Powaski Ch.

5 Kennedy and Johnson: Confrontation and Cooperation, 1961-1969 Beginning of Kennedy presidency Kennedy keeps tough rhetoric to appease voters 6 January 1961: Khrushchev declares Soviets will support wars of national liberation abroad

Pay of Pigs (Summer 1961) 16 April: Castro declares himself a socialist, starts taking aid from Soviets 17 April: Invasion begins with 1,400 forces (plan originally under Eisenhower) Following failure, Kennedy authorizes Operation Mongoose, intended to undermine Cuban economy Historiography: Louise FitzSimons Kennedy spent the rest of his life trying to make up for failure at Bay of Pigs

Alliance for Progress (spring 1961) 13 March 1961: Alliance for Progress introduced to ameliorate Western Hemisphere poverty o $10bn to Latin American countries excluding Cuba Latin American growth rates remain stagnant, with unemployment growing and inequality remaining a problem Illusion of Impotence US belief that they could fix anything, having rebuilt Europe o Latin American governments fear Alliance more than Communism

Vienna Summit and Laos (summer 1961) 3-4 June 1961: Khrushchev and Kennedy meet in Vienna o Both agree not to intervene militarily in Laos, with no Soviet interest and cost of involvement too high for US May 1961-June 1962: Promises neutrality for Laos, though powers intervene covertly afterwards

Berlin Crisis (summer 1961) At Vienna, Khrushchev threatens to sign separate peace treaty with East Germany if West doesnt cooperate with Soviets o Kennedy refuses to obey threat 13 August: Permission granted for construction of Berlin Wall September 1961: Peace talks result in Khrushchev dropping his deadlines, backing off o 30 August: Khrushchev resumes nuclear weapons testing o 5 September: Kennedy resumes US testing in response

Flexible Response under Kennedy (shift away from Massive Retaliations focus on nuclear arms) Navy ships doubled, army increased from 11 to 16 divisions o Airlift capacity grows 75%

Green Berets created, officers given counterinsurgency training o January 1962: Special Group created, coordinates counterinsurgency efforts Nuclear arsenal and ICBMs expanded as well Growth of military gives greater possibility for intervention (leading eventually to Nam)

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), because goddammit Khrushchev, thats why Early 1962: Medium and intermediate-range missiles deployed in Cuba o Reasons: return threat of Jupiter IRBMs in Turkey; counter threat to Soviets of US nuclear expansion; getting leverage in Berlin; distract attention from Khrushchevs handling of domestic issues Kennedy refuses to back down, also refuses direct military action in Cuba o Orders given to prepare for possible invasion of Cuba, nuclear war 22 October: 42 missiles have arrived in Cuba 28 October: Khrushchev draws down missiles from Cuba o Kennedy promises not to invade Cuba and, covertly, to remove Jupiter missiles Khrushchevs humiliation leads to 1964 ousting and replacement by Brezhnev, whos a pokerfaced BAMF

Limited Test Ban Treaty (1962-1963) 19 December 1962: Khrushchev invites Kennedy to sort out test ban issue 10 June 1963: Kennedy invites Americans to reexamine attitudes toward Soviets o 20 June: Khrushchev agree to a direct teletype link between Moscow, Washington (BFFs 4eva) Issue of inspections prevents a comprehensive test ban agreement 24 September 1963: Limited Test Ban Treaty approved, goes into effect 11 October o Sets precedent of cooperation

Sino-Soviet Split China has an anger management problem, and the Motherland dont need no man. Soviets give lackluster support in Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958, eliminate nuclear assistance in 1959 o Soviets appalled by Maos ease towards possibility of nuclear war October 1961: 22nd Communist Congress Khrushchev denounces Mao indirectly o September 1963: Chinese condemn 22nd Congress 1966: Beginning of Cultural Revolution leads to civilian conflict, military combat in 1969

Kennedy and China Historiography (Arthur Schlesinger): Kennedy doesnt think the Sino-American rift is rational July 1961: Congress opposes diplomatic recognition of China Kennedy tries to get Khrushchevs help in military strikes against Chinese nuclear facitilities o 19 October 1964: First Chinese nuclear device tested

Kennedy an Vietnam (Honestly, as long as theres still pho were all good) Kennedy becomes fearful of domino effect from Communist Victory in Vietnam o Supports counterinsurgency as best recourse o November 1963: Military advisers in Vietnam reaches 16,700 (up from 700) o Kennedy fearful of South Vietnam collapse Kennedy originally prepared to commit US ground forces to Vietnam, changes his mind after Berlin crisis 1963: Kennedy begins withdrawing advisers to punish Diem for lack of reforms

Kennedy and Africa Little change from Eisenhowers commitment to actively keep communism from spreading to Africa, despite promises otherwise o Khrushchev doesnt make Africa important until competing with China in mid-1960s for influence Kennedy tries to sway pro-Soviet neutral countries with conditional promises of funds o African states aggravated that US defers to Europe to handle African colonial issues March 1961: Though UN resolution, US pressures Portugal to accept Angolas independence US symbolically protests apartheid in South Africa, but does little otherwise o 1 January 1964: Arms embargo on SA placed after pressure from civil rights leaders Africa policies (Portugal, SA) demonstrate priority is on European allies, not African nationalism/ neutrality

Peace Corps (inaugurated 1961) YA BOI PEACE CORPS Lets just move on, eh?

The Johnson Doctrine (hehe, so thats what they called it back then)(Work with me here, its been a long day) Fear of communism, especially in Latin America, dictates Johnsons policies (PREVENT COMMUNISM FROM SPREADING? YEAH, REAL INNOVATIVE. GODDAMMIT.) o 1964: Organization of American States severs diplomatic/trade ties with Cuba (US complies) o December 1964: Following January riots, Johnson orders new agreement to replace 1903 treaty giving US sovereignty over Canal Zone US retains control over military bases in Canal Zone Given lack of progress, Alliance for Progress funding cut 40% in 2 years April 1965: Johnson sends 22,000 troops to Dominican Republic to prevent government overthrow o Violates Good Neighbor policy, leads to fears of recurring Big Stick policy by US in Latin America

Helps overthrow Brazilian leftist president, funds election of anticommunist president Eduardo Frei in Chile

Johnson and Vietnam (escalating like electric stairs) 1968: US with 500,000 troops in Vietnam (proof of escalation) August 1964: Gulf of Tonkin incident leads to Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing Johnson to take all necessary measures in Vietnam 7 February 1965: Operation Rolling Thunder begins (sustained bombing of North Vietnam) o In response to Vietcong attack on US Army barracks July 1965: 50,000 troops deployed to South Vietnam

Consequences from Vietnam Bombing leads to North Vietnamese dispersing population, creating air defense system General Westmoreland miscalculates North Vietnamese willingness to sacrifice people 1965-1968: Chinese and Soviets provide $2 billion in funding o 1962-68: 300,000 Chinese soldiers deploy in North Vietnam US cant take out men/targets faster than they are replaced and rebuilt

City Diplomacy (say it with an accent) Peace terms offered by Vietnamese, Americans both inadequate o Johnson wants South Vietnam to be independent, non-communist state, North Vietnamese want control of all Vietnam, among other things October 1966: Following onset of Cultural Revolution, US takes unilateral steps to reach out to Soviets, perceiving Chinese as even greater threat o Soviets cant accept relations with US given continued US war with North Vietnam 1967: Soviets, with greater hostility from China, agree to cooperate with peace initiative from British PM Harold Wilson o North Vietnamese almost brought to negotiating table, though US eventually sours on proposal

Loss of popular support 1967: Johnson stuck between mass protests of Vietnam and goal of preserving South Vietnam February 1968: North Vietnamese launch massive Tet offensive

End Game 31 March 1968: Johnson announces freeze of troop levels, suspension of North Vietnam bombings o Johnson feels heat after challenges in primaries 13 May 1968: Formal peace talks in Paris begin with North Vietnamese

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Peace talks ground on as North Vietnamese refuse to stop trying to overthrow South Vietnam Meanwhile, US bombings and ground operations increase

Soviet-American relations during Nam WHOAH FLASHBACK! K, all good, my b. Johnson wants Soviet help getting North Vietnamese to negotiate, Soviets want improved relations with US to get at Western technology 1969: Soviets achieve nuclear parity with US 1967: Treat of Tlatelolco and Outer Space Treaty limit weapons in Latin America, spece, respectively 1 July 1968: Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) bans giving nuclear arms to unarmed states, unarmed states not allowed to get nukes o Non-nuclear states can be given non-nuclear military aid though o Mandatory IAEA inspections of unarmed states o Treaty signed by 97 states, including US, Britain, Russia Failed negotiations lead to Soviet and American antiballistic missile programs Johnson tries to pursue SALT (strategic arms limitation talks) September 1968, but Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia turns the SALT bitter

Summary (and Powaskis 2 cents) Relations under Kennedy deteriorated due to Berlin problem, Khrushchevs challenge to US nuclear superiority Personal issues strongly played into Khrushchev and Kennedys approach The 1960s saw US containment in the Third World break down (e.g. Cuba, Vietnam) Despite other failures, Limited Test Ban Treaty and Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty signings indicate the beginnings of dtente.