...Yesenia Duran Feb. 12, 2015 PSCI 320 Bay of Pigs The chapter begins the correspondence of letters written between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. The letters begin with Khrushchev congratulating Kennedy on winning the election, he declares his respect for the United States and that the USSR is prepared to develop a friendly relationship between the two countries. Khrushchev believed that Kennedy will take a soft response on foreign policy and is prepared to take full advantage of the situation. Feeling overwhelmed with his immediate responsibilities Kennedy brushes off Khrushchev first letter with a short response agreeing that everlasting peace is also a focus of the United States and thanking him for his kindness. Kennedy has become aware that Khrushchev has two different sides one that wants and dreams of world peace and another that wants to become extremely powerful. In his second letter to Khrushchev, Kennedy states that although there are many topics that these countries will not be able to agree on the manner in which these topics are approached and handled is of great importance. He also reemphasized the responsibility that rest upon the Unites States and the USSR in world affairs, following this letter everything remains “peaceful.” On April 18th, 1961 Khrushchev writes to Kennedy in response of to the Pay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. Khrushchev is fully aware that the order came from the United States and makes it clear that the USSR will render the necessary...
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...Nicholas Lehman Mr. Davis AP US History 31 May, 2012 Bay of Pigs They Bay of Pigs was a failed operation by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with encouragement from the US government, attempting to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The Bay of Pigs took place in Cuba and was launched in April 1961 shortly after John F. Kennedy became president. The defending force were trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the invading exile combatants within three days. In January 1959 counter-revolutionary groups grew, after the success of the Cuban Revolution; the guerrilla continued until 1965. On March 11th 1961, Jesus Carreras and American William Alexander Morgan (a former Castro ally) were executed after a trial. On April 6th 1961, the Hersey Sugar factory in Matanzas was destroyed by sabotage. On April 14th that same year, a Cubana airliner was hijacked and flown to Jacksonville, FL to stage a ‘defection’ of a B-26 and pilot at Miami on April 15th. In 1960, the CIA started hiring Cuban exiles to train them for the upcoming invasion. The Cuban intelligence network knew the invasion was coming and the media estimated conflict throughout the world. Soviet Radio broadcasted a newscast predicting the invasion "in a plot hatched by the CIA" using paid "criminals" within a week. The invasion took place four days later. The well equipped Cuban Armed Forces posed a huge threat to the invaders. On April 15th, the invasion commenced...
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...Bay Of Pigs The story of the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, which is located on the south coast of Cuba about 97 miles southeast of Havanna, was one of mismanagement, poor judgment, and stupidity. The blame for the failed invasion falls directly on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and a young president by the name of John F. Kennedy. The whole intention of the invasion was to assault communist Cuba and put an end to Fidel Castro. Ironically, thirty-nine years after the Bay of Pigs, Fidel Castro is still in power. First, it is necessary to look at why the invasion happened and then why it did not work. From the end of World War II until the mid-eighties, most Americans could agree that communism was the enemy. Communism wanted to destroy our way of life and corrupt the freest country in the world. Communism is an economic system in which one person or a group of people are in control. The main purpose of communism is to make the social and economic status of all individuals the same. It abolishes the inequalities in possession of property and distributes wealth equally to all. The main problem with this is that one person who is very wealthy can be stripped of most of his wealth so that another person can have more material goods and be his equal. The main reason for the Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba was the change to communism. On January 1, 1959, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country for the safety of the Dominican Republic. Fidel Castro and his...
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...Bay of Pigs: America’s biggest blunder Name History 102 Professor W July 13, 2014 It’s no surprise that the Bay of Pigs is named as one of America’s worst battles in History. It is not considered one of the worst battles because America was simply overpowered either. The U.S. mistakenly sent over a thousand inexperienced men into a hostile area with very little equipment, no support, and no element of surprise. The battle was poorly thought out and badly executed from the planning stages through the execution. In 1959 communist Fidel Castro led an armed group of rebels in the successful overtaking of U.S. backed Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista. (John F Kennedy, n.d.) After assuming power, Castro first tried convincing everyone he was not communist. He had initially turned towards the U.S. looking for help, but was turned away. He then turned toward the Soviet Union and received $100 million in aid. (Wilbanks, 2014) The U.S. became uncomfortable with Castro’s bond with Russia and started boycotting Cuba. This caused Castro to attack U.S. companies in Cuba and form an even closer relationship with Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev. Fearing the rise of communism in Cuba and the close relationship with the Soviet Union, President Eisenhower turned to the CIA to develop a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro. President Eisenhower’s CIA created the original plan of recruiting Cuban exiles and training them to lead a revolt in Cuba. The revolt was...
