The Cold War was characterized by growing unease and suspicion between the world’s two most powerful countries, the United States and the Soviet Union. Much of this unease stemmed from a lack of transparency between the two powers. Neither party was ever able to fully discern the intentions of the other’s foreign policy. Yet even when the leaders of the two countries came together and were relatively truthful with one another, this sense of unease not only remained but was augmented. Each leader made distinct arguments with unique underlying assumptions and implicit themes. These arguments would define the Cold War era and its style of diplomacy. The arguments and remarks presented by John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit contributed to the growing bifurcation between the United States and the Soviet Union and helped set the tone for the remainder of the Cold War.
The personal dynamics between Kennedy and Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit would come to influence a great deal the decisions and arguments of each leader. On the surface, it appears that both leaders were cordial and welcoming to one another. At the beginning of the meeting, Khrushchev stated that he was “glad now to meet him [Kennedy] as President” and even joked with Kennedy about wishing to seem younger and more dynamic (1). However, a more careful analysis leads to the conclusion that a number of intriguing dynamics between the two leaders permeated the talks.
Khrushchev was the first to set the tone of enmity at the summit. He remarked that “the President had been late for that meeting [with the Foreign Relations Committee]” (1). He later stated that “it looked to him as if the United States wanted the USSR to sit like a school boy with his ha...
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... more honest. Kennedy, for his part, did the same. He acknowledged U.S. mistakes in Korea and his own mistakes in Cuba (8, 9). Both knew that rhetoric with honesty and nuance would make a large difference during the war.
The discussion between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit contributed to the growing bifurcation between the United States and the Soviet Union and helped set the tone for the remainder of the Cold War. The politicians could not but help be products of their time and their particular security interests. Each was concerned about key elements of the Cold War: ideology, geopolitics, and nuclear weapons. Yet despite meeting face-to-face with one another and exhibiting a certain degree of honesty, both parties large failed to reach accord on a number of issues. Unfortunately, this lack of accord would persist for decades to come.
to understand where the Cuban Missile Crisis originated from, it is important to examine the events leading up to it. In 1961 the Soviet Union was under rule of Nikita Khrushchev. At the time, the United States was in the middle of a political transition with the election of John F. Kennedy, more commonly referred to as JFK ("John F. Kennedy"). With Khrushchev’s establishment of power spreading out across the country, he gained knowledge of the U.S. planting nuclear weapons in Turkey facing the Soviet
After World War Two the United States and Soviet Union quickly became enemies due to different ideals. The Soviet Union supported communism while the United States supported capitalism and democracy. Communism was an economic system where the state owned all means of production, and goods and services were shared. Under communist rule free elections were prohibited and media was censored. The United States did not agree with this system of government. They strived for the world to have capitalist
the world we are today. During the Cold War the Cuban Missile created a stalemate between the two major countries involved in the war, the Soviet Union and the United States. This event greatly known as a turning point in the it during the 1960's period of the infamous war, by being able to turn the tables and prevent a “hot” war to form out of one of the “coldest” wars in history. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an exceptionally significant event during the Cold War because of its ability to affect multitude
The Cold War (1945-1991) was basically an ideological standoff between the ideas of Communism supported by the Russians and Democracy/Capitalism supported by the Americans. Communism is a political ideology which has the central principle of ¡§communal or communist ownership¡¨ of all property and therefore the abolition of private property. Democracy is a form of government in which the people vote, have a representative government and via these representatives ¡§govern themselves¡¨. During the period
John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States of America. He ordered the Pay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, sent thousands of military “advisors” to Vietnam, was part of the Cuban Missile Crisis and he introduced his “New Frontier” social legislation. John F. Kennedy was inaugurated into office on January 20, 1961. The day of the inauguration it was a cold and clear day, the capital was covered in snow from the previous night. The Inauguration began with a religious invocation and prayers
"It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization." (John F. Kennedy) The Cuban Missile Crisis struck fear in the United States and across the world. Patience and smart planning was needed to avert a major world conflict. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States was forced to act in order to halt the Soviet influence in the west, safeguard itself and to protect the world. The rise of the crisis came without warning
an intense military standoff between the United states and the Soviet Union. In the 20th century, the Cuban missile crisis erupted along side the Cold War Era. Throughout World War II, the Soviet Union and the U.S. fought as allies, battling the axis powers. Although they were allies, America was worried about Stalin and USSR communism. (“The Cold War.”) This contributed
The Bay of Pigs Invasions of 1961 was a big failure by the United States President John F. Kennedy and his administrations. It was an embarrassed movement for the United States and a big win for Cuba. The US tried to take back Cuba by overthrow Fidel Castro government. The American government was concern about the economy and their property in Cuba that has been reclaimed by Cuban government without a settlement. As a result, United States decided to invade Castro and his government and take back
incoming President Kennedy had to be nothing short of perfect. When Kennedy took office in January, 1961, America was deeply politically divided and at the height of the cold war. A new president, with much to prove, had to deliver a persuasive and unifying message to the American people. Equally important was that in addition to the American people, Kennedy would be indirectly addressing Soviet chairman Nikita Khrushchev, his Russian counterpart and primary adversary in the cold war. Although often
Thesis – President John F. Kennedy’s leadership and management of the Cuban Missile Crisis will be held up against criticism as a model of diplomacy and humanity. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a Democratic President of All People, was born May 29, 1917 into the wealth and prominence of two Irish Catholic families. Upon graduation from Harvard, John Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy. He commanded a Patrol PT-109 that was attacked by a Japanese Warship. Kennedy, as a very young man showed his character, risked
U.S coast.Kennedy determined at that action could not stand.The crisis is generally considered as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. For fourteen days during October 1962, the world held its breath as John F Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev,the leader of the Soviet Union at the time, tried to reach an agreement and avoid nuclear war. In 1959 Fidel Castro took power in Cuba.One year after Castro takes Cuba, Cuba allies itself with the Soviet Union and their
because of what some possible outcomes could have been from it. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was a major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy and the other leaders of our country were faced with a horrible dilemma where a decision had to be made. Secretary
In 1962 nuclear war seemed inevitable to the world, it was the first time nuclear war was hanging on a thread. The Cuban Missile Crisis presented a threat to the world, in which the USSR planted nuclear missiles on Cuba. America’s response was to threaten launching nuclear missiles at the Russians. This incident launched the world into a new time, which presented nuclear weapons as a source of power. The incident of the Cuban Missile Crisis still connects with us today because the power nuclear
confrontation as the closest the Cold War came to result in a full-blown nuclear war. President John F. Kennedy, who was president at the time, issued a nationwide televised address to Americans notifying them about his awareness of the missiles and prepared to take action with military force being a consideration had the Cubans not complied with the request since the missiles posed a threat to national security. The news raised the alarm of a possible nuclear war occurring. However, the near crisis
people remember most about the Cold War? Is it the fear, terror, and the absolute uncertainty of not knowing if tomorrow you might not wake up or worse, wake up to all out nuclear hell? “The most terrifying moment in my life was October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know all the facts - we have learned only recently how close we were to war - but I knew enough to make me tremble”-Joseph Rotblat. During those October days of 1962, John F. Kennedy and the United States braced for