Fill - Free fillable the Cold War Kennedy and p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 (Caggia Social Studies) PDF form

One American's Story

John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the United

States on a crisp and sparkling day in January 1961. Appearing

without a coat in freezing weather, he issued a challenge to the

American people. He said that the world was in “its hour of

maximum danger,” as Cold War tensions ran high. Rather than

shrinking from the danger, the United States should confront

the “iron tyranny” of communism.

A PERSONAL VOICE JOHN F. KENNEDY

“ Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and

foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation

of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined

by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and

unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human

rights to which this nation has always been committed. . . .

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, in order to assure . . .

the survival and the success of liberty.

”

—Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

The young president won praise for his well-crafted speech.

However, his words were put to the test when several Cold War

crises tried his leadership.

The Election of 1960

In 1960, as President Eisenhower’s second term drew to a close, a mood of rest-

lessness arose among voters. The economy was in a recession. The USSR’s

launch of Sputnik I in 1957 and its development of long-range missiles had sparked

fears that the American military was falling behind that of the Soviets. Further set-

backs including the U-2 incident and the alignment of Cuba with the Soviet Union

had Americans questioning whether the United States was losing the Cold War.

876 C

HAPTER 28

Terms & Names

MAIN IDEA

Kennedy and

the Cold War

•John F. Kennedy

•ﬂexible response

•Fidel Castro

•Berlin Wall

•hot line

•Limited Test Ban

Treaty

The Kennedy administration

faced some of the most

dangerous Soviet confronta-

tions in American history.

America’s response to Soviet

threats developed the United

States as a military superpower.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

▼

John F. Kennedy delivers his inaugural

address on January 20, 1961.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 876

Page 1 of 9

The Democratic nominee for president, Massachusetts senator John Kennedy,

promised active leadership “to get America moving again.” His Republican oppo-

nent, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, hoped to win by riding on the coattails of

Eisenhower’s popularity. Both candidates had similar positions on policy issues.

Two factors helped put Kennedy over the top: television and the civil rights issue.

THE TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTES

Kennedy had a well-organized

campaign and the backing of his wealthy family, and was handsome and

charismatic. Yet many felt that, at 43, he was too inexperienced. If elected, he would

be the second-youngest president in the nation’s history.

Americans also worried that having a Roman Catholic in the White House

would lead either to inﬂuence of the pope on American policies or to closer ties

between church and state. Kennedy was able to allay worries by discussing the

issue openly.

One event in the fall determined the course of the election. Kennedy

and Nixon took part in the ﬁrst televised debate between presidential

candidates. On September 26, 1960, 70 million TV viewers watched the

two articulate and knowledgeable candidates debating issues. Nixon, an

expert on foreign policy, had agreed to the forum in hopes of exposing

Kennedy’s inexperience. However, Kennedy had been coached by televi-

sion producers, and he looked and spoke better than Nixon.

Kennedy’s success in the debate launched a new era in American politics: the

television age. As journalist Russell Baker, who covered the Nixon campaign, said,

“That night, image replaced the printed word as the natural language of politics.”

KENNEDY AND CIVIL RIGHTS

A second major event of the campaign took place

in October. Police in Atlanta, Georgia, arrested the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.,

and 33 other African-American demonstrators for sitting at a segregated lunch

counter. Although the other demonstrators were released, King was sentenced to

months of hard labor—ofﬁcially for a minor trafﬁc violation. The Eisenhower

administration refused to intervene, and Nixon took no public position.

When Kennedy heard of the arrest and sentencing, he telephoned King’s wife,

Coretta Scott King, to express his sympathy. Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy, his broth-

er and campaign manager, persuaded the judge who had sentenced King to release

the civil rights leader on bail, pending appeal. News of the incident captured the

immediate attention of the African-American community, whose votes would help

Kennedy carry key states in the Midwest and South.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 877

“ That night,

image replaced the

printed word as

the natural lan-

guage of politics.”

RUSSELL BAKER

John F. Kennedy

(right) appeared

conﬁdent and at

ease during a

televised debate

with his opponent

Richard M. Nixon.

▼

Vocabulary

charismatic:

possessing

personal charm

that attracts

devoted followers

MAIN IDEA

Predicting

Effects

What effect

do you think the

televised debate

would have on

American politics?

A. Possible

Answer

Voters would

begin making

decisions based

on a candidate’s

perceived image

rather than on

his or her stand

on the issues.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 877

Page 2 of 9

The Camelot Years

The election in November 1960 was the closest since 1884; Kennedy won by fewer

than 119,000 votes. His inauguration set the tone for a new era at the White

House: one of grace, elegance, and wit. On the podium sat over 100 writers,

artists, and scientists that the Kennedys had invited, including opera singer

Marian Anderson, who had once been barred from singing at Constitution Hall

because she was African American. Kennedy’s inspiring speech called for hope,

commitment, and sacriﬁce. “And so, my fellow Americans,” he proclaimed, “ask

not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

During his term, the president

and his beautiful young wife,

Jacqueline, invited many artists and

celebrities to the White House. In

addition, Kennedy often appeared

on television. The press loved his

charm and wit and helped to bolster

his image.

THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE

Critics

of Kennedy’s presidency argued that

his smooth style lacked substance.

But the new ﬁrst family fascinated

the public. For example, after learn-

ing that JFK could read 1,600 words

a minute, thousands of people

enrolled in speed-reading courses.

The ﬁrst lady, too, captivated the

nation with her eye for fashion and

culture. It seemed the nation could

not get enough of the ﬁrst family.

Newspapers and magazines filled

their pages with pictures and stories

about the president’s young daugh-

ter Caroline and his infant son John.

With JFK’s youthful glamour and his talented advisers, the Kennedy White

House reminded many of a modern-day Camelot, the mythical court of King

Arthur. Coincidentally, the musical Camelot had opened on Broadway in 1960.

Years later, Jackie recalled her husband and the vision of Camelot.

A P

ERSONAL VOICE JACQUELINE KENNEDY

“ At night, before we’d go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records and the song

he loved most came at the very end of [the Camelot] record. The lines he loved to

hear were: ‘Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining

moment that was known as Camelot.’ There’ll be great presidents again . . . but

there’ll never be another Camelot again.

”

—quoted in Life magazine, John F. Kennedy Memorial Edition

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST

Kennedy surrounded himself with a team of

advisers that one journalist called “the best and the brightest.” They included

McGeorge Bundy, a Harvard University dean, as national security adviser; Robert

McNamara, president of Ford Motor Company, as secretary of defense; and Dean

Rusk, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, as secretary of state. Of all the

advisers who ﬁlled Kennedy’s inner circle, he relied most heavily on his 35-year-

old brother Robert, whom he appointed attorney general.

878 C

HAPTER 28

President and

Mrs. Kennedy

enjoy time with

their children,

Caroline and John,

Jr., while

vacationing in

Hyannis Port,

Massachusetts.

▼

Background

The ﬁctional King

Arthur was based

on a real ﬁfth- or

sixth-century Celt.

In literature,

Arthur’s romantic

world is marked by

chivalry and

magic.

MAIN IDEA

Developing

Historical

Perspective

What factors

help explain the

public’s fascin-

ation with the

Kennedys?

B. Answers

The press por-

trayed the

Kennedys as a

young, attrac-

tive, energetic,

and stylish cou-

ple; attention to

arts and culture;

young children;

Kennedy’s elo-

quence; televi-

sion; an admir-

ing press.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 878

Page 3 of 9

A New Military Policy

From the beginning, Kennedy focused on the Cold War. He

thought the Eisenhower administration had not done

enough about the Soviet threat. The Soviets, he concluded,

were gaining loyalties in the economically less-developed

third-world countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He

blasted the Republicans for allowing communism to develop

in Cuba, at America’s doorstep.

DEFINING A MILITARY STRATEGY

Kennedy believed his

most urgent task was to redeﬁne the nation’s nuclear strategy.

The Eisenhower administration had relied on the policy of

massive retaliation to deter Soviet aggression and imperialism.

However, threatening to use nuclear arms over a minor con-

ﬂict was not a risk Kennedy wished to take. Instead, his team

developed a policy of ﬂexible response. Kennedy’s secretary

of defense, Robert McNamara, explained the policy.

A PERSONAL VOICE ROBERT S. MCNAMARA

“ The Kennedy administration worried that [the] reliance on

nuclear weapons gave us no way to respond to large non-

nuclear attacks without committing suicide. . . . We decided

to broaden the range of options by strengthening and mod-

ernizing the military’s ability to ﬁght a nonnuclear war.

”

—In Retrospect

Kennedy increased defense spending in order to boost

conventional military forces—nonnuclear forces such as

troops, ships, and artillery—and to create an elite branch of

the army called the Special Forces, or Green Berets. He also

tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the United States. These changes enabled

the United States to ﬁght limited wars around the world while maintaining a

balance of nuclear power with the Soviet Union. However, even as Kennedy

hoped to reduce the risk of nuclear war, the world came perilously close to nuclear

war under his command as a crisis arose over the island of Cuba.

Crises over Cuba

The ﬁrst test of Kennedy’s foreign policy came in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast

of Florida. About two weeks before Kennedy took ofﬁce, on January 3, 1961,

President Eisenhower had cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba because of a rev-

olutionary leader named Fidel Castro. Castro openly declared himself a com-

munist and welcomed aid from the Soviet Union.

THE CUBAN DILEMMA

Castro gained power with the promise of democracy.

From 1956 to 1959, he led a guerrilla movement to topple dictator Fulgencio

Batista. He won control in 1959 and later told reporters, “Revolutionaries are not

born, they are made by poverty, inequality, and dictatorship.” He then promised

to eliminate these conditions from Cuba.

The United States was suspicious of Castro’s intentions but nevertheless

recognized the new government. However, when Castro seized three

American and British oil refineries, relations between the United States and

Cuba worsened. Castro also broke up commercial farms into communes that

would be worked by formerly landless peasants. American sugar companies,

The New Frontier and the Great Society 879

ANOTHER

EISENHOWER’S WARNING

The increase in defense spending

in the 1960s continued the trend

in which Defense Department

suppliers were becoming more

dominant in the American econo-

my. Before leaving ofﬁce,

President Eisenhower warned

against the dangers of what he

called the “military-industrial com-

plex.” He included in his parting

speech the following comments:

“This conjunction of an

immense military establishment

and a large arms industry is

new in the American experience.

The total inﬂuence—economic,

political, even spiritual—is felt

in every city, ever y statehouse,

every ofﬁce of the federal gov-

ernment. We recognize the

imperative need for this develop-

ment. Yet we must not fail to

comprehend its grave implica-

tions. . . . The potential for the

disastrous rise of misplaced

power exists and will persist.”

MAIN IDEA

Summarizing

What was the

goal of the

doctrine of ﬂexible

response?

Vocabulary

guerrilla: a soldier

who travels in a

small group,

harassing and

undermining the

enemy

Vocabulary

third world:

during the Cold

War, the

developing nations

not allied with

either the United

States or the

Soviet Union

C. Answer

To allow the U.S.

to ﬁght limited

wars around the

world while

maintaining a

nuclear balance

of power with

the Soviets.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 879

Page 4 of 9

880 C

HAPTER 28

Vocabulary

political

repression:

government

intimidation of

those with

different political

views

D. Answers

Failure to oust

Castro, loss of

world prestige,

embarrassment

for JFK, ransom

for captured

commandos.

Skillbuilder

Answers

1. Between 10

and 15 minutes

2. Because

power,

resources, and

wealth are con-

centrated in

these places.

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Effects

What were the

consequences of

the failed invasion

for the United

States?

which controlled 75 percent of the crop land

in Cuba, appealed to the U.S. government for

help. In response, Congress erected trade barri-

ers against Cuban sugar.

Castro relied increasingly on Soviet aid—

and on the political repression of those who did

not agree with him. While some Cubans were

taken by his charisma and his willingness to

stand up to the United States, others saw Castro

as a tyrant who had replaced one dictatorship

with another. About 10 percent of Cuba’s popu-

lation went into exile, mostly to the United

States. Within the large exile community of

Miami, Florida, a counterrevolutionary move-

ment took shape.

THE BAY OF PIGS

In March 1960, President

Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly

train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. The

CIA and the exiles hoped it would trigger a mass

uprising that would overthrow Castro. Kennedy

learned of the plan only nine days after his elec-

tion. Although he had doubts, he approved it.

On the night of April 17, 1961, some 1,300 to 1,500

Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. military landed on the

island’s southern coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay of

Pigs. Nothing went as planned. An air strike had failed to

knock out the Cuban air force, although the CIA reported

that it had succeeded. A small advance group sent to dis-

tract Castro’s forces never reached shore. When the main

commando unit landed, it faced 25,000 Cuban troops

backed up by Soviet tanks and jet aircraft. Some of the

invading exiles were killed, others imprisoned.

The Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of “North

American mercenaries.” One United States commentator

observed that Americans “look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies,

and incompetents to the rest.” The disaster left Kennedy embarrassed. Publicly, he

accepted blame for the ﬁasco. Privately, he asked, “How could that crowd at the

CIA and the Pentagon be this wrong.”

Kennedy negotiated with Castro for the release of surviving commandos and

paid a ransom of $53 million in food and medical supplies. In a speech in Miami,

he promised exiles that they would one day return to a “free Havana.” Although

Kennedy warned that he would resist further Communist expansion in the

Western Hemisphere, Castro deﬁantly welcomed further Soviet aid.

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow: Soviet

Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms.

During the summer of 1962, the ﬂow to Cuba of Soviet weapons—including

nuclear missiles—increased greatly. President Kennedy responded with a warning

that America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba. Then, on

October 14, photographs taken by American planes revealed Soviet missile bases

in Cuba—and some contained missiles ready to launch. They could reach U.S.

cities in minutes.

On October 22, Kennedy informed an anxious nation of the existence of

Soviet missile sites in Cuba and of his plans to remove them. He made it clear that

any missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviet Union.

▼

(top) Castro

celebrates after

gaining power in

Cuba.

(above) The Bay

of Pigs mission

was said to have

blown up in

Kennedy’s face.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 880

Page 5 of 9

(

)

(

)

(

)

Guantanamo

New York

Washington, D.C.

Denver

Houston

Atlanta

Chicago

Havana

UNITED STATES

CUBA

Gulf

Mexico

Caribbean Sea

PACIFIC

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

40°N

30°N

110°W 80°W90°W

Missile complex

Possible missile path

Range of quarantine

U.S. military installation

0 200 400 kilometers

200 400 miles

OCT. 22

OCT. 24

OCT. 25 OCT. 28

OCT. 14

OCT. 22

OCT. 24

OCT. 25 OCT. 28

OCT. 14

U.S. spy planes reveal nuclear

missile sites in Cuba.

Kennedy tells the nation

of his intention to halt

the missile buildup.

Soviet ships

approaching Cuba

come to a halt.

Khrushchev announces

plan to remove missiles

from Cuba.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 881

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER

Movement About how long would it have

taken for a missile launched from Cuba to

reach New York?

Human-Environment Interaction

Why do you think it may have been important

for Soviet missiles to reach the U.S. cities

shown above?

Kennedy implements a naval

“quarantine” of Cuba, blocking

Soviet ships from reaching the

island. (below) A U.S. patrol plane

ﬂies over a Soviet freighter.

Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962

*Missile path times and distances

are approximate.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 881

Page 6 of 9

For the next six days, the world

faced the terrifying possibility of

nuclear war. In the Atlantic Ocean,

Soviet ships—presumably carrying

more missiles—headed toward

Cuba, while the U.S. Navy pre-

pared to quarantine Cuba and pre-

vent the ships from coming within

500 miles of it. In Florida, 100,000

troops waited—the largest inva-

sion force ever assembled in the

United States. C. Douglas Dillon,

Kennedy’s secretary of the treasury

and a veteran of nuclear diploma-

cy, recalled those tension-filled

days of October.

A P

ERSONAL VOICE

C. DOUGLAS DILLON

“ The only time I felt a fear of

nuclear war or a use of nuclear

weapons was on the very ﬁrst day,

when we’d decided that we had to

do whatever was necessary to get

the missiles out. There was

always some background fear of

what would eventually happen,

and I think this is what was

expressed when people said they

feared they would never see

another Saturday.

”

—quoted in On the Brink

The ﬁrst break in the crisis

occurred when the Soviet ships

stopped suddenly to avoid a con-

frontation at sea. Secretary of State

Dean Rusk said, “We are eyeball

to eyeball, and the other fellow just

blinked.” A few days later,

Khrushchev offered to remove the

missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. The United States also

secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. The leaders agreed, and the crisis

ended. “For a moment, the world had stood still,” Robert Kennedy wrote years later,

“and now it was going around again.”

KENNEDY AND KHRUSHCHEV TAKE THE HEAT

The crisis severely damaged

Khrushchev’s prestige in the Soviet Union and the world. Kennedy did not escape

criticism either. Some people criticized Kennedy for practicing brinkmanship

when private talks might have resolved the crisis without the threat of nuclear

war. Others believed he had passed up an ideal chance to invade Cuba and oust

Castro. (It was learned in the 1990s that the CIA had underestimated the num-

bers of Soviet troops and nuclear weapons on the island.)

The effects of the crisis lasted long after the missiles had been removed. Many

Cuban exiles blamed the Democrats for “losing Cuba” (a charge that Kennedy

had earlier leveled at the Republicans) and switched their allegiance to the GOP.

882 C

HAPTER 28

JOHN F. KENNEDY

1917–1963

John F. “Jack” Kennedy grew

up in a politically powerful

family that helped make his

dreams possible. His parents

instilled in him the drive to

accomplish great things.

During World War II he

enlisted in the navy and was

decorated for heroism. In

1946, he won his ﬁrst seat in

Congress from a Boston dis-

trict where he had never

lived. While a senator, he won

a Pulitzer Prize for his book

Proﬁles in Courage.

Although he radiated self-

conﬁdence, Kennedy suffered

many ailments, including

Addison’s disease—a debili-

tating condition that he

treated with daily injections

of cortisone. “At least one

half of the days that he spent

on this earth were days of

intense physical pain,”

recalled his brother Rober t.

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

1894–1971

“No matter how humble a

man’s beginnings,” boasted

Nikita Khrushchev, “he

achieves the stature of the

ofﬁce to which he is elected.”

Khrushchev, the son of a

miner, became a Communist

Party organizer in the 1920s.

Within four years of Stalin’s

death in 1953, Khrushchev

had consolidated his power in

the Soviet Union.

During his regime, which

ended in 1964, Khrushchev

kept American nerves on

edge with alternately concilia-

tory and aggressive behavior.

During a 1959 trip to the

United States, he met for

friendly talks with President

Eisenhower. The next year, in

front of the UN General

Assembly, he took off his

shoe and angrily pounded it

on a desk to protest the U-2

incident.

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 882

Page 7 of 9

Meanwhile, Castro closed Cuba’s doors to the exiles in November 1962 by ban-

ning all ﬂights to and from Miami. Three years later, hundreds of thousands of

people took advantage of an agreement that allowed Cubans to join relatives in

the United States. By the time Castro sharply cut down on exit permits in 1973,

the Cuban population in Miami had increased to about 300,000.

Crisis over Berlin

One goal that had guided Kennedy through the Cuban missile crisis was that of

proving to Khruschev his determination to contain communism. All the while,

Kennedy was thinking of their recent confrontation over Berlin, which had led to

the construction of the Berlin Wall, a concrete wall topped with barbed wire

that severed the city in two.

THE BERLIN CRISIS

In 1961, Berlin was a city in great tur-

moil. In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift, almost 3 million

East Germans—20 percent of that country’s population—had

ﬂed into West Berlin because it was free from Communist

rule. These refugees advertised the failure of East Germany’s

Communist government. Their departure also dangerously

weakened that country’s economy.

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Effects

What were the

results of the

Cuban missile

crisis?

E. Answers

Kennedy staved

off war;

Khrushchev’s

prestige tar-

nished; many

Cuban exiles

blamed

Democrats for

“losing Cuba”

and switched

allegiance to

GOP; Castro limit-

ed exiles’ access

to Cuba.

The “death strip” stretched like a barren

moat around West Berlin, with patrols,

ﬂoodlights, electric fences, and vehicle

traps between the inner and outer walls.

Walls and other barriers 10–15 feet

high surrounded West Berlin. The

length of the barriers around the city

totaled about 110 miles.

Guard dogs and machine guns dis-

uaded most people from crossing

over illegally, yet some still dared.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 883

East

Berlin

West

Berlin

French

Zone

British

Zone

American

Zone

Checkpoint

Charlie

Brandenburg

Gate

04 kilometers

04 miles

THE BERLIN WALL, 1961

In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev, the

Soviet premier, ordered the Berlin

Wall built to stop the ﬂow of

refugees from East to West Berlin.

Most were seeking freedom from

Communist rule.

The wall isolated West Berlin

from a hostile German Democratic

Republic (GDR). Passing from East

to West was almost impossible

without the Communist govern-

ment's permission.

During the 28 years the wall was

standing, approximately 5,000 peo-

ple succeeded in ﬂeeing. Almost

200 people died in the attempt;

most were shot by the GDR border

guards. In 1989, East Germany

opened the Berlin Wall to cheering

crowds. Today the rubbled concrete

is a reminder of the Cold War ten-

sions between East and West.

The Berlin Wall was ﬁrst made of brick and barbed wire,

but was later erected in cement and steel.

