BUT NO OUTSIDE SOURCE AT ALL EXCEPT ATTACHED FILES Each essay must be at least 1000 words (3 1/2 pages) Must use 12 inch font, double spaced, regular 1 inch margins. No cover page, instructor’s name, name of the class, time of class, etc., is necessary.

20190720200223audio_and_film_clips x20190720200221john_f._kennedy_summary_and_written_lecture x20190720195032essay_rubric_waucaush x20190720200223the_cuban_missile_crisis_summary_and_written_lecture x20190720200219cold_war_1950s_summary_and_written_lecture x
 

BUT NO OUTSIDE SOURCE AT ALL EXCEPT ATTACHED FILES

• Each essay must be at least 1000 words (3 1/2 pages)
• Must use 12 inch font, double spaced, regular 1 inch margins.
• No cover page, instructor’s name, name of the class, time of class, etc., is necessary.
• Simply type your name in the upper right hand corner of the paper.
• This is an informal essay so footnotes and a works cited page are not needed. Only use quotation marks if DIRECTLY quoting professor’s written lecture and when using a direct quote from the text. When quoting from the text, include page number in parenthesis from where quote was taken. Avoid using long quotes.
• In addition to the essay rubric provided in the module, the grading rubric will use a scale of 75% content, 25% grammar and sentence structure
• Each essay should include a thesis statement (the point you intend to make), supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

Who or what did the American government consider the biggest threat against its freedom and way of life in the 1950s? Was this a justified fear? What policies were put in place and what theories arose to deter the expansion of Communist ideology abroad and at home? Identity and decribe some American backed international bodies that were established after World War II? Why were these important? Did the Soviet Union have an equivalent, if so what was it? What happened to Germany after WWII? What happened to American institutions after WWII? Identity those institutions. Why did this “institutional militarization” occur? Why did Harry Truman eventually denounce the CIA? What was the root of contention between President Kennedy and the Joint Chiefs? Why did they grow to mistrust each other? Was Castro’s life in danger by American entities? If so, why? What operations did the Pentagon, CIA, and Joint Chiefs come up with in order to take out Castro and develop a pretext to attack Cuba? Who were the central players of the Cuban Missile Crisis? Why did Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev place missiles in Cuba? Why did Castro purchase nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union. Why was this a tremendous gamble? Is there evidence that JFK was changed as a result of the crisis? If so, what is it? What revelations about political leadership does the Cuban Missile Crisis offer?

Cold War/1950s

· Film Clip: Blowback: CIA and Iran, 1953

· Film Clip: Castle Bravo

· Film Clip: World’s Largest Nuclear Explosion, the Tsar Bomba!

John F. Kennedy

· Film Clip: Bay of Pigs Invasion

The Cuban Missile Crisis 

· Film Clip: Clouds over Cuba

http://cloudsovercuba.com/casestudy/

· Film Clip: “You’re in a pretty bad fix…”

· Audio Clip: The Kennedy Tapes, Cuban Missile Crisis Deliberations

· Film Clip: Bobby Kennedy and Dobrynin Negotiation ( to end Cuban Missile Crisis)

·

Film Clip: Kennedy’s American University Speech

https://csn.instructure.com/courses/1315044/modules/items/13588447

At age 43,

 

 John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was the youngest person ever to be elected president.  Kennedy and his cabinet, called “the best and the brightest” (because of the number of officials that graduated from the Ivy League) would deal with numerous Cold War threats and narrowly avoided WW III with the Soviet Union. 

Kennedy entered office a cold war warrior, however, as result of his many near confrontations with the Russian, his view toward the Soviet Union seemed to change and he actually began to espouse nuclear disarmament. 

Kennedy Administration : Best and the Brightest

·

Foreign relations counselor McGeorge Bundy, former Harvard Dean

· Dean Rusk, Secretary of State, Rhodes Scholar

· Kenny O’Donnel, attended Harvard and Boston Law School

· Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General, attended Harvard

· Robert S. McNamara, former CEO of Ford Motor Company

Kennedy firmly belied in the mission to reach the moon, and supported doubling spending on N.A.S.A.

· Doubled budget for N.A.S.A. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

· As a Democrat, Kennedy had a robust domestic agenda that was overshadowed by foreign conflicts:

· extend unemployment benefits

· raise minimum wage

· broaden social security

· increase defense spending

· Federal housing funding increase ($4 billion)

The youngest president used paramilitary groups and Special Forces, i.e.  more than any of his predecessors. Like Eisenhower, Kennedy wanted to contain communism. 

· Contain Communism

· Paramilitary groups

· Peace Corp in 1961

Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara was asked by Kennedy to investigate the supposed missile gap between the US and the USSR.  3 weeks later, McNamara reported back that there was no missile gap and 3 months later, he told Kennedy that the US had nuclear superiority over the Soviets:

·
·

US: 25,000 nuclear weapons

USSR: 2,500 nuclear weapons

US: 45 ICBMS

USSR: 4 ICBMS

US: 1,500 bombers

USSR: 192 bombers

 

THE US and CUBA

Events in Cuba would embroil Kennedy as soon as he took office in 1961. 

As you may recall, the US intervened in Cuba in 1898.  By the 1930s and up until the 1950s, most of Cuba’s resources were controlled by American corporations:

· Good Neighbor Policy & Cuba (American holdings)

· 80-100% Cuban utilities, mines, cattle ranches, and oil refineries

· 40% of sugar industries

· 50% of public railways

    

By the 1950s most of Cuba’s peasant population was in terrible poverty.  The  US government tolerated the very corrupt Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista who allowed the American Mafia to operate (almost with impunity) in Havanna  which brought wealth to their casinos and to Batista’s regime. Meanwhile Cuban children attended schools with dirt floors and roofs that were  made of palm tree leaves. 

 

FIDEL CASTRO

While studying law at the University of Havana, Fidel Castro became an ardent anti-imperialist and protested Cuba’s corrupt government, as result he was imprisoned.

Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista on January 1st, 1959

After being released from prison, he adopted guerilla warfare tactics and overthrew Batista on Jan 1, 1959;  Batista and the Mafia were both forced to flee Cuba. 

There was brief moment where Cuba could have become part of America’s orbit, but Castro’s affinity for socialism and affiliation with leftists such as Che Guaverra was too much for the ultra conservative Eisenhower Administration. 

Castro visited US for first time in 1959

When Castro visited the US in April of 1959 Eisenhower refused to meet with the young Cuban leader.  After Vice President Richard Nixon meet with Castro, he said the revolutionary was “naïve about communism” and supported his elimination.   A plot to overthrow Castro was soon approved.        

After the  Castro Revolution of 1959

· IMF hesitant to lend money to Cuba’s revolutionary government 

· Cuba turns to USSR and begins to import goods

· American oil companies refuse to refine Russian crude oil (order given by State Dept)

· Castro seizes all American companies (Texaco, Chase, UFC, etc.)

· US refuses to buy Cuban sugar in protest

· Soviet Union buys all 700,000 tons of Cuba’s sugar 

· Castro breaks up large cattle ranches and sugar plantations

· US threatens to cut off aid, Castro confiscates $1 billion in US property

· Signs trade agreement w/ Soviet Union in 1960

· Eisenhower severs diplomatic relations w/ Cuba

· Authorizes CIA to train Cuban expatriates for future invasion

There were at least 19 US backed attempt to kill Fidel Castro, he escaped every one of them.

Strange Bedfellows:

The US unsuccessfully collaborated withe Mafia figures in developing assassination plots against Castro:

 

Santos Trafficante     Sam Giancana              John Roselli

 

Covert Operations designed to take down Castro:

· Operation Mongoose

· CIA plan to wreck Cuban economy

·

· Continue assassination attempts

 

Operation Northwoods

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, Lyman L. Lemnitzerpresented Kennedy with some false flag operations (in order to establish a pretext to attack Cuba) in a document called Operation Northwoods.  Among other things Lemnitzer proposed that the US could do the following:

· Stage a Cuban government high-jacking

· Shoot down a civilian airline and blame it on the Cubans

· Sink boat loads of Cubans escaping into Florida and blaming communists

· Stage terrorist attacks around Miami and blame it on Castro

(remember the “people are expendable in order to achieve political objectives” concept from WW II?  Well it’s back again.) 

Disturbed over the obvious implications for such a plan, Kennedy fired Lemnitzer

 

Operation ORTSAC
· A mock invasion of an island and overthrow of its government
What is the word ORSTAC spelled backwards? ………………….clever right?
American troops conduct mock invasion of a  Caribbean island, 1962
·
· 79 ships
· 300 aircraft
· 40,000 troops
 
Bay of Pigs  Invasion (April 17th, 1961)

The Bay of Pigs operation was originally planned by Eisenhower and planned for using 1,600 Cuban exiles living in Florida in a surprise attack against Cuba.  The plan was that the Cuban exiles would create a revolution within 2 days and overthrow Castro.  Against his better judgment Kennedy approved the plan.

· Initially planned by Eisenhower to counter Castro regime
· The CIA trained 1600 Cuban exiles were defeated in three days
· Used, 7 ships (2 owned by United Fruit Company)
· Joint Chiefs urged air and ground support, Kennedy refused at last minute
· The Joint Chiefs castigated Kennedy, telling him “Eisenhower would have done it!”
The Bay of Pigs debacle was a huge embarrassment for the young president.  The global community condemned the actions of a large super power such as the US attacking a small island country in a covert operation.

Kennedy would never again trust the Joint Chiefs.  The Joint Chiefs and the Miami-based CIA would never forgive Kennedy for suspending air support at the last minute. 

Once Kennedy realized the type of activities the CIA was engaged in around the world (the agency had moved far beyond intelligence gathering and was subverting democratic elections and overthrowing government leaders) and was operating above the authority of the White House, he was outraged.

Kennedy fired Director Allen Dulles, placed all overseas CIA personnel under the State Department supervision,  and threatened to “…splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds.”
 
 
 

Che Guevara

Che Guevara was Castro’s 1st Lieutenant, left Cuba in 1965 and was eventually killed by CIA backed forces in Bolivia while fighting in a revolution
“There was no person more feared by the company (CIA) than Che Guevara because he had the capacity and charisma necessary to direct the struggle against the political repression of the traditional hierarchies in power in the countries of Latin America.”
—Phillip Agee, CIA agent, later defected to Cuba
·
 
It’s one thing to win a revolution, it’s quite another to run a country

Like all small revolutionary countries (including the US in 1776) allying with a large empire is necessary in order to establish trade and to acquire military support (see French Navy in the American Revolution) to win freedom from a larger empire or to keep a larger empire from taking it.

Many revolutionaries fail when transitioning from revolution to long term government stability (history is full of them, remember the Egyptian Revolution of 2011?) —in short, who is going to replace the leader that is being overthrown and will the replacement become dictatorial?

What made the American Revolution truly exceptional was that George Washington walked away from power after two terms and allowed the democratic process to continue. 

The great French general, Napoleon Bonaparte, who took over the French Revolution and turned it into a military movement, on his death bed said….”they wanted me to be a George Washington, but I was unable to give up the sword.”

Fidel Castro kept Cuba in a continual state of revolution, although as the decades passed, Fidel became the biggest enemy to the liberties of his own people.  Cuba, although it started out with great promise after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 (it had the highest literacy rates in the Western Hemisphere and free health care) slowly declined into a totalitarian state. 

Castro outlawed rival political parties, jailed political opponents, and eventually it became illegal to leave the island-nation.  To this day, in Cuba, people speak in hushed tones when criticizing the government. It’s still remarkable he was able to stay in power for over 50 years, 90 miles away from the shores of the US.
 
