused
● No agreement made
● Soon after Khrushchev increased defence expenditure and Kennedy followed suit
● Seen as diplomatic triumph for US as JFK had not backed down to Khrushchev’s demands
Berlin:
Why was the wall built?
● After WW2, Germany split into 4. 1948- Berlin Blockade, Stalin cut off allies access to West Berlin. Blockade
stopped in 1949
● Refugee crisis- 1950s. East Germany lost a large amount of population. From 1949-58 over 2 million East
Germans defected to the West. 30,000 more East Germans had escaped the West in July alone.
● Persistent reminder of the East’s unpopularity. West Berlin was a glittering example of Western prosperity
● Khrushchev thought Kennedy was naive and weak
● 13 August- barbed wire wall was built to stop East Germans fleeing to the west.
● Kennedy- calm. Wall showed Khrushcev did not want to seize the whole of Berlin- a wall was better than a war.
● Kennedy not criticised by media or Republicans
● Instructed Dean Rusk to exploit the situation for propaganda as far as possible.
● USSR wanted Western forced to remove troops but he refused as he though WB would become too vulnerable to
Soviet invasion
● JFK wanted to protect freedom of WB
● 13 August 1961- USSR started building a wall
● Became a symbol of Communist oppression
● Did ease some tensions between US and USSR
Kennedy’s reaction:
● Sends LBJ and US general to Berlin
● ‘Better to have a wall than a war’
● Instructed Dean Rusk to exploit the situation for propaganda as far as possible.
● 22nd October 1961- Checkpoint Charlie- Soviet and US troops engaged in a standoff on either side of the wall.
One of the most tense moments of the cold war.
● October 1961- Red army tanks arrived and refused to let anyone pass. 18 hour standoff. 10 USSR tanks vs 10
US tanks in central berlin. 22 Oct-28 Oct.
● Only ended when JFK suggested Khrushchev remove his tanks and the US would reciprocate. Solved
diplomatically by Bobby Kennedy.
● June 1963- Kennedy travelled to West Berlin to reiterate US commitment to the city. Gave one of his most
famous speeches.
- ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’
- Hugely popular tour, large crowds of 300,000
- Showed solidarity and reassured people of WB
Impact:
● Increased cold war tensions- soon after its construction, both the US and USSR resume nuclear testing
● Those who tried to cross wall without permission shot- at least 171 killed
● Peter Fletcher 18 years old. Shot in 1962 trying to escape, left to bleed to death. Caught world’s attention
● Many escaped via tunnelling, jumping out of windows, climbing barbed wire, and hot air balloons.
● Khrushchev represented one of the final blows to his time as a leader. Critics claim his actions were impulsive,
painted USSR in a bad light, Forced into retirement in 1964.
● Stabilised Germany and Berlin because lines of demarcation were now clearly drawn.
● Berlin remained divided for next 36 years
● Building a wall reduced tensions in Europe by having a solution acceptable to both sides.
● August 1963- Khrushchev- speech in Yugoslavia ‘Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to
scream, I squeeze on Berlin.’
● Western view- triumph. Demonstrated Germany needed to wall its people in.
● Soviet writers- claimed victory because the West had been unable to stop its construction.
● Getting away with constructing the wall might have been encouraged with Khrushchev's adventurism in Cuba.
