John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy was born on 19 May 1917 in Massachusetts. He struggled with a few health problems when he was younger but ended up enrolling in Harvard College in 1936. After he got out of Harvard, he went into the navy and earned a Purple Heart. He then went into a congressional career where he was part of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and finally the President of the United States. He was President from 20 January 1961 until his assassination on 22 November 1963. During his Presidency, he dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis,
|
John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro
JFK's Run For Presidency |
John F. Kennedy ran during the 35th election for president against Richard Nixon. Because Kennedy was good looking, a hero from WWII, the youngest candidate to ever run, and Roman-Catholic, and more privileged, he had a leg up in the race against Nixon.
Richard Nixon was rather gruff, not as relatable , grew up poor, older at the age of 56, a republican, and a Quaker, he was not quite as popular for the most part. In previous year, it would not have mattered that Kennedy looked better than Nixon but this was the first time in history that the debates between presidential candidates were broadcast live. There was a third candidate named Byrd but he was not as significant as the other two. In the end, Kennedy did prevail and won the presidential ticket. |
Nikita Khrushchev's Power |
Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the USSR from 4 September 1953 until 14 October 1964 when he was ousted for his unpopular opinions. He was in power for the Cold War, the Bay of Pigs, and the Berlin Crisis.
|
The Bay of Pigs
To summarize, the Bay of Pigs was an invasion on Cuba, lead by the United States, to try and overthrow their Communist leader Fidel Castro. It happened within a timeline of April 17th through the 19th in 1961. Because America was at war against communism, it was a perfect opportunity to get rid of a communistic state that was at least 90 miles from the US. The mission as a whole cost the US $13.1 million dollars and it included 1,500 Cubans rebels and 8 B-26 Bombers against 25,000 Cuban army men, 200,000 Cuban militia, and 9,000 Cuban armed police. By the end, 118 Cuban rebels were killed, 360 were injured, and 1,202 were captured. As the the other side, 175 Cuban army men were killed, over 500 were wounded, and 4,000 Cuban militia and police were reported missing, killed, or wounded. It was one of the biggest failures for the United States ever. In fact, it only strengthened the relationship between the USSR and Cuba which lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis.