Kennedy took the president at one of the most turbulent moments in American history. The Cold War between democracy and communism was becoming more hostile, and both the US and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear weapons to wipe out the earth multiple times. In American cities, racial tensions were increasing. Black Americans had begun to demonstrate equal legal treatment, and white segregationists had vowed to obliterate these rights via murder if necessary.
As he wrestled with the complexities of foreign and domestic issues, Kennedy sometimes fell short of his lofty rhetoric. As a self-described civil rights activist, he made sluggish progress on the subject until 1963, when racial violence pushed him to act. As a proponent of peaceful development abroad, he expedited America’s participation in the Vietnam War, which killed thousands of lives and shattered the nation.
Kennedy’s diplomacy contributed to the survival of Western democracy and may have avoided a catastrophic nuclear war, but it also heightened tensions between the superpowers. When Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened to attack West Berlin in 1961, Kennedy promised a military response, prompting the Russians to withdraw (Hershberg, 1995). When the Soviet Union began placing missiles in Cuba in late 1962, Kennedy ordered their removal and negotiated a peace treaty between the two foes deftly. Later in his career, he negotiated the world’s first nuclear arms treaty, an agreement to end atmospheric nuclear testing.
Kennedy’s short tenure in office had significant ramifications that would produce waves in the years to come. Kennedy took office with several significant concerns pending. Laotian unrest and the possibility of a CIA-led invasion of Cuba. Although the discussions in Laos initially succeeded, it became clear that the NVA and Pathet Lao would continue military operations in the region. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion early impacted the Kennedy administration, laying the groundwork for the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis was almost certainly the right course of action since it resulted in more open communication between Moscow and Washington in the aftermath. Kennedy avoided war-like situations by judiciously utilizing the Navy to “quarantine” Cuba rather than establishing a blockade. Close advisors to the president have proposed various options, including a full-scale military invasion of Cuba. While this would have resulted in a US triumph, it could provoke a direct military battle between the US and the USSR, one in which success was far from inevitable (Alsop & Bartlett, 1962). Finally, the USSR agreed to withdraw its missiles from Cuba. The US also had to make concessions to remove missiles from Turkey, but this was not announced publicly as part of the agreement.
Initially, Kennedy thought that the US was vastly outgunned by the USSR regarding firepower and emphasized much during the 1960 campaign. When he took office, he discovered that this was not the case (like, I imagine, so many politicians and presidents on an array of issues in the past. Like many others in the nation, Kennedy felt Eisenhower sat on his hands during his presidency and was surprised to learn that a considerable lot of work was being done behind the scenes of the General’s administration.
Under Kennedy, foreign assistance programs were extended, and the US became more active (at least officially) in more areas than ever before. The Peace Corps was founded in his first year as president, demonstrating his commitment to assisting countries in need. Military assistance to South Vietnam started quickly expanding in terms of advisers and equipment, notwithstanding Kennedy’s declaration that the war in South Vietnam was theirs to lose or win. Many have pondered whether the Vietnam War would have developed to the extent that it did without Kennedy’s assassination.
President John F. Kennedy took office during a difficult period for the United States, domestically and globally. Initially, the United States was defined by racial conflicts between Americans of African heritage and the dominant white population. This includes a succession of civil rights activities on the part of African Americans in their desire for equality. The white majority opposed this because they would never agree to allow Africans equality. As a civil rights enthusiast, President Kennedy would consequently confront a difficult task in advocating this concept, which he eventually drafted in the form of the 1964 civil rights act.
Despite this, President Kennedy faced global problems centered on opposing the Soviet Union’s communist doctrine. This would need clever management to avert the outbreak of conflict. For example, the Soviets had shown that they would invade west Germany, a US ally, in every imaginable way. This position would exacerbate tensions since the US had warned of possible military action, which the Soviet Union applauded. Without good management, this situation might rapidly devolve into war. Another problem that nearly resulted in battle was the United States’ involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis (Weaver, 2014). On the other side, Kennedy would approach this discreetly, averting a conflict. The Vietnam War, in which the US backed South Vietnam militarily, resulted in the death of several US service members in an attempt to halt the rise of communism by the North Vietnamese. These topics posed difficulties for President John F. Kennedy’s administration.
President John F. Kennedy’s administration also placed the US in a position where they would jeopardize her future both favorably and adversely. To begin, the planned CIA invasion of Cuba sowed enmity. This hostility had a significant role in the Cuban Missile crisis. This is because Cuba, apprehensive of this, had turned to the communist Soviet Union to defend itself against the US. After this, the United States was forced to resolve the problem diplomatically and withdraw its missile from Turkey.
The formation of the Peace Corps resulted in assistance to several governments in need. This assistance comprised both financial and military aid to these governments. Additionally, as part of this foreign policy, the US engaged militarily in South Vietnam. As a result, this crisis took the lives of several United States citizens in the shape of troops and numerous Vietnamese residents. As a result, this was a scenario that Kennedy’s foreign policy drew the US into.
References
Alsop, S., & Bartlett, C. (1962). In a time of crisis. Saturday Evening Post, 15, 20.
Hershberg, J. (1995). Anatomy of a Controversy: Anatoly F. Dobrynin’s Meeting with Robert F. Kennedy, Saturday, 27 October 1962. Cold War International History Project Bulletin, 5(75), 77-80.
Weaver, M. E. (2014). The Relationship between Diplomacy and Military Force: An Example from the Cuban Missile Crisis. Diplomatic History, 38(1), 137-181.
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