John F. Kennedy was the newly elected president of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was the youngest president ever voted into office in American History, making him seem vulnerable to opposing political leaders such as Soviet Union's Premier, Nikita Khrushchev. Kennedy had only been in office for a short time before signing the authorization of the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. Kennedy was a part of a capitalist country, and he, like most capitalists, feared the effects of communism. Kennedy addressed in his speech on the matter that “ it is clear that the forces of communism are not to be underestimated, in Cuba or anywhere else in the world.” Kennedy largely disagreed with communism, and believed that the effects could …show more content…
be dangerous to a society. When the invasion failed, Kennedy was greatly embarrassed. He felt as though it was a horrible start to his new presidency, and that he had let his country down. Kennedy had to take blame for the failure publicly. Kennedy was informed of the missiles stationed in Cuba on the 16th of October 1962, when his national security agent, Mcgeorge Bundy, brought photographs of the missiles into Kennedy’s bedroom. Kennedy knew that it was urgent, and started worrying about the fate of the United States. He assembled the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, also known as the EX-COMM, to seek advice on how to handle the situation. Kennedy trusted that the twelve hand-picked men in EX-COMM would advise him to make rational and successful decisions. Kennedy wanted to keep all information secret, so that the Soviets would not know how much information the United States knew, and he also did not want to bring panic to the citizens of America. Kennedy kept up his public appearances as a way of concealing the crisis from the American people. Kennedy did not want to go to war with the Soviet Union.
He believed that there had to be a way to settle the crisis without going to war, however he was willing to go to war if there were no other options resulting in the removal of the missiles. He hoped that blockading Cuba would result in a halt of the construction of missiles, to justify this action he claimed it was “in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere”. He wanted the citizens of the United States to think that he was following the correct procedures, and showing strong leadership, after the embarrassment of the Bay of Pigs …show more content…
Invasion. Kennedy wrote to Khrushchev on the 25th of October, hoping that the Soviet Union would redraw the missiles from Cuba in order to calm his fear that the missiles would be fired onto American soil.
In his letter to Khrushchev, he pleaded that the Soviet Union will act accordingly and try to fix the situation. He stated “I repeat my regret that these events should cause a deterioration in our relations. I hope that your Government will take the necessary action to permit a restoration of the earlier situation.” Kennedy understood that the events that occurred were deteriorating their relationship with the Soviet Union, and hoped that the issue of the missiles would be resolved so that a war would not be
necessary. Kennedy felt as though he had to prepare his troops for war, on the assumption that relations with the Soviet Union worsened. He ordered another U-2 spy plane to be flown over Cuba to check up for progress on the missiles on October 27th. Unfortunately for the United States, the plane was shot down by the Soviets. Kennedy reluctantly acknowledged that we're “now in an entirely new ball game.” He was shocked at the fact that the Soviets had fired the first shot upon one of the United States’s planes, the American “hawks” demanded retaliation, however Kennedy felt as if there were still other options. Kennedy still did not see war as the best option for either the United States or the Soviet Union. Historian Alan Axelrod believes that ‘Kennedy concluded that attacking Cuba by air would signal the Soviets to presume "a clear line" to conquer Berlin. Kennedy also believed that the United States' allies would think of the U.S. as "trigger-happy cowboys" who lost Berlin because they could not peacefully resolve the Cuban situation.’ Kennedy wanted people to know that he could handle a situation professionally and without war. He did not want the Soviets thinking that they could invade Berlin, if the United States were to attack Cuba, and therefore Kennedy had to find another option for resolving the crisis. Kennedy sent his brother, Robert, to bargain with the Russian ambassador about a proposal that Khrushchev had created. Kennedy was very tempted by the proposal of the removal of missile in Cuba if the United States promised to never attempt to invade Cuba, and for the United States to withdraw their missiles stationed in Turkey. However, Kennedy did not want to look as if he was backing down, feeling as though this would make the United States look weak at the power of the Soviet Union. Instead Kennedy proposed that he would remove the missiles in Turkey in secret, over the next few months. Kennedy was relieved when this proposal was accepted by Khrushchev, as it did not make Kennedy seem as if he had backed down, and it also meant that a war was not going to occur between the United States and the Soviet Union, which saved potentially millions of lives.
It was on January 20th 1961 that John F Kennedy gave his inaugural address after winning the presidential race and beating future president Richard Nixon. President, John F Kennedy in his speech, The Inaugural Address, he describes his plans for growth in America. Kennedy’s purpose is unite the people of the U.S. and bring everyone together for the good cause of promoting growth in the country. He creates a very inspirational tone in order to establish a connection with the U.S. people. In his speech Kennedy really used several rhetorical strategies of persuasion to motivate and persuade the U.S. people that they made the right choice in choosing him.
One day, in the early 60s the US Government discovered that the Soviet Union had a nuclear missile on the island of Cuba. So, the US government asked the Soviets to get rid of them. It was a bold thing to do because anything could have happened. Things between the US and the Soviets were already tense because of the cold war. For fourteen days, tension grew between the nations. Not knowing if this missile aimed and ready to fire at the US. Kennedy decided to give this speech the “Cuban Missile Crisis Address”. The address was used was to announce there will be a naval blockade on Cuba until the crisis is solved. This address was very effective because Kennedy did not say he was going to start
...roposed that if the U.S. removed its missiles from Turkey then Russia would remove its missiles from Cuba. Robert Kennedy wanted Soviet missiles and offensive weapons removed from Cuba under UN inspection. Later that same day, a U.S. U-2 was shot down over Cuba. Bombardment of Cuba was the initial reaction, but JFK calmed everyone down. The next day on October 28, Russia agreed to withdraw their missiles from Cuba. If they had not, war may have begun.
