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Commander in Chief

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis is one of John f. Kennedy's successes. The Cuban Missile Crisis started when an American spy plane saw missile silos on Cuba. The Soviet Union was attempting to put nuclear bombs on Cuba. Russia said they were for defense purposes only, but they were obviously there to attack America in offense. At 7:00 pm on Monday, the 22nd of October, 1962, John F Kennedy appeared on television to alert the people about the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Kennedy's speech had seven parts to insure America's safety.  The first point was to turn back any ships that were going to Cuba, carrying weapons.  The second point Kennedy made was that the U.S. needed to increase the surveillance on Cuba and the detected silos.  His third point was to regard any missile launched from Cuba a threat and a declaration of war from Cuba.  The fourth point was to reinforce the military at Guantanamo Bay .  The fifth part was to alert  all allies in case of an attack.  The sixth part was to have a meeting with the security council, and withdraw all offensive weapons already in Cuba.  The final point of the address was to diplomatically offer peace to Cuba.  The reason the Cuban Missile Crisis was a success for Kennedy because he handled it with immediate decisions and political actions that helped prevent what could have been the most destructive war for the U.S.  What Kennedy did to handle this situation was to deploy a fleet of warships to the Cuban coast.  When the Soviet Union was aware of this they turned back all ships to Russia.  Below is a map of Cuba and the missile sights and important cities.

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was one of John F. Kennedy’s failures.  The reason America was part of the Vietnam War is because America was trying to support Democracy in all the countries around the world. North Vietnam, a Communist country, was trying to get South Vietnam, a  Democratic country, to become a Communist country.  America sent troops into Vietnam.  Kennedy was informed that the war was being won and he could start to withdraw troops. The truth was the war was a mess and they were invading onto the Buddhist population. Kennedy began withdrawing troops prior to his assassination in 1963.

Bay of Pigs

The Bay of Pigs invasion was an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba, in order to stop the growth of communism throughout the world.  On April 15, 1961 America-trained Cubans who used American equipment invaded Cuba to overthrow Castro. The main attack was at the Bay of Pigs. Castro’s army was anticipating America’s rebels, and Fidel defeated the rebels. Captured members of the invasion were imprisoned. America had to pay $53,000,000 worth of food and medicine to bail out the prisoners. This was Kennedy’s first major setback in his attempt to stop communism, but later, he had a big success in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Chief Diplomat

Nuclear Test Treaty

One of the duties of Chief Diplomat is to make treaties. One treaty Kennedy pushed through in his term was the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. This treaty was necessary because testing nuclear weapons can hurt people and the environment. This treaty was a success for Kennedy. It was good because it stopped Russia, America, and Britain from testing nuclear weapons. If we stop countries from doing that then radiation will not harm any one or anything.  In the summer of 1963 The Nuclear Test Ban treaty was signed by representatives from the U.S., The Soviet Union, and Britain. The treaty basically said that the countries can not test any nuclear weapons on the earth, in the atmosphere, in space, or underground. In the Treaty there were five parts. The first part prohibits any nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space, or underwater. The second part explains how the treaty can be amended. The third part says that any state that does not sign the treaty is not protected by it until they sign it. The fourth part says that this treaty will last for an unlimited time. Also it says that any country expressing national sovereignty can withdraw with a three month notice. The fifth part explains that the treaty is authentic in English and Russian. From this treaty the world is a more environment friendly world.

Chief Executive

One of the responsibilities of the chief Executive is to set a plan for the country. Kennedy excelled in this area.  President Kennedy came into office with a belief that America could and should shape the destiny of the world's developing countries. He strongly believed that every country should have a democratic government. In his term The Bay of Pigs and the Vietnam War were both in order to stop communism in those countries. Another time when Kennedy was laying out a plan for the country is when he set a goal to go to the moon before the decade is out. This was a huge step for the country but with Kennedy’s enthusiasm we reached the moon inside Kennedy’s deadline. During that time Civil rights for African Americans was a big deal. Kennedy showed great bravery in writing a bill to give African Americans equal rights. This although lead Kennedy to his assassination.

Chief Legislative

The purpose of the legislative Leader is to make bills and sign bills into laws. While Kennedy was in office, discrimination of African Americans was a big problem. In 1963, African Americans, especially in the south, were being discriminated against. This caused Kennedy to do something about it. Kennedy got to work on his new civil rights bill, but he was assassinated before it was done. Lyndon B. Johnson continued Kennedy’s progress and made the Civil Rights Act in 1965 and the Voting Rights Bill in 1965. The purpose of these bills was to ban discrimination in places of business, speed up desegregation of public schools, and end discrimination in the hiring of workers on federal construction projects. They also gave voting rights to African Americans. On success Kennedy took the insinuative to tackle a very controversial issue, yet it needed to be done. Unfortunately, it cost him his life.