UNIT 7: A CRISIS IN CONFIDENCE
CHAPTER 16: THE VIETNAM ERA
KENNEDY’S FOREIGN POLICY
—President Kennedy continued the anti-Communist foreign policy begun under Presidents
Truman and Eisenhower. He also created the Peace Corps to provide aid to poor countries where
communism might seem appealing. He wanted to prevent the rise of communist nations in
places like South America, Africa, and Asia.
—Kennedy had problems with Cuba because of the 1959 communist revolution. At the end of
Eisenhower’s term the CIA forged a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro, Cuba’s dictator, in which
the CIA trained Cuban exiles to go back to Cuba, spark an uprising, and overthrow Castro.
Although Kennedy had doubts about the plan, he accepted the advice of military advisors and the
CIA and allowed it to go forward. On April 17, 1961, 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles landed at
the Bay of Pigs. The invasion was badly mismanaged. The poorly equipped forces landed with
no protective cover. Only 300 exiles were able to escape. The Bay of Pigs Invasion
embarrassed Kennedy, who took the blame for the failure. Not only did this invasion fail, it
probably strengthened Castro’s position in Cuba.
—In September 1962 American spy planes flew over Cuba and discovered launching sites for
nuclear missiles built by the Soviets. These missiles could easily reach the U.S., so Kennedy
quickly took action. He ordered the navy to blockade Cuba until the Soviets removed the
missiles. He also warned the U.S. would respond with a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union.
As the 2 superpowers neared the brink of nuclear war, people all over the world waited
nervously. Kennedy and Khrushchev were working this whole time to reach a diplomatic
settlement to avoid nuclear war. Kennedy promised he would remove U.S. missiles in Turkey
and Italy if the Soviets removed their missiles in Cuba. He also promised to not invade Cuba.
After 6 tense days when nuclear war seemed a real possibility, Khrushchev agreed to Kennedy’s
deal. This was all known as the Cuban missile crisis.
—Though 16 years had passed since the end of WWII, the Allies had still not settled the status of
Germany. West Germany gained complete independence in 1949, but the Soviet Union
continued to control East Germany. This caused major problems. At a June 1961 summit
conference in Vienna, Austria, Premier Khrushchev told President Kennedy that the West must
move out of Berlin. Kennedy rejected this demand and sent more U.S troops to West Berlin to
emphasize the right to stay there. On August 13, Khrushchev closed the border between East
and West Berlin and built a wall of concrete blocks and barbed wire along it. The Soviets posted
armed guards along the wall to stop East Germans from fleeing to the West. The Berlin Wall
cut communications between the 2 parts of the city.
WAR IN VIETNAM
—After WWII, a Vietnamese communist named Ho Chi Minh had taken control of Vietnam.
There were anti-Communist forces who were trying to fight against him. The Geneva Accords
were peace negotiations dealing with European powers, the U.S. and Vietnam. In this, Vietnam
would be temporarily divided; North Vietnam would be controlled by the Communists and South
Vietnam by the non-Communists. In 1955 non-communist Ngo Dinh Diem gained control of the
government of South Vietnam. The Communists challenged Diem’s efforts to control the
government. Diem eventually launched a campaign to destroy the power of the Communists.
The Communists then became known as the Vietcong and under Ho Chi Minh, began a war
against the Diem regime in 1959. If Communists took South Vietnam, President Eisenhower
once said, the other countries of Southeast Asia would fall to communism like a row of
dominoes—one right after another. This domino theory helped shape American policy in
Vietnam for the next 20 years. To support South Vietnam, the Eisenhower administration sent
them billions of dollars in aid. It also dispatched a few hundred soldiers, who acted as advisors
to their government and army.
—Kennedy supported the policies of the Eisenhower administration and continued the aid of
South Vietnam. Unfortunately, the Diem government grew corrupt and the aid money ended up
in the pockets of South Vietnamese officials. They also took away many rights from Buddhists.
Buddhists responded with protests, some of which ended in bloodshed when government troops
fired into the crowds. The Kennedy administration found it difficult to continue to support
Diem. On November 1, 1963, a group of South Vietnamese army officers staged a coup—
overthrew the government—and assassinated Diem. The Kennedy administration had supported
the coup, but not the assassination. After President Kennedy was assassinated later that same
month, the question of what to do in Vietnam fell on President Lyndon B. Johnson.
—Intelligence had told Johnson that the South Vietnamese needed more American help and this
convinced Johnson that America should be more involved. When Vietcong patrol boats
allegedly attacked American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam in August
1964, Congress quickly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This gave Johnson broad
authority to use American forces in Vietnam. In 1965 Johnson began to increase involvement in
Vietnam. The numbers of troops increased sharply; in late 1963 there were nearly 15,000
