America’s Doomed Invasion of the Bay of Pigs by Jim Rasenberger

Plan of Investigation
This investigation seeks to assess the level of impact that the failure of the American backed invasion force at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 had on the Kennedy administration’s relations with Cuba. This investigation will evaluate the statements and opinions about Cuba made by John F. Kennedy during his campaign and before the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion with Kennedy’s actions taken and decisions made regarding Cuba after the Bay of Pigs invasion to determine the degree of influence this event on American foreign policy with Cuba. A variety of sources are used; primarily, Robert Kennedy: The Unpublished Recollections of the Kennedy Years by Robert F. Kennedy and The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America’s Doomed Invasion of the Bay of Pigs by Jim Rasenberger, which will be evaluated on the basis of origin, value, purpose, and limitation.
WORD COUNT: 141
Summary of Evidence
 Campaign Foreign Policy Platform
During Kennedy’s campaign, his ideas on foreign policy were criticized by both liberals and conservatives because of the contradictory nature of his platform. While Kennedy was calling for an increase in defense spending, against the advice of current president and former general Dwight D. Eisenhower, he also encouraged third-world neutralism. As a response to allegations that this neutralism made him weak on communism, Kennedy denounced the current Republican administration’s lack of response to Fidel Castro’s coup d’état and committed to a hard line stance on Cuba’s new communist regime. Kennedy used his hard line stance to attack Republican challenger and Vice President at the time Richard Nixon, who could not reveal the Eisenhower administration’s current preparation for a covert military...

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...Sources
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Rasenberger, Jim. The Brilliant Disaster. New York, New York: Scribner, 2011.