US policies have pushed Central and Latin American countries to the far left

Why did Fidel refuse to give up power?  He believed that whomever the next leader was, that they would be co-opted or overthrown by the CIA so he refused to step aside.  The late Hugo Chavez of Venezuela did the same.

In a way, the incessant infiltration by the CIA into Latin American countries like Guatemala, Chile, Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela has made these countries see CIA agents “behind every tree.”  So the specter of American intelligence is forever looming in these countries due to to activity of the CIA throughout the second half of the 20th century.
 

Grading rubric for Analysis Papers!

The Superior Paper (A/A-)

Thesis: Easily identifiable, plausible, novel, sophisticated, insightful, crystal clear. Connects well with paper title.

Structure: Evident, understandable, appropriate thesis. Excellent transitions from point to point. Solid topic sentences.

Use of evidence: Primary source information used to buttress every point.

Analysis: Author clearly relates evidence to “mini-thesis” (topic sentence); analysis is fresh and exciting, posing new ways to think of the material. Work displays critical thinking and avoids simplistic description or summary of information.

Logic and argumentation: All ideas in the paper flow logically; the argument is identifiable, reasonable, and sound. Mechanics: Sentence structure, grammar, and diction excellent; correct use of punctuation; minimal to no spelling errors; absolutely no run-on sentences or comma splices. Conforms in every way to format requirements. 

The Good Paper (B+/B)

Thesis: Promising, but may be slightly unclear, or lacking in insight or originality. Paper title does not connect as well with thesis or is not as interesting.

Structure: Generally clear and appropriate, though may wander occasionally. May have a few unclear transitions, or a few paragraphs without strong topic sentences.

Use of evidence: Examples used to support most points.

Analysis: Evidence often related to mini-thesis. Some description, but more critical thinking.

Logic and argumentation: Argument of paper is clear, usually flows logically and makes sense.

Mechanics: Sentence structure, grammar, and diction strong despite occasional lapses; punctuation often used correctly. Some (minor) spelling errors; Conforms in every way to format requirements.

The Borderline Paper (B-/C+)

Thesis: May be unclear (contain many vague terms), appear unoriginal, or offer relatively little that is new; provides little around which to structure the paper. Paper title and thesis do not connect well or title is unimaginative. 

Structure: Unclear, often wanders or jumps around. Few or weak transitions, many paragraphs without topic sentences. 

Use of evidence: Examples used to support some points.

Analysis: Quotes appear often without analysis relating them to mini-thesis (or there is a weak mini-thesis to support), or analysis offers nothing beyond the quote. Even balance between critical thinking and description.

Logic and argumentation: Logic may often fail, or argument may often be unclear.

Mechanics: Problems in sentence structure, grammar, and diction (usually not major). Some errors in punctuation and spelling. May have some run-on sentences or comma splices. Conforms in almost every way to format requirements.

The “Needs Help” Paper (C/C-)

Thesis: Difficult to identify at all, may be bland restatement of obvious point.

Structure: Unclear, often because thesis is non-existent. Transitions confusing and unclear. Few topic sentences. 

Use of evidence: Very few or very weak examples.

Analysis: Very little or very weak attempt to relate evidence to argument; may be no identifiable argument, or no evidence to relate it to. More description than critical thinking.

Logic and argumentation: Ideas do not flow, usually because there is no argument to support. Simplistic view of topic.

Mechanics: Big problems in sentence structure, grammar, and diction. Frequent major errors in punctuation and spelling. May have many run-on sentences and comma splices. Does not conform to format requirements.

The “Really Needs Help” Paper (D+/D)

Shows obviously minimal lack of effort or comprehension of the assignment. Very difficult to understand owing to major problems with mechanics, structure, and analysis. Has no identifiable thesis, or utterly incompetent thesis. Does not follow paper guidelines for length and format.

The Failing Paper: Gibberish. Plagiarizes. Scares children and small animals.
SUPER F: Never did paper at all.

These guidelines have been adapted from

excellent grading rubrics

available from Fordham University.

Okay…probably too much information!

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day international “crisis” ignited by the deployment nuclear weapons on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union.

 

We now know that two of the nuclear installation were fully operable and contained missiles with strike capability anywhere in the US with the exception of the extreme Northwest.

John F. Kennedy would be personally transformed as result of the several close calls with the Soviet Union, close calls that almost resulted  in nuclear holocaust for both the United States and the Soviet Union.  Kennedy found himself caught on an international chess board, where nuclear missiles serve as the game pieces! 

 
 

OCT. 16, 1962:
 President Kennedy is shown photos of nuclear installations taken by an American U-2 spy plane on an aerial reconnaissance mission over Cuba 

 
Why did Khrushchev sell nuclear weapons to Castro?
The US had recently placed Jupiter missiles in Turkey (300 miles from the USSR). So the Soviet leader placed these weapons in Cuba in response to the missiles in Turkey and to protect Cuba from any attack from the US.

Khrushchev told his staff that it’s time time to give Americans “a little bit of their own medicine.”
 

Kennedy pondered Soviet motives: 
“What is the advantage of” putting ballistic missiles in Cuba he asked his advisors. “It’s just as if we suddenly began to put a major number of MRBMs in Turkey. Now that would be…dangerous, I would think.”
Bundy replied, “Well we did it, Mr. President.”
 
Why did Castro purchase these weapons from the Soviet Union?  As a deterrent against any future attack by the US against Cuba.  Castro and other Cuban leaders were convinced that a future attack against Cuba by the US was imminent.  The CIA had already planted explosives on two different shipments of weapons from Europe to Cuba–both ignited in Cuban harbors.  Considering the continued assassination attempts on Castro’s life by the US, the Cubans had plausible reasons to be concerned.
 

A HUGE RISK

The placement of these missiles in Cuba was a tremendous gamble for Nikita Khrushchev.  It created several dangerous scenarios:
·
· If Castro decided to use these weapons against the US in an unprovoked attack against the US, and the US discovers that they were purchased from the USSR, then it’s a possible war with the Russians.
· Even if Castro was able to fire a couple of the missiles before the US responded, Cuba would most assuredly be annihilated by the US in a nuclear exchange
· If Castro chooses not to launch the missiles, and the US discovers them, Cuba may be destroyed with a nuclear attack by the US, which almost happened!
· For the US, a forceful reaction from the US may bring about an aggressive response from the USSR, which means WWIII.
· For the US, if Russian soldiers are killed in a preemptive attack against the missile installations, it would mean certain war with the Soviet Union.
 

While the Oval Office debates the proper American response, 19 freighters have been dispatched from the Soviet Union on their way to Cuba, and they’re not carrying rice and potatoes, the ships are carrying war materials, including nuclear weapons.
 

OCT. 19
Joint Chiefs’ suggestions:
· Strategic Airstrikes (of missile installations only)
· General Air strike (of missile installations and other Cuban sites)
· General invasion of Cuba  (using land and air forces) 
· Curtis LeMay’s suggestion   “Fry ‘em!”  [with nuclear weapons]

All of these scenarios  involved one dangerous element:  If Russian soldiers are killed in an any type of attack, it risks a nuclear confrontation with the USSR with apocalyptic consequences.

Kennedy was shocked when he asked the Joint Chiefs how the Russians would respond to such an invasion and LeMay reassured that the Soviets would not respond to such an attack. Kennedy was in disbelief, especially when there were Russian soldiers in Cuba who would be killed in such a bombing.
(LeMay not only suggested using nuclear weapons against Cuba, but also wanted to take advantage of this time not only to take out Castro but to “wipe out entire Soviet Union.”)
 

Former CEO of Ford Motor, Secretary of State, Robert S. McNamara advises President Kennedy.

McNamara, must have been a student of history, because he came up with a response that replicated a naval maneuver that was performed  in Cuba during the the Spanish-American war in 1898. The US would surround Cuba with naval ships (called a quarantine and technically an act war)  and force the Russians to run through the naval barricade, thus forcing them to play the part of the aggressor.
· Kennedy, against the advice of the Joint Chiefs chooses to use a  Blockade
(outraged, the Joint Chiefs compared the blockade to the appeasement of Hitler at Munich!)
 

Kennedy and the Joint Chiefs

There was already mistrust between JFK  (and his Attorney General, brother Bobby) and the Principle Chiefs from the Bay of Pigs disaster, and they outraged at Kenny’s choice to use a barricade.  They believe Kennedy, unlike Eisenhower, was not really a military man and his Secretary of State (who was also from the civilian sector) were putting American in great danger.  Kennedy, on the hand, thought that the overt aggression of the Joint Chiefs were the ones putting America in danger.  They were at odds with each other.
“If we listen to them [Joint Chiefs] and do what they tell us to do, none of us will be alive to tell them that they were wrong.” JFK

OCT 22–
President Kennedy informs the American people of a possible show-down with the Soviet Union
 
 

OCT 24
·
· Strategic Air Command declared DEFCON 2
· Defensive Condition Readiness
·
· declared by General Thomas Power,
Kennedy was not consulted

· Prepared to strike targets in the Soviet Union
· Mobilization of troops along Florida coast
· Avoided putting message in code, so Soviets could decipher it
· SAC airborne fleet prepared to attack with 3,000 nuclear weapons
 
 

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, shows international delegates at the UN, the reconnaissance photos of Soviet missiles in Cuba–right after the Russian delegate denied having “offensive weapons” in Cuba—international support for the US was galvanized instantly after proof of Russian wrong doing.
 
 
 
OCT 26
A desperate message from Nikita Khrushchev:
at this point, Historians say that Khrushchev was staying awaken for days on end and slept in his office with his suit on–the situation was becoming desperate)
· Khrushchev (veteran of the Russian Revolution and WWII) sent Kennedy what McNamara described “as the most extraordinary diplomatic message I have ever seen.”
· Khrushchev warned that the two countries were headed unavoidably into war
“if war should indeed break out, then it would not be in our power to stop it…war ends when it has rolled through cities and villages, everywhere sowing death and destruction.”     
                                                                                                                                         Khrushchev to Kennedy
 
 
                                                                                                                         
Not known until years later, but Castro sent a letter to Khrushchev urging him to strike the US with Nuclear weapons first, in the event that the US attacked Cuba!!
 
 
OCT 27–Second Letter from Khrushchev arrives
· Sounded like it was written by a committee
· Much more aggressive and incendiary
· Threatened war if blockade not removed
· Some thought a military coupe had occurred and Khrushchev was ousted
· Letter demanded American pledge not to invade Cuba and for missiles to be removed from Turkey
· Kennedy didn’t want to alienate Turkey and destroy NATO
· Kennedy decided to respond only to first letter
A U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba by a Soviet surface-to-air missile and an American pilot is killed!
 

Kennedy and Khrushchev are losing control of the situation!  (that’s not a good thing)

Defcon 2 (the highest in US history) was declared without Kennedy being consulted and now an American pilot is killed and Khrushchev did not issue the order
 

Miami nearly hit with a nuclear warhead!  

“not only the most dangerous moment of the Cold War. It was the most dangerous moment in human history” 
                                                                      Arthur Schlesinger (White House Press Secretary)
After being rocked by a depth charge from the USS Randolph Soviet Commander Valentin Savitsky, believed the war had began and readied a nuclear torpedo (that had the same power as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima) and they had been given permission by Soviet leadership to use it if they came under attack. I don’t believe our Navy actually knew that the Russian subs were outfitted with nuclear warheads!

