After World War II, a new conflict had arisen between the United States and the Soviet Union called the Cold War. Although there was no direct military confrontation between the notoriously democratic and communist nations, hostilities grew as the mid-20th century superpowers were on the race for international prominence; USSR with its “Iron Curtain”, and the U.S. with its support from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As this power-hungry attitude reached a worldwide high, the United States was introduced to the presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, all of whom compiled new ideals of foreign policy towards the Soviet Union. These members of office were able to provide their own input into their approaches towards these …show more content…
Kennedy was apt to emphasize his perspective on matters, especially with the unfavorable impression that the Soviets had taken away from the United States’ presence on the opposing side of the Korean War. In his own inaugural address, President Kennedy stated “... let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us,” (Doc 1). This concept of making amends and being open carried out into much more of his term in office. During this time, the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had followed his own foreign policy that coexisted peacefully with the western countries of the world. This policy would have been very practical if it hadn’t been for the upsurge in Soviet nuclear technology. After there was word of possible nuclear war, tensions grew yet again. Made apparent in Document 3b, President Kennedy wanted nothing to do with nuclear war and said “Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces,”. Alongside with Document 3b, Document 3a depicts nuclear war as a force that neither power could handle