How Did Kennedy Violate The Jfk Transition Plan

It was not just the force of institutional inertia that was pushing the apprehensive Kennedy to approve the plan, but also both Eisenhower and the CIA were reinforcing the importance for Kennedy to continue the plan. During the final transition meeting on January 19, Eisenhower conversed with the president-elect about foreign issues and tried to portray the invasion as an official government policy towards Cuba and that it was the Kennedy administration’s obligation to follow through.[xxxiv] CIA subtly pressured Kennedy by reminding him of the huge political consequences for his young career if he cancelled or postponed the plan. Not only would cancelling the plan make him appear weak, he would also have to deal with disgruntled
Kennedy did however emphasize that there would be no direct participation of American forces and that America should be able to plausibly deny involvement.[xxxvi] The fact that Kennedy approved the plan, even though he did not have a detailed knowledge or confidence in the plan was a major flaw of decision-making that occurred during planning stage.

A lack of checks and balances due to inexperience of the new Kennedy government played a pivotal role in failure to critically and objectively analyze the plan and its underlying assumptions. An invasion of such strategic importance required qualified personnel with control and an efficient process to analyze any issues. However, the new staff members surrounding the president were not well acquainted with each other or the president and had little understanding of the decision making process in national security matters. The president was still getting to know his cabinet and trying to find whom he could trust the most, which in return caused a lot of his staff to