· USS Randolph dropped depth charges
· One explosion rocked a Soviet submarine
· Sub lost power and all communication
“one of the duty officers fainted and fell down. Then another one followed, then the third one….They were falling like dominoes. But we were still holding on, trying to escape.  We were suffering like this for about four hours.” Then “the Americans hit us with something stronger…We thought—that’s it—the end.”
“We’re gonna blast them now!  “We will die, but we will sink them all – we will not become the shame of the fleet.”
                                                                                                 Soviet Commander Valentin Savitsky
 
It was required that each Soviet submarine have at 3 commanding officers on board in order the clear and confirm orders with one another.  And thankfully, for the US it paid off! 

Before Soviet Commander Valentin Savitsky was able to fire his nuclear warhead (the third commanding officer gave his approval) the second commanding officer, Vasili Arkhipov, was able to create some doubt in his comrade by asking if they knew with confidence that they had been hit with an offensive weapon, if not, they would be responsible for igniting a war between the two super-powers.  It was enough to give Savitsky pause.  Thankfully, he decided against firing the nuclear torpedo.  

Thanks Vasili!
 
Castro predicts attack on Cuba within 72 hours
· 42,000 Soviet soldiers and 100,000 Cuban soldiers prepare for war in Cuba with 100 tactical nuclear warheads

As preparation were made to evacuate the White House staff and their families from Washington DC, Secretary of State, Robert McNamara watched the sun go down while standing on top of the roof of the White House and wondered what would befall the US and the world if the Soviets decided to run through the blockade.
“I thought it was the last Saturday I’d ever see.” —Robert McNamara
· 250,000 American soldiers were mobilized to invade Cuba
· A new Cuban government was ready to be installed
· 2,000 bombing sorties were readied
· Invasion seemed inevitable

 
 
 
Oct 28

As the Soviet Freighters neared the parameter of the American naval quarantine, JFK sent his younger brother, Robert,  on a covert mission to meet with Russian Ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin.  It was a last minute effort to avoid a near catastrophe. 

During the meeting Robert Kennedy, threatened that the, “US will attack unless it received immediate commitment that Soviet Union was removing its bases from Cuba.”  Noticing they were at a stale mate, the Russian ambassador prepared to leave, and Robert Kennedy offered one last enticement, the (obsolete) Jupiter missiles located in Turkey would be dismantled, IF the Soviets removed the missiles from Cuba.  IT WORKED. Anatoly Dobrynin sent the message to the Kremlin, and the next day, the freighter carrying nuclear war materials turned back.

· US agreed not to invade Cuba, will remove missiles from Turkey
 
The Russian Version  of meeting between Bobby Kennedy and Anatoly Dobrynin

Nikita Krushchev’s 1971 memoirs which were deemed by the New York Times Editorial Board as “authentic” suggested that Robert Kennedy’s message was much more desperate.  According Kruschchev, Robber Kennedy told Anatoly Dobrynin that:
“Even though the President himself is very much against starting a war over Cuba, an irreversible chain of events could occur against his will,” he warned. “….If the situation continues much longer, the President is not sure that the military will not overthrow him and seize power.  The American army could get out of control.”
The implications of this revelation are sobering and it’s up to the critical thinking scholar to make a determination on the veracity of the story by the former Premier of the Communist Party.
 
Aftermath—JFK:

John F. Kennedy seemed to be shaken from the near confrontation of the Cuban Missile Crisis, one historian claimed that at the height of the crisis, Bobby said that the two men stared at each other from opposite sides of the table and the president appeared to be in anguish, as his “face drained of color” and his eyes seemed to turn “grey” as he “buried his fist on the side of his cheek.”

After the incident, President Kennedy gave a commencement speech at American University that he intended for Soviet officials.  He complemented the Russian people and compared them to Americans and called for a ““reevaluation of attitudes.”  He expounded in his speech that, “Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air.” 

Kennedy went on to urge the following policy changes:
· Ban on nuclear testing between the two countries
· Proposed a joint Russian and U.S. venture to the moon
· $250 million is surplus wheat be given to the USSR from the US to stave off the effects of a famine
· A “Hotline” installed be installed in the White House with a direct connection to the Kremlin, so leaders of the two countries could speak to each other in person, in the event of another crisis.

Unfortunately, Kennedy would be killed by Lee Harvey Oswald within six months and he would never live to see many of his proposed modifications between the two nations implemented. 
As a matter of fact, after Kennedy was killed two things immediately accelerated:    1) The Cold War   and  2) The War in Vietnam.    He was blamed by some for being too soft on the Russians.
An entire cottage industry has been written regarding the assassination of JFK.  He definitely earned a lot of enemies along the way, including the CIA, the American Mafia, the Joint Chiefs, and many factions in the South.  Before the fateful Dallas trip, three other trips were scheduled, and all were cancelled due to death threats.  
 
 
 

Aftermath—Nikita Khrushchev: 

Khrushchev’s name was expunged from many Soviet history books and records.  He was blamed for being too lenient with the Americans.  His memoirs were so controversial, they had to be smuggled out of the Soviet Union in order to published in 1971.  Khrushchev was living alone in a remote cabin in the Russian wildernesses when he wrote them.  Upon his death, he was not even given a state funeral and many of his progressive projects and policies were dismantled.
New York Times Moscow Correspondent Harry Schwartz said of Khrushchev, “Mr. Khrushchev opened the doors and windows of a petrified structure. He let in fresh air and fresh ideas, producing changes which time already has shown are irreversible and fundamental.”
 

13 days that shook the world.  Paperweight given to Sec. of State, Robert McNamara from  President  Kennedy

COLD WAR & 1950s

The cold war was not an actual war.  It was a deteriorating and ultimate freezing of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

· The wartime economy of the 1940 revived the American economy and the US experienced one of its most prosperous decades of the 20th century, the 1950s.

