Preview

Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
835 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Example
Cuban Missile Crisis
For centuries, Unites States involvement in foreign affairs was virtually nonexistent. Yet, with time, our nation evolved from a diplomatic island to a central continent of diplomacy. This started with the growth of industrialism in Cuba under the guiding hand of President Theodore Roosevelt. The importance of foreign affairs steadily escalated with both world wars and peaked with the rise of Soviet power and the onset of the Cold War. Kennedy and the United States quickly becoming a major power in world diplomacy, the role of presidency expanded as well. With the discovery of USSR missiles in Cuba, Kennedy faced not only a diplomatic crisis, but also a deadly threat to the nations national security. Kennedy using his Constitutional power as commander-in-chief and his political power as chief diplomat, Kennedy successfully and justifiably attempted to remove the USSR missiles. Given these powers, Kennedy's reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis followed both political and constitutional constraints. So did John F. Kennedy and the United States use proper manners as they responded to USSR's military actions in Cuba?

One can believe John F. Kennedy and the United States did react within proper political and constitutional constraints and one can believe they did not. In what such way did they act in proper manners you ask? When Fidel Castro was appointed the new president of Cuba he was sick of all the American industries located in Cuba. Fidel told United States to leave their country and started to run his country as a dictatorship. John F. Kennedy did not like Fidel Castro's movement so he trained exiled Cubans to rise up and take over Cuba. (Cuban Missile Crisis Movie). When United States tried to secretly attack Cuba using exiled Cubans to do their dirty work, unfortunately the plan did not work as planned and the United States betrayed the exiled Cubans and pissed Cuba off. I believe the United States acted in an unconstitutional way

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Cuban Missile Crisis took place in the 1960’s not long after President John F. Kennedy’s failure in the Bay of Pigs. In October of 62’ photographs of Soviet missiles were taken from planes flying over Cuban soil. This put Americans on the edge of their seat, not prepared for another war. Kennedy already looking like a “soft president” states to the public he must take action. In his speech he states seven steps that will be taken. Any of which are not followed peacefully, will be consider an attack on the United States.…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In some situations during the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy was inappropriate, but he always seemed to fix the problem. President Kennedy demonstrated the most effective ways of communicating by being open minded and knowledgeable. President Kennedy was proven to be the most effective communicator because the crisis resulted in the Soviet union removing the missiles from Cuba. It is clear that President Kennedy was an effective communicator during the Cuban missile…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, the decisions to setup a quarantine to prevent any offensive weapons reaching cuba did not the problem but byed time to come up wit a better solution. Kennedy was given many options that would further protect his country but choose with option 3 that could possibly makhsoom into World…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    6.05 Honors

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, relations between the U.S. and Cuba rapidly transferred into bitter arguments, political grandstanding and the occasional international crisis. By 1960, Castro's government had captured private land, nationalized hundreds of private companies, and taxed American products so greatly that U.S. exports were halved in just two years. The Eisenhower Administration responded by imposing trade restrictions on everything except food and medical supplies. Castro extended trade with the Soviet Union instead. The U.S. responded by cutting all diplomatic ties. President Kennedy issued the permanent embargo on Feb. 7, 1962 and within a few years the country became its former self. The early 1960s were marked by s top-secret U.S. attempts to collapse the Cuban government. The Bay of Pigs was the CIA's attempt to overthrow Castro by training Cuban exiles for a ground attack. The worst moment in the countries' relationship came on October 15, 1962 when U.S. spy planes found evidence that the Soviet Union was building missile bases in Cuba. President Kennedy learned of the threat the next day, and for the next 12 days the U.S. and Russia were stuck in the Cuban Missile Crisis. It ended only when Nikita Khrushchev accepted Kennedy's secret offer to remove U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for the de-arming of Cuba. The Soviet missiles were gone within six months, but it would take a long time for America to forgive Cuba.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States, a country founded under the oppressive regime of a tyrant on the notion that all people have basic unalienable rights, repeated mistakes made earlier in the Cold War at The Bay of Pigs. Like his predecessors, Truman and Eisenhower, Kennedy made a fundamental mistake in Cuba; he did not bother to learn about the people, culture, or language of the area he planned to invade. If he had, he would have been made aware of Fidel Castro’s overwhelming support throughout Cuba, and perhaps the entire mission would have been withdrawn before it had the chance to become the military and political fiasco that it was. Even so, the decisions that The United States had previously made were questionable. The imperialistic economic strategies employed, coupled with toppling governments and placing a tyrant at their head seems fundamentally un-American; The United States does, after all, take pride in freedom.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In October of 1962, John F. Kennedy was faced with the first crisis of his administration. The Soviets were building nuclear missile sites on Cuba, and one of JFK’s first actions was to give his famous Cuban Missile Crisis speech on October 22, 1962. JFK uses repetition, ethos, and pathos to discredit the USSR’s international standing in the world. JFK give his speech to show the people that the government has their best interests at heart. He tells the citizens about what the government has learned and what they intend to do about it. To reassure the people of the US, he describes what he has done so far, and what he plans to do in the future. In the main part of the speech, JFK turns to what the Soviets have done and the implications of this. He does this to unify the country against the Soviets. To unify them he explains how the Soviets have endangered everyone who lives in the western hemisphere, and how this has never been done before. He reinforces this by repeatedly stating that what the Soviets have said are lies. To further discredit the Soviets he shows their disregard for international agreements and for the people living in the western hemisphere.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    President Kennedy proposed a Naval Blockade despite the advice from his cabinet to order an air strike (Bojczuk 1). After five tense days, Khrushchev agreed to remove soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for the assurance that America would not invade Cuba (Bojczuk 1). Furthermore, Kennedy enacted policies supplying political, economic and military needs to the southern region of Vietnam. Support in Vietnam gradually increased to the point where troops were actually fighting against the Northern Vietnamese (Bojczuk 1). Both these examples show how Kennedy strengthened the military without using…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cuban Missile Crisis Dbq