... They did not expect Castro to react so quickly, they figured the attack would be a surprise, they assumed many Cubans would defect from Castro, and help the U.S. fight. The undisputed fact is that the U.S. lost the battle at the Bay of Pigs. Nothing was gained, and nearly brought the U.S. into war with Cuba and its ally, Russia.
This investigation will be an evaluation of President Kennedy’s Executive Committee and the repercussions of the decisions made during the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Tape recordings and files had been deemed classified, but these files are now released and the decisions made by the government can be assessed to the fullest extent. This can produce major implications regarding the relationship between what was then the Soviet Union and the United States. The public was kept in the dark about several courses of action, including the removal of American missiles and many other surprising judgment calls that may be a cause of international security between the two country’s today.
At first he believed that a blockade around Cuba would be the right maneuver and his proposal was supported by the majority of the other members. Soon he realized though that the Russians were not planning on negotiating or dealing with this matter in any peaceful manner. Though opposed to it, Kennedy moved for an air strike. He was very uncomfortable with the idea and he showed this with his remark to the president of "I now know how Tojo felt when he was planning Pearl Harbor.
United States spy planes found Soviet missile hangers being constructed throughout Cuba with the missiles being capable of reaching various targets in the United States. Panic raced throughout the Kennedy administration. Kennedy’s defense advisors urged for increased force, with options ranging from invading the island to destroying the hangers with bombs. Kennedy, who feared the possibility of nuclear war, wanted a solution without escalation. The solution was to put a quarantine on Cuba.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered one of the most important American speeches after being sworn in as president on January 20, 1961. His inauguration speech was so influential that it seized the nation’s attention, and quotes from it are still clearly remembered by people today. It is considered one of the best speeches ever written and ever delivered. It presents a strong appeal to pathos, ethos, and logos and accomplishes what any speaker strives for – it speaks straight to the heart of the audience and inspires people.
No one knew that the Civil War would extend to the capacity that it actually did. On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln talked to the People of the Nation, those of the seceded states also including those apart of the Confederacy, about how the war was still engulfing their thoughts. He proceeded to inform those citizens about slavery causing the war and his theory of God controlling the outcome of it. Since he was President previously before and this was his Second Inaugural address, he was believed to be credible. Lincoln implied that he was confident in what was going to come for the future by saying, “I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all.” (Lincoln, line 7-8). The excerpt from Lincoln’s address is effective at convincing the audience to stop encouraging the on going issue of slavery. For example, the wars expansion was a big problem to the nation. It would not have happened without slavery and while they had to go through this war, they were not going to settle for anything less than peace among the nations at the end of it.
One of Lincoln’s most famous quotes is “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” This describes his presidency well- focusing on maintaining the Union. In the beginning, Lincoln tried to stay out of sensitive affairs involving the North and South in an attempt to keep them together, promising the South little interference. Despite this, he played a key role in passing the Thirteenth Amendment, doing whatever it takes to end slavery for good and ending the Civil War.
The situation continued to escalate from this point. Kennedy met with the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin on several occasions, and he consistently claimed that Soviet Chairman Nikita Khrushchev assured him that "there would be no...offensive weapons placed in Cuba."4
According to Premier Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs, in May 1962 he conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba as a means of countering an emerging lead of the United States in developing and deploying strategic missiles. He also presented the scheme as a means of protecting Cuba from another United States-sponsored invasion, such as the failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
John F. Kennedy chose to write this essay because he was attempting to show us the vision the he had for our world. Kennedy’s purpose of writing the “Inaugural Address” was to challenge us to change our way of thinking and become better not only for ourselves, but for our country so that we may function more efficiently. The major groups Kennedy addresses in his speech are the United States and the other nations who are enemies of the United States. Kennedy’s central point for the entire essay is that we as a nation need to defend our freedoms all around the world. In order to defend our freedoms we must stop fighting amongst each other and join together in unison. We have the ability to share all different types of ideas, cultures, and experiences.
He stated that if the Soviets execute a “hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, [it] will be met by whatever action is needed” (source). Respectively, war was not the President’s first choice. President Kennedy declared that he himself and government officials “are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides, including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny” (source). During the Cuban Missile Crisis, America desired peace without war in the Western Hemisphere, but President Kennedy made it clear that the U.S. would fight for it if necessary. Throughout his address, President Kennedy utilized the logos appeal wonderfully to gain the trust of the American and Cuban
The failed invasion of Bay of Pigs had extensive repercussions. It advanced Castro’s political stature in Cuba and also allowed him to establish a more prominent relationship with the Soviet Union. Even though U.S. - Cuban relations were strained since the Spanish-American there was a small possibility that Castro would have been opened to working with the United States considering that Castro did not declare his allegiance to Marxist-Leninism till 1961. The Bay of Pigs invasion served as a catalyst for more bold Cuban-Soviet relations. The more bold Cuban-Soviet relations were seen in the Cuban Missile crisis in 1963.