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...The Bay of Pigs One of the most embarrassing things about the United States is the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. President at the time, John F. Kennedy, along with his administration, was the main one to blame for the failure of this invasion. This event was probably what led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which comes later on. The main objective of the invasion was to end communism in Cuba by putting an end to its leader, Fidel Castro (Hanson n.p). Unfortunately the invasion failed and Cuba still remained communist for many years. Before becoming the dictator of Cuba, Fidel Castro led a revolution to overthrow the regime of General Batista. Castro, along with a group of rebels, was successful in overthrowing Batista and later, became the new dictator of Cuba (DePalma n.p). This raised concern for the United States because now Communist Cuba posed a threat to our country. Communism is defined in the dictionary as, a system where the government owns all means of production. The United States has always been anti-communist, so a country so close to our shores had to be taken seriously. The plan to invade Cuba was actually already in place before President John F. Kennedy was elected. The Central Intelligence Agency was planning the invasion when President Eisenhower was in office. Although he did not plan the invasion all by himself, John F. Kennedy was still held responsible for the failure. The plan consisted of training roughly about 1,400 Cuban exiles that were...
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...The bay of pig was supposed to be a full scale breach with one thousand four hundred exiled cuban-american soldiers into Havana. The plan was formulated because of young cuban nationalist Fidel Castro who had pushed his men the guerilla army in to Havana. Fidel successfully drove his army in and overthrew general Fulgencio Batista on january first nineteen fifty nine . Batista was corrupt but he was considered to be pro-American and he was an allie to the american companies. Also very wealthy individuals and corporations had owned almost half of Cubans sugar plantations. Batista was openly against communist. Fidel felt that it was time for his people to take back their island and short after taking over the he took the steps he needed to...
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...The Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs was an invasion of Cuba lead by J.F.K, that involves exiles from Cuba attacking the country. J.F.K originally wanted nothing to do with it but was deceived by the C.I.A. And it did not turn out fine. Something that they could've done would have to be take the risk of sending troops to help and keep your promise. Another thing that would've been better, would've been to trade them better, but you can't change that afterwards. So, to my knowledge, these ideas could've been very useful in 1961. The Space Race The space race was an event between the U.S.A and the Soviet Union. Both of their goals were to put a satellite into orbit which was achieved by the Soviets. Although, after the satellite was launched, things progressed even further. After their satellite, the U.S.A launched their own in 1957. And 4 years later in 1961, the Soviets launched the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit around the earth. Although, this was not the end....
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...the Vietcong that began a war against the Diem regime. Eisenhower worried about the communist threat and sent billions pf dollars in aid and a Kennedy sent the Green Berets. In response to Diem's offenses against Buddhists, the South Vietnam army over through the government and Assassinated Diem. Congress made so that Johnson had drastic control over the troops in Vietnam and the weapons. Operation rolling thunder consisted of American planes bombing the North American troops went through terrible conditions and some troops did search and destroy missions. Even with the bombs and troops, North Vietnamese troops seemed to be replaced. Johnson believed the war could be won but others thought otherwise. How the Bay of Pigs could have been Successful The bay of pig's invasion was a colossal failure attempting to over throw Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. 1,500 Cuban runaways opposed to Castro were trained by the United States to overthrow Castro. Sadly, the Cubans were outnumbered by Castro's troops and quickly surrendered. So, how could it have worked, well, sending the Cuban troops as well as some American troops would be an equal balance in the Cubans knowing the land and the Americans knowing better fighting techniques. Also, sending more troops to outnumber Castro's troops would be a good decision as well. The Space Race The space race was a space related competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war. While the United States and...
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...discussion, what will be reviewed over is the details on the Bay of Pigs Invasion. What is the Bay of Pigs? The Bay of Pigs was actually not a war but rather an invasion in Cuba on a bay called Bahia de Cochinos or otherwise known as Bay of Pigs (“JFK Waits for Word on the Bay of Pigs Invasion”). The invasion’s name was different on what was thought to what to be caused by. The Bay of Pigs was caused because of an American – backed president, General Fulgencio Batista, was overthrown by Fidel Castro, a young nationalist that was pro communism, on January 1, 1959 (“Bay of Pigs Invasion”). This then caused the Americans to get involved. During this era, the foreign policy was the Cold War era, when the Americans were trying to stop communism (“Bay of Pigs Invasion”). Since Fidel was pro communism, this then had the Americans fearful of it spreading even more, since it was during the Cold War. During this invasion,...
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...The Bay of Pigs invasion was initially planned to strip popularity from Fidel Castro, who had stripped power from the original leader Fulgencio Bastro. But it turns out, the Bay of Pigs invasion did the exact opposite of what it was planned for. The Bay of Pigs invasion was unsuccessful, and throughout the invasion, ties were broken and many people were killed. The invasion was meant to appear as an attempt by independent Cuban rebels to overthrow Castro, but became known as an American project. President John F. Kennedy immediately admitted responsibility when the invasion failed. Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. government. The Bay of Pigs invasion took place during the Cold...
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...Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs was a significant event in world history. In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorial President Fulgencio Batista. After this occurred the string of events began to ensue. “American corporations and wealthy individuals owned almost half of Cuba’s sugar plantations and the majority of its cattle ranches, mines and utilities. Batista did little to restrict their operations. He was also reliably anticommunist. Castro, by contrast, disapproved of the approach that Americans took to their business and interests in Cuba. It was time, he believed, for Cubans to assume more control of their nation. “Cuba Sí, Yanquis No” became one of his most popular slogans” (History.com, 2009). This was just the start of a war between the U.S. and Castro. After Castro started taking over Cuba, some of the citizens were upset and exiled into Florida. The exiles were a key component to the invasion in April of 1961 along with the CIA of the United States. Before the Invasion It is important to understand some of the events that ensued prior to the actions of the U.S. in the Bay of Pigs. This is vital to...
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...Critical Reasoning Battle Analysis: Bay of Pigs This paper will cover the Bay of Pigs failed invasion. It will provide a brief background on the actual events and the intelligence failures. It will also cover what could have been done to help achieve victory from an intelligence stand point and the new outcome of the battle had these practices taken place. Background Battle Analysis In October 1959, President Eisenhower gave approval for covert planning to overthrow Castro, a perceived communist threat to the U.S. The planning of the invasion of the Bay of Pigs took approximately one and a half years and had multiple phases. Besides overthrowing Castro a major part of the plan was to ensure it did not look like the United States of America had any part in overthrow. The first part of the plan was to recruit exiled Cubans and train them to fight and launch an...
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...During Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential tenure, a disagreement with Fidel Castro caused friction between the United States and Cuba. The turmoil between the United States and Cuba continued after John F. Kennedy took office. Each one these men, Fidel Castro, President Eisenhower, President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev struggled for power and almost led our nations to a nuclear war. What led to the Cuban Missile Crisis? Fidel Castro was a lawyer in Cuba, he was unhappy with Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship and tried to use the law to remove Batista from power.1 After his failed attempts he became a rebel with the intent of overthrowing Cuba’s dictator Fulgencio Batista. His vision was to spread the wealth of the rich and give to the poor; and provide everyone with the same resources.2 Batista’s cruel behavior and murder of the Cuban people made him a target, he eventually fled.3 After winning public support and overthrowing their dictator, Fidel Castro began to spread the wealth among the Cuban people.4 This was a positive movement for the poor, but not popular among the more educated people who knew how to make money, so they began to flee Cuba.5 On April 15th 1959, Fidel Castro made an attempt to meet with President Eisenhower, instead, President Eisenhower went to play golf to avoid interaction with Castro.6 His intentions may have been to address the turmoil between the United States and Cuba. Instead, Vice President Nixon met with Fidel Castro, the vice presidents...
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...Kennedy with another proposal, making this day the worst day thus far in the crisis. The Soviets demanded that the United States remove all their missiles from Turkey and the Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested that the United States ignore the second letter and to only respond to the first letter. On October 28, 1962, Khrushchev announced that the Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba and after additional negotiations the United States agreed to not invade Cuba, thus ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis was the closest the world had come to nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis was only a little over a year after the attempted U.S. invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, and the same...
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...Kennedy decided to fill his deceased older brother’s footsteps in the political career route. He served as a congressman for six years in the 11th Congressional seat in Massachusetts. After his time in the US House of Representatives, Kennedy became a part of the US Senate twice until running for president in the 1960 election. JFK won the 1960 election and began his short run presidency on January 20, 1961. The Bay of Pigs invasion began the downfall of John F. Kennedy’s plans for foreign policy. The Bay of Pigs invasion was one of John F. Kennedy’s worst decisions in his presidential career. The Bay of Pigs occurred on American soil in the year of 1961. The proposal for the Bay of Pigs invasion was created by Dwight Eisenhower during his presidency to get rid of Fidel Castro -the president of Cuba at the moment- and the Communist influence in Cuba. After John F. Kennedy came into office, he decided to adopt Eisenhower’s proposal despite hearing strong opposal against the plan. Thus on April 17, 1961, 1500 Cuban exiles disciplined by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The Cuban exiles were meant to overthrow the Cuban government. The exiles were against multiple Cuban soldiers and Castro’s slightly weakened air force. During the fighting, the exile brigade requested for extra air support but Kennedy denied their proposal. Therefore after two of fighting, the exile numbers were cut in half and the ammunition supply was low. Causing the exiles to surrender to the Cuban...
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