Environment and Context of the Death of John F. Kennedy

America was in the midst of the Vietnam war and faced the foreboding presence of Soviet Russia. It was at this time of recession and tension that John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th president of the united states. For the young democrat, high stakes and heavy expectation would soon surface in affairs both foreign and domestic. It would be a test of resilience cut short by his assassination.Well known, Dallas Texas would be Kennedy’s last campaign, ending with Harvey Lee Oswald landing the three momentus shots on November 22nd 1963.

But more profound is the political influence found within contextual aspects of his presidency such as the cuban missile crisis and the civil rights movement. Contributing to our group’s argument, this paper is dedicated to the environment and context surrounding the death of John F. Kennedy.

This is important to consider when speculating the full scope of the assassination. As a preface it determines motives and intentions while also entailing the effects and impact of the event.

Perspective: John F. Kennedy was Not a Good President Though the death of Kennedy is considered a national tragedy, it is arguable that the condolence of his assassination sublimes the many flaws in his presidency. The first of his most notable setbacks was the failure to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In what was known as The Bay of Pigs, an organized militia of around 1,500 Cuban refugees were tasked by CIA to attack Cuba’s southern coast. The troops were easily overwhelmed by Castro’s forces which resulted in the death and capture of many (JFK Library).

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Instead of deterring the communist presence, it “firmly pushed Cuba into the arms of the Soviet Union” (Voss 2011). Resultant of the outcome, it would then lead to the Cuban missile Crisis due to Cuba wanting further security against future attacks. It was a costly loss for Kennedy’s administration and did not outlook much hope for the future. On multiple occasions he could have canceled the operation, but chose to ensue despite large skepticism (Washington Post 2013). He was conflicted in making the decision, but ultimately, authorization was given to carry out an considered illegal act of invasion, hence the denial of involvement (Vandenbroucke 1984).

Cuban Missile crisis, those opposing Kennedy’s presidency can largely trace the root cause to Kennedy’s decision to invade Cuba. Another debatable instance of Kennedy’s leadership was his approach to the Cuban missile Crisis. In 1962 Khrushchev would secretly agreed to supply Cuba with Nuclear missiles to which in the process of building the launchpad, the US discovered their plans and quarantined them from Soviet contact. An agreement was made to remove the missiles with the US promising to not re-invade Cuba and remove ballistics from Turkey in return. Through high tension and public distress, Nuclear warfare was avoided (JFK Library). Considered a success for Kennedy, disputants lay claim to many of Kennedy’s mistakes handling the conflict. One argument made is that the cuban missile crisis could have been avoided without Kennedy’s influence. After taking two heavy losses, The Bay of Pigs and Berlin Wall, JFK was thought of as weak and timid by Khrushchev and the Kremlin. Expressing his confidence, Khrushchev stated that “Kennedy spoke [to frighten us] and then got scared himself” ().

While Kennedy thought showing restraint to the Berlin Wall avoided crisis, it actually encourage Khrushchev to take more daring enterprise. Once the scheme was uncovered, and eventually resolved, US repercussions can also be looked upon as detrimental as well. Administration never intended to re-invade Cuba, but the removal of ballistic missiles from Turkey was humiliating. “The president can’t say anything public in his regard to Turkey. It would be too much of a political embarrassment”(History news network). The world very luckily avoided nuclear war in 1962, but John. F. Kennedy can certainly be questioned in the root cause and execution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. A topic of concern during the election of 1960 was civil rights; particularly african american. It was in 1954 that the supreme court ruled it unconstitutional to racially segregate within public schools. This lead to increased extent to civil rights protests across the nation.

During his campaign Kennedy showed his support for public figure Martin Luther King Jr. which helped him earn 70% of African American votes. However, the first two years of presidency was ignorant of civil rights. By not addressing the issue publicly or comprehensively A final instance of debate was Kennedy’s involvement with the Vietnam War. Early in his term, Kennedy would authorize 500 Special forces and military advisors to support South Vietnam in 1961. That number would then increase with an additional 12,000 troops sent a year later (JFK library). Compared to commitments made by the previous Eisenhower administration, Kennedy would triple american economic and military aid giving way to the claim that Kennedy influenced Lyndon B. Johnson’s large scale military offensive which ultimately ended in a loss. Perspective: John F. Kennedy was a Good President While previously evaluating the effect Kennedy had on the Cuban Missile Crisis, his execution is still regarded as successful in preventing nuclear war. When presented with the situation, his advisors offered two options: accept soviet warheads in Cuba, or attack.

JFK decided that he would take an alternate route of creating a public agreement to which the US would offer to not re-invade Cuba in return for the nukes to be taken out. The confrontation was a huge risk to the country. Publicly, he increased this risk by raising the nuclear alert status to defcon 2 to create more room to possibly send bombs. While this may seem alarming, and it certainly was for Khrushchev, the confrontation successfully threatened the Soviet Union to agree to Kennedy’s terms because they too did not want to enter war. Essentially, Kennedy drastically increased the short term chances of going to war, while in the long run it would force Russia to submit to their fear of nuclear warfare. () On topic of concern during the election of 1960 was civil rights; particularly african american. It was in 1954 that the supreme court ruled it unconstitutional to racially segregate within public schools. This lead to increased extent to civil rights protests across the nation. During his campaign Kennedy showed his support for public figure Martin Luther King Jr. which helped him earn 70% of African American votes.