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To what extent was the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis due to Castro’s provocative actions?…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    United States President John F. Kennedy reacted by making a naval blockade around Cuba, and promised not to invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed the nuclear weapons from the country (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). The United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of war, until the Premiere of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, agreed to remove the missiles (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). A possible nuclear war was averted, and there is no doubt that a nuclear war would have destroyed not only the United States and the USSR, but possibly the world. On October 28th, the missiles were removed, and the conflict concluded. (“Cuban Missile Crisis”).…

    • 1681 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "I think everyone knew we were walking a very thin line."(Owen) Not many Americans know the truth that lies behind the Iran-Contra scandals. Most would be surprised to know about the deception of our leaders. Still today, some truth of Iran-Contra lies hidden in the conscience of the people who organized it, aided it, and went through with it. It started with good intentions, but soon was corrupted. Some may argue that we must do what we can to smother the flame of communism, but I believe that deception, abuse of power and bloodshed is no way to go about it.…

    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    About, sixty three years ago on a large naval base in a small state named Hawaii the United States of America was secretly attacked by the Japanese. Today, this dramatic event is known as Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is credited for pushing the United States into World War Two. Usually, the American public lacks a detailed knowledge of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese way of life attributed to the way that they attacked the United States. The Japanese felt that rather than surrender they would kill themselves in honor of their emperor. So, men where willing to go on Kamikaze missions where they knew that they were not going to be coming back to their families. The United States was unprepared for the attack.…

    • 3223 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the film Thirteen Days, the controversy of the historic Cuban Missile Crisis is depicted as one of America’s most trying time because for the first time the U.S and Soviet Union were eye to eye in tension. The key players were President John F. Kennedy and the Soviet Premier Khrushchev. Soviet nuclear missiles were deployed to Cuba in October 1962. The Soviet Union deployments of missiles were for defensive purposes, but the fact that the missiles were deployed close to U.S borders made this an uneasy situation. It was during this time that the president had to be prudent and make some extenuating decisions for America, while facing options of military and diplomatic solutions which included…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Faced with the evidence of Soviet nuclear-capable weapons in Cuba, Kennedy found his available methods of response limited. There were several factors that likely weighed heavily on Kennedy’s mind as he debated what action to take. First, the humiliation of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion attempt still resonated in the President’s mind. Kennedy believed he could not risk another disaster in Cuba without crippling U.S. prestige as well as his own. Second, during the 1960 Presidential election, John F. Kennedy made the “missile gap” between the U.S. and USSR as a major topic of his campaigning rhetoric. If the Soviets successfully established nuclear missile silos, he would appear to have failed to uphold his commitments to the American people. Third, the Joint Chief of Staff put severe pressure on President Kennedy not only to react militarily to the Soviet’s missile deployment in Cuba, but suggested that the president authorize an airstrike on the Soviet missile bases. Lastly, and perhaps the important factor that kept President Kennedy from escalating the crisis into a direct conflict, was his fear of Soviet retaliation for an American attack on Soviet or Cuban military assets or personnel. Instead of authorizing military intervention, President Kennedy sought to resolve the…

    • 2042 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rise Of Communism

    • 1354 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In President Kennedy’s University of Washington Speech, Kennedy said that his main goal was to work for peace, but he was willing to defend freedom with military use. So even though he wants to work peacefully there is always a military option he isn’t afraid to use. One of Kennedy’s main tactics to work towards stopping communism peacefully was Alliance for Progress. Billions of dollars were spent on this to build schools, hospitals, and roads in Latin America (Ayers 886). Kennedy did this to gain a better relationship with countries in Latin America because many of the relationships had been earlier destroyed. Another way Kennedy helped poorer nations gain stability was through the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps sent volunteers to help countries have more experienced workers (Ayers 886). The end goal of this was to get countries functioning on their own again. Even though Kennedy liked stopping communism peacefully, he did have to use military tactics. He was willing to send arms to any countries that needed help, but he can’t send them the will to use those arms (Kennedy). Kennedy thought it was important to help all countries resist communism. Flexible Response was one of his main military tactics, and this was used to make American Forces stronger so that there would be more options other than nuclear weapons (Ayers 886). This was a negotiation so that the US could get what they want. The bay of Pigs Invasion started on April 15, 1961. The invasion was a group of unmarked US bombers flown from Nicaragua by cuban exiles in attempt to destroy Cuba’s air force, but it ended up failing (Ayers 881). As a result the U.S. agreed to leave Cuba alone and get rid of the missiles in Turkey if the Soviets would remove missiles from Cuba (Ayers 881). The Bay of Pigs Invasion is an example of flexible…

    • 1354 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kennedy stood strong in our country’s commitment to liberty and equality through it all. On October 16, 1962, it was discovered that The USSR had robbed the Cuban people of their freedoms and now had their weapons of mass destruction set for America. With weapons and communist control in Cuba, Commander Khrushchev threatened the United States with nuclear war. President Kennedy sought to uphold liberty across the world, making a commitment to the Cuban people to not rest until all are free from the grips of communism. “I speak to you as a friend, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice for all. Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free” (Kennedy 89). John F. Kennedy expressed his commitment to liberty and justice in his vision for all to be free from the communist regime. Kennedy just like the founding fathers before him vowed to pay the costs for all to be free and committed to staying strong against tyranny. "The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission” (Horan). President Kennedy vowed to never surrender and to stand up to those who challenge the founding principles of America, liberty and equality. Through his decision-making and personal convictions about the Cuban Missile Crisis,…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays