John F Kennedy
John F Kennedy
John F. Kennedy became our 35th president on January 20th, 1961. He was our 35th president from 1961 to 1963. “Kennedy won by a narrow margin–less than 120,000 out of some 70 million votes”. (history.com) Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president and he was also the youngest president to ever be at the age of 43. Even though his presidency was very short he had a very big impact on the American people. “In his inaugural address, the new president called on his fellow Americans to work together in the pursuit of progress and the elimination of poverty, but also in the battle to win the ongoing Cold War against communism around the world. Kennedy’s famous closing words expressed the need for cooperation and sacrifice on the part of the American people: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” (history.com) One of the major defining moments in Kennedys administration was the Bay of Pigs. 1,400 CIA trained Cubans were sent to Cuba in the hopes they would overthrow Fidel Castrol. This was a very bad mission that was a very big negative for Kennedys administration and it ended in complete failure. It wasn’t just bad for Kennedy but also for the Cubans that he had sent with almost all of them being either killed or captured. “Kennedy's greatest accomplishments during his brief tenure as president came in the arena of foreign affairs. Capitalizing on the spirit of activism he had helped to ignite, Kennedy created the Peace Corps by executive order in 1961. By the end of the century, over 170,000 Peace Corps volunteers would serve in 135 countries. Also in 1961, Kennedy created the Alliance for Progress to foster greater economic ties with Latin America, in hopes of alleviating poverty and thwarting the spread of communism in the region.” (biography.com) However, even though the Bay of Pigs is probably what Kennedy was well known for it is not the biggest moment that happened during his presidency. The major defining moment in Kennedy’s presidency was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. This was a major negative of his administration. “Discovering that the Soviet Union had sent ballistic nuclear missiles to Cuba, Kennedy blockaded the island and vowed to defend the United States at any cost.’ (biography.com) While in negotiations several days went by before “the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles in return for Kennedy's promise not to invade Cuba and to remove American missiles from Turkey”.(biography.com) Kennedy also eight months later “negotiated the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with Great Britain and the Soviet Union, helping to ease Cold War tensions. It was one of his proudest accomplishments.” (biography.com) The negotiation that eased cold war tensions was definitely a major positive of Kennedys administration. A major thing that Kennedy had to deal with during his presidency