Bonn

East

Berlin

West Berlin

NORTH

SEA

BALTIC SEA

FED. REP.

OF GERMANY

GER. DEM.

REPUBLIC

POL.

CZECH.

0 100 kilometers

0 100 miles

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 883

Page 8 of 9

884 C

HAPTER 28

•John F. Kennedy

•ﬂexible response

•Fidel Castro

•Berlin Wall

•hot line

•Limited Test Ban Treaty

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its

signiﬁcance.

MAIN IDEA

2. TAKING NOTES

Using diagrams such as the one

below, list two outcomes for each of

these events: ﬁrst Kennedy-Nixon

debate, Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban

missile crisis, and construction of

the Berlin Wall.

Which of these outcomes led

directly to other events listed here

or described in this section?

CRITICAL THINKING

3. EVALUATING DECISIONS

How well do you think President

Kennedy handled the Cuban missile

crisis? Justify your opinion with spe-

ciﬁc examples from the text.

Think About:

• Kennedy’s decision to impose a

naval “quarantine” of Cuba

• the nuclear showdown between

the superpowers

• Kennedy’s decision not to invade

Cuba

4. ANALYZING VISUAL SOURCES

Examine the cartoon above of

Kennedy (left) facing off with

Khrushchev and Castro. What do

you think the cartoonist was trying

to convey?

5. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

What kind of political statement was

made by the United States’ support

of West Berlin?

Outcome

Event

Outcome

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Motives

What led

Khrushchev to

erect the Berlin

Wall?

F. Answer

Communists

wanted to stop

the ﬂow of East

German

refugees into

West Berlin and

further isolate

the thriving city.

Khrushchev realized that this problem had to be

solved. At a summit meeting in Vienna, Austria, in

June 1961, he threatened to sign a treaty with East

Germany that would enable that country to close all

the access roads to West Berlin. When Kennedy refused

to give up U.S. access to West Berlin, Khrushchev furi-

ously declared, “I want peace. But, if you want war,

that is your problem.”

After returning home, Kennedy told the nation in a tele-

vised address that Berlin was “the great testing place of

Western courage and will.” He pledged “[W]e cannot and will

not permit the Communists to drive us out of Berlin.”

Kennedy’s determination and America’s superior nuclear

striking power prevented Khrushchev from closing the air and

land routes between West Berlin and West Germany. Instead, the Soviet premier sur-

prised the world with a shocking decision. Just after midnight on August 13, 1961,

East German troops began to unload concrete posts and rolls of barbed wire along

the border. Within days, the Berlin Wall was erected, separating East Germany from

West Germany.

The construction of the Berlin Wall ended the Berlin crisis but further aggra-

vated Cold War tensions. The wall and its armed guards successfully reduced the

ﬂow of East German refugees to a tiny trickle, thus solving Khrushchev’s main

problem. At the same time, however, the wall became an ugly symbol of

Communist oppression.

SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO EASE TENSIONS

Showdowns between Kennedy and

Khrushchev made both leaders aware of the gravity of split-second decisions that

separated Cold War peace from nuclear disaster. Kennedy, in particular, searched for

ways to tone down his hard-line stance. In 1963, he announced that the two nations

had established a hot line between the White House and the Kremlin. This dedi-

cated phone enabled the leaders of the two countries to communicate at once should

another crisis arise. Later that year, the United States and Soviet Union also agreed

to a Limited Test Ban Treaty that barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere.

“ I want peace.

But, if you want

war, that is your

problem.”

SOVIET PREMIER

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

▼

Reading from this note card during a

speech in West Berlin, Kennedy

proclaimed “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am

a Berliner”).

p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 AM Page 884

Page 9 of 9

Download
Save PDF to desktop

Email
Email completed PDF

Send for Signing
Email for others to sign

Print
Print document

NAME

the Cold War Kennedy and p0876-884aspe-0828s1 101702 9:18 (Caggia Social Studies)

View Audit Log
Print With Audit Log
Duplicate Document

Fill Online, Printable, Fillable, Blank the Cold War Kennedy and p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 (Caggia Social Studies) Form

Related forms

Fillable the Cold War Kennedy and p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 (Caggia Social Studies)

Fill Online, Printable, Fillable, Blank the Cold War Kennedy and p0876-884aspe-0828s1 10/17/02 9:18 (Caggia Social Studies) Form

Related forms

First 20 documents completely FREE!