· Through the G.I. Bill, soldiers returning from Europe were able to attend colleges and universities for free

· Suburban development increased as Americans began moving out of cities

· The baby-boomer generation was born!(they are now in their 60and 70s)

 

 

US Foreign policy
· “We are for all time de-isolated”
· US has world’s largest navy and air force, monopoly on nuclear weapons, thriving economy

American Economy
· Strongest economy in world
· US held 66% of world’s gold
· 75% of its invested capital
· US is producing 50% of the world’s goods and services
 
A blueprint of the United Nations was laid out by global leaders such a FDR and Churchill during WWII

A Post War Institution: THE UNITED NATIONS, OCT. 1945  (New  York City)

Multi-governmental organization to promote international cooperation

51 member states   (1945)
195 member states (2019)
American political climate
· Nationalistic
· Alternative political views met with suspicion, retaliation
· Wealthy businessmen
· feared a relapse into another depression
· worried worldwide revolutions of economically suppressed peoples would lead to a toppling of American capitalist system

American Military Climate
· Largest military in world
· Allies caught unprepared against Hitler
· Mentality behind arms build up
Many of the military leaders who would form the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1950s fought Hitler in WW II and they dedicated themselves to never allowing another Hitler-like figure rise again through appeasement. This translated into to a very aggressive foreign policy and a nuclear arms build up.
 
The Emergence of the USSR

The Soviet Union would emerge as the primary nemesis of the US after World War II. The USSR quickly expanded its sphere of authority in Eastern Europe as the US extended its authority in Western Europe.
· 10 million man “Red Army” USSR
 

The Decline of the British Empire

Great Britain receded from the stage of global leadership after WWII.  To use a boxing an analogy:  If World War One was the left jab to the British Empire, WWII was the right hook.

FDR remarked several times that Winston Churchill was a great wartime Prime Minister, but that he would make a rather poor peacetime Prime Minister, ’twas true!  Churchill (a nationalist) was replaced by Clement Attlee (a socialist) soon after the war.  Great Britain was devastated.  There were food shortage, housing shortages, etc. 

The British Empire could no longer afford to govern its colonies which were scattered around the world (for example: the British government was paying $75,000,000 per week during World War One just keep countries like Canada, New Zealand, and Australia in the war!).

· Great Britain
· Winston Churchill
· lost the 1945 election to the labor party
· Clement Attlee (1941-1945) elected 
· Free Health Care for all
· Major housing campaign
· Nationalization of industries
· Oversaw independence of colonies 
Granted Independence:   Burma, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Palestine
 
 
 
 

 What happened to Germany after Word War II?

Germany was divided between the Allied nations

USSR, USA, FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN
· Germany divided into four zones, Berlin into four sectors (American, Russian, British, French)
· The original agreement between Roosevelt (before he died) and Stalin was to de-industrialize Germany (thus limiting its war making ability)
· A couple of factors interrupted this plan
· The Soviet Union completely stripped all of the industrial infrastructure (like everything) and transported it back  to the USSR–this somewhat shocked the US.
· Germany began to evolve into a client state of the US
· American corporations began to export resources to Germany to help it rebuild (and made a ton of money in the process)
· Eventually Russia evolved into America’s enemy and Germany an ally
· In the mind of Stalin, this went directly against the plans that were made between him and Roosevelt
· Truman was now in charge, and relationships with the Russians quickly went down-hill
Trizonia

As a result of the growing mistrust with the USSR,  the US, France, and England consolidated their portions of Germany, called Trizonia,  complete with its own currency.  A result, Stalin began to fence of his portion of Berlin, which began the process of East Berlin and East Germany becoming communist.
 
Emergence of Truman’s Containment Policy , 1947
· Contain the spread of communism by supply monetary and military aid in countries where communism was growing

Between 1945 and 1967, numerous colonies (in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia) of former European empires proclaimed their independence and partook in revolutionary movements. Communism and Socialism were their political vehicles of choice to secure independence from exploitative empires. The US interpreted such revolutions as an extension of Soviet communism (although many of these fights were local revolutions against imperial exploitation).

Domino Theory
· Each country was compared to a domino, which if allowed to become communist, would lead to a process of countries becoming communist world wide.
 

The Marshall plan was an economic plan to rebuild European countries.  However, there was an expectation for countries who received US  money that they would align politically with the US

 
Marshall Plan
· Offered to rebuild European countries by offering aid (to challenge Russian influence)
· Proposed $17 billion over four years
· “Best way to win a war is to prevent one”  Gen. George Marshall                                           
· Much of the funding was used to purchase exports from American companies
· Standard, Texaco, Chevron, Mobilgas, Gulf
 
   
· Money was also diverted to CIA to fund covert operations
 
 

What happened to Japan after WWII?
· Adopted democratic constitution
· Women given right to vote
· Forced to renounce war and aggression
· Minimal national defense only
· US will rebuild Japan’s industry
 
What happened to the US after WW II?

After experiencing the aggression of Hitler’s Germany in WWII, institutional militarism was on the rise in the US. This is where more institutions are established to extend formal military authority and to protect Americans from foreign threats.
 
The National Security Act (1947)–established the following:
 

· Department of Defense (oversee all branches of armed services)
·
· Formed the Joint Chiefs of Staff (represent each branch of military–advise the president on military matters)
·
· National Security Council (cabinet level body coordinated military and foreign policy for President)
        
· CIA-Central Intelligence Agency:  Collect intelligence to keep American safe from international threats and perform other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting national security
 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (July 21, 1949)

NATO was formed after World War II in order to prevent an outside aggressor from attacking a country without pretext. The US has a lot of influence in NATO.  A primary function of NATO was to deter Soviet Expansion and influence.  There are American military bases in NATO countries today.
· Mutual defense pact required 12 signatories to defend each other from outside aggression
· Militarized France, England, Germany, Italy (American military bases)
· Established nuclear weapons on European soil
· General Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed as NATO supreme commander
 
Israel is Born

· Truman worried about Soviet-Israeli alliance after WWII
· He was a vocal supporter of Israel
· Israel declares independence May 14th, 1948
· Established by the United Nations
The impetus for the UN to establish Israel was to provide a home and safe haven for Jews that were targeted for extermination and left homeless (and nation-less) as result of the Judaic genocide.
 
 
WARSAW PACT, 1955 (Russian response to NATO)

The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty signed by the Soviet Union and Eastern European nations.  It was largely a response to the American backed NATO.  Any national governments within the region that resisted or opposed Soviet influence were overthrown by the USSR.

Countries within the Soviet Sphere
· Bulgaria
· Romania
· Hungary
· Poland
· East Germany
· Czechoslovakia
 
 
 

NSC – 68  (1950)

NSC 68 was 66 page document drawn up by the National Security Council for President Truman, it established the ideological trajectory against communism and the expansion of communism, particularly Soviet back communism.
· National Security Council calls for a permanent military build up to enable the US to pursue a global crusade against communism
· Struggle between “the idea of freedom” and the “idea of slavery under the grim oligarchy of the Kremlin”
· “survival of the free world” at stake
· a quantum leap in promoting America as global police
 
SPYING ON AMERICANS (1950s)
As foreign threats to America’s security grew wider in scope, so did the net of domestic surveillance at home (as is the case today).

The balance between protection from foreign threats while respecting the rights of citizens at home has always been the challenge for governments.  Some do better than others when meeting this challenge. 
 
The Challenge of Every Government
How does the national government protect our civilian populations from foreign threats while upholding civil and constitutional rights?  This is especially true if the threats come from within the domestic populations themselves. 

This became a hot topic in 2013 when Edward Snowden leaked highly classified information that revealed the collection of interface communication data of millions of Americans without a warrant.

Espionage: Russian spies in US and Canada

Espionage is a reality of the global community.  Do you remember a few years back, during the Obama administration, Wikileaks exposed America’s spying?  And it was an embarrassment indeed! We were spying on Germany, France, Spain, Brazil–all US allies.  Most of it was gathering economic and corporate information, but nonetheless, it made for some rather awkward conversations for President Obama and our allies.

In 2010 there was a Russian spy ring discovered in Montclair, New Jersey D.C.  The “spies” were a married couple, with two young children who were involved in school and community functions and even hosted neighborhood barbecues.  Everyone was shocked when it was discovered that they were actually spying for Russia.
CNN–

The Guryevs had been gathering information since the 1990s for Russia’s SVR, which the FBI describes as the modern equivalent of the KGB. The KGB, if you remember, was the widely feared national security agency of the now-defunct Soviet Union, tasked during the Cold War with running a domestic secret police force and operating a network of spies throughout the world.

On June 27, 2010, the FBI arrested the Guryevs along with eight other alleged Russian spies in Manhattan, Yonkers, Boston and northern Virginia. The announcement triggered headlines reminiscent of the Cold War, and even inspired the creation of FX’s 1980s-era spy drama “The Americans.”
 
American Spy, Robert Hanssen:

The FBI arrested a “mole” working in the Bureau  in 2001.  Since 1979, Robert Hanssen had been selling secrets to the Russians (worth over $2 billion).  He simply brought home classified documents, placed them in a plastic trash bag, sealed the bag with duct tape, and placed the secrets under a park bridge located at the end of the suburban street in which he lived.  He’s now serving a life sentence at a maximum security facility in Colorado.

There were Soviet spies operating in the US and Canada in the 1950s, not as many as some liked Americans to believe, but there were a few spy rings.

The US government created extreme nationalism that viewed alternative politics with suspicion and hostility.  This was reflected in the popular culture of comic books and movies.

The Second Red Scare

During the 1950s, the FBI began to do intensive surveillance of “Pinkos” or anyone who espoused support for Communism.  In fact, any one who openly questioned the policies and actions of the federal government or White House garnered the attention of the Justice Department and FBI. As a result public critique of American policy and leaders went completely underground. The concern that Soviets in the 1950s were infiltrating the US with spies in order to destroy America was called the “Second Red Scare.”

While its true that there were some Russian spies operating in the US (no one knows how many), there were American spies operating in the USSR, as there were spies from countries around the world spying on each other.
 
Some leaders really exploited the fear of the American people by threatening that Russian spies were operating at the highest levels of our government.  As result they attracted national attention and their careers were bolstered, while the careers of those they accused of communism were ruined forever.

—See Joseph MacCarthy in your text
A popular quote from the 1950s
 “Not every American communist was a spy, but almost every spy was a communist.” The Second Red Scare

 

House Committee on Un-American Activities
· Ronald Regan, Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor, Walt Disney among other were subpoenaed to testify about their political loyalties before Congress

The Hollywood 10 were a group of screenwriters who refused to disclose their political affiliations and were subsequently sentenced to federal prison

Actor Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Becall head to Washington DC to challenge the HUAC report
· The Hollywood Ten

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were first and only Americans to be sentenced to death for spying (the evidence against them was flimsy at best)
· Executed in 1953

Communist Party, USA
· dropped from 80,000 in 1944 to 10,000 by mid 1950s
 

Internal Security Act of 1950

· Require communists organizations register with government, identify all mail as communist
· Called for detention centers to house suspected subversives, during an “internal security emergency” without trial
· Any “sympathetic association” with any organization on the Attorney General’s list would equate disloyalty.
 
Truman condemned the ISA as un-American and dangerous:
· “the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press, and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws, 1798.” Truman
“We are not going to turn the US into a right wing totalitarian country in order to deal with a left wing totalitarian threat, in short, we’re not going to end democracy, we’re going to keep the bill of rights on the books.”
 
CIA Covert Actions around the World

The Overthrow of Mohmmad Mosaddegh

Mohammed Mosaddegh held a PhD in law from a university in Switzerland  and was elected in a democratic election in Iran.  He wanted to use Iranian oil for the Iranian people.  However, dating back to the WW I era, a British company, by the name of the Anglo-Iranian Oil company held a 51% share of the oil.  The MI5 (British Intelligence) asked for assistance in taking down Mosaddegh, so the  CIA and the MI5 orchestrated a military coupe in 1953 and Mosaddegh was overthrown.  The Shaw of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became the primary liaison with Western powers, until 1979.   

Iran
· Mohammed Mosaddegh nationalized Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. in 1953
· CIA plans, finances, and orchestrates coup to overthrow Mosadegh
· pro-Western Shah Reza Pahlavi returns
CIA IN GUATEMALA

Like Mohammad Mosaddegh, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman wanted to distribute Guatemalan lands to Guatemalan people.  The American owned United Fruit Company owned hundreds of thousands of acres of coffee and banana plantations on Guatemala. The director of the CIA, approached President Eisenhower and informed him that Guatemala was becoming a haven for communism and socialism (there 4,000 communist in the entire country) and that military intervention was need to thwart this movement.
In 1954, the CIA orchestrated a coupe and Guzman was overthrown. 
· Guzman’s Land reform program, seized over 200,000 acres controlled by American owned United Fruit Company
· Compensation offered to UFC was “unacceptable” according to UFC executives
· CIA financed and organized overthrow of Arbenz
· A new government approved by the CIA restored land to United Fruit Co.

· Carlos Castillo Armas, a junior officer, assumes leadership
· Abolished the tax on interests and dividends for foreign investors

 
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) and the nuclear build up.
Publicly, Eisenhower, warned Americans of a”dirty bomb” that could be unleashed in Manhattan.  Privately he oversaw the largest build up nuclear weapons in the 20th century (except for the 1980s).  According to Eisenhower, “Nuclear weapons offered more “bang for the buck.”

Eisenhower’s Defense Strategy: “ The New Look”
·
· Rely on cheaper more impactful nuclear weapons
· Philosophically, no difference between conventional and nuclear weapons
President Eisenhower told British Ambassador:  [Nuclear weapons]“were viable for use as other munitions”
  and   
“I’d rather be atomized than communized.”
                                
                                                                          
· Eisenhower orders 42% atomic and 36% hydrogen bombs deployed overseas, 1954
 

Castle Bravo, March 1st 1954 (USA)
· Largest American nuclear bomb to be detonated
· Marshall Islands
· 15 megaton yield
· 1000 times more powerful that bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
· Weighed 23,500 pounds
· Mushroom cloud 130,000 feet high
· Left a crater 6,510 feet in diameter, 250 feet deep
· Contaminated islands
· 264 people exposed to radiation

·
· Japanese fishermen fishing nearby were caught in the radioactive fallout
· International outrage followed
 

Tsar Bomba (1961) (USSR)

The 60,000 lbs, 50 megaton, multi-stage thermonuclear Soviet “Tsar Bomba” remains the largest nuclear weapon ever to be detonated.  The the blast was so powerful, that it blew out windows in Finland, a thousand miles away from the blast-site!
 

 

American society was in the grip of the constant fear of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union that would leave both countries (and possibly the world) in ruins. American cities and schools were equipped with alarms that would sound in case of a nuclear attack.

Nuclear attack drills

Children routinely practiced hiding under the their desk in the event of a nuclear exchange.     A desk, really??

Fall-out shelters were very popular in the 1950s.  For a nominal fee you could have one built in your back yard, with enough provisions to last 2 years.  Question of the day:  Would you really want to survive a nuclear holocaust?
 
Atoms for Peace Program

In order the make Nuclear weapons socially acceptable to the American people, the Eisenhower Administration launched its “Atoms for Peace” program which explored alternative “positive” uses for nuclear weapons.  According to the White House, nuclear weapons were useful for:
· Excavations
· Making harbors in Alaska
· Freeing oil deposits
· Creating underground reservoirs
· Creating another Panama Canal
· Altering the weather
· Melting polar ice caps
 

President Eisenhower present his “Atoms of Peace” program to the United Nations 
 
The Space Race

The Soviets shocked the US when it launched the first ever satellite into space:  Sputnick was launched  on Oct 24th, 1957

The following month, the USSR  launched a second satellite carrying a little dog named Laika.
·
· Laika, a stray dog that Russian scientists picked -up outside the lab, was the first living creature to orbit the earth.
· The Soviet Union told the world that she died painlessly after one week
· Laika died within 6 hours of being launched, most likely do to overheating

·
· Today Laika is a celebrated figure in Russia
 
 
 
American U2 Spy Plane shot down over the Soviet Union, 1960

The Soviet Union shot down  an American (CIA) U-2 spy plane that was conducting aerial reconnaissance deep in Soviet territory.  Pilot Gary Powers was captured and the US had to admit to engaging in espionage. It was tremendous embarrassment. Powers was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released after 2 years when the US exchanged Rudolf Abel (a Russian spy arrested in the US) in a spy swap. The Spy swap was depicted in the movie “Bridge of Spies” starring Tom Hanks.

 Powers in Soviet custody

President Eisenhower’s Legacy

“I have left a legacy of ashes to my successor.” Pres. Eisenhower

Overall, defense spending tripled under Eisenhower as he oversaw the largest build up of nuclear weapons (except Reagan) in the 20th century. One has to wonder what the old general really thought about the evolution of American weapons systems and the military infrastructure that was designed to coordinate them.

 
hmmmm…….what exactly do you know Ike?  

 
The specter of financial profit from billion dollar government contracts between the Pentagon and private weapons companies such as Boeing, Lockheed, and Raytheon were never far from his mind.  During his last televised Presidential Address he seems disturbed over the trajectory of the relationship between these entities and what it meant for the morality of America.

During Eisenhower’s last televised address to the nation, he seems to allude to the fact that when subsidiary industries benefit from war, that they exert undue influence in decision making when it comes to war; a system he calls the military-industrial complex.

Characteristics of the Eisenhower Administration
· 1000 to 22,000 nuclear weapons
· Expansion of military bases, air craft carries, and CIA
· Approved a simultaneous attack of nuclear weapons on Soviet Union and China if necessary
· Presidential Farewell Address
· Military-Industrial-Complex