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John F Kennedy Flexible Response

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John F. Kennedy's flexible response was a national defense strategy during his presidency. This aimed to provide many options to the President in case of a military crisis, rather than solely relying on nuclear weapons. This focused on developing military capabilities, such as special forces, conventional military forces, and counterinsurgency forces, to provide solutions to threats. The goal was to have options available to respond to any threat, rather than relying solely on a massive nuclear retaliation, which was the main strategy during the Cold War. This also involved increasing defense spending and modernizing the military. The flexible response strategy was aimed at reducing the likelihood of nuclear war and increasing the range of …show more content…

In 1961, Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the decade, which became known as the Apollo program. This was a response to the Soviet Union's successful launch of the first satellite and first human in space. Under Kennedy's leadership, NASA developed new technologies, like the Saturn V rocket and the lunar module, to achieve this goal. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission successfully landed on the moon, fulfilling Kennedy's vision and marking a major milestone in the space race. Overall, Kennedy's involvement in the space race was a reflection of his commitment to scientific advancement and national security during the Cold War …show more content…

The CIA was motivated by Cold War tensions and feared that communism would spread to other parts of Latin America. The plan involved training Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and provoke a popular uprising against Castro, but it failed due to a lack of support from the local population and poor military planning. The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion was a major embarrassment for the United States and led to increased tensions between the US and Cuba, as well as between the US and the Soviet Union. It also solidified Castro's grip on power and led to a more aggressive posture towards the US, including closer ties with the Soviet Union and the eventual installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba, which nearly led to a nuclear war. The Bay of Pigs crisis highlighted the dangers of covert operations and the limitations of US foreign policy in the context of the Cold

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The Bay of Pigs was an invasion that the CIA had financed which involved training a group of Cuban refugees to land in Cuba. The primary goal of the invasion was to get rid of the communist government led by Fidel Castro. The Outcome of the invasion was unexpected, and the invasion failed miserably. The plan failed due to last minute cancellations of airstrikes, and the lack of knowledge that Castro had ordered 20,000 troops in advance to go to the attack site; this resulted in having the Cuban Air Force dominating the sky, which did not allow the U.S army to fight back. As the invasion went on, the chance of the U.S winning decreased within every hour.

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Truman agreed with this, as Eisenhower did, but they each had their own ideas. Eisenhower wanted to trap it, and figure out how to deal with it, while Truman wanted to outright destroy it. Kennedy liked the idea as well, but he favored Flexible Response. Flexible Response was the idea of not resorting to the use of nuclear weapons. Kennedy used this idea, but he realized that he might not have a choice when it came down to it, so he still used the idea of containment.

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J.F Kennedy, the president of United States wanted to put the first Americans to the moon-America exploring the moon, so he directed his speech to the people of taxes and Rice University to promote his space exploration program that will help America to be the first country to explore the moon. He believes that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. Throughout J.F Kennedy's speech, the speaker makes effective use of evidence, reasoning, rhetorical elements, and rhetorical devices that together form his argument to gain people support for his space exploration program. J.F Kennedy was trying to prove his point of view by giving examples and using a lot of Rhetorical devices and appeals that would grab the reader's attention

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1160 Words | 5 Pages

He goes on to describe that the reason the Soviets are ahead of the US because they had a more concentrated effort on getting into space before the United States got involved. He also concluded that the United States more supplies. This meant that if the United States put enough effort into the country’s space program we could surpass Russia. With the threat of communism haunting the United States and the pressure from the country to beat the Soviets Kennedy knew this was the perfect opportunity to get a win for the US. For this reason, on May 25, 1961, he asked the Congress for finical support on accelerating the program and declares that the country will get a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

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1062 Words | 5 Pages

The Bay of Pigs Invasion took place on april 17th, 1961 and it was a failed military invasion/coup of Cuba and its government by a CIA-sponsored paramilitary group known as Brigade 2506. This paramilitary group was trained and funded by the United States Central Intelligence agency (CIA). The invasion was partially caused by the Cuban Revolution of 1952 to 1959 in which dictator Fulgencio Batista, an ally of the United States, was forced into exile. On july 26th, 1959 Fidel Castro was put into power. He then cut the country 's formerly strong links with the US after expropriating the assets of US corporations and mobsters, and developing links with the Soviet Union.

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1947 Words | 8 Pages

Stearns With the following words, President John F. Kennedy launched one of the largest endeavors that United States ever embarked upon: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon, and returning him, safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish” (Pyle). This ambitious goal declared on May 25, 1961 before a joint session of Congress, began the space program in America that would lead to the first man on the moon eight years later. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong stepped off the Lunar Module's ladder and onto the Moon's surface. Apollo 11, the most commemorated lunar mission in America resulted from a lot preliminary efforts and preparation that without, the giant leap for mankind could not have been possible.

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604 Words | 3 Pages

It would be an umbrella of protection against the U.S. Following American knowledge finding that the USSR had set up short-extend atomic

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The launch of the Apollo 11 made history in the 1960s. The mission set the first man on the moon, as well as putting the United States ahead of the Soviet Union in the Space Race. The crew consisted of three well trained astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. The Apollo 11 had a significant impact on the 1960s because it put the first ever man on the moon.

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Flexible response is a response strategy to nuclear tensions that involved strengthening conventional U.S forces so the nation would have options other than nuclear weapons times of crisis. Citizens were having certain problems during this era. Some people believed that the only options is total war and others think that we should just give the other countries what they want (Kennedy). The people need to realize that you can use both and that negotiation and force are not mutually exclusive (Kennedy). The world has many problems and some how the U.S gets involved a lot of the time.

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1260 Words | 6 Pages

It was at this time that President John F. Kennedy announced his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Soon after the speech was made, Project Apollo and Project Mercury were started. Although it only lasted for a couple years, Project Mercury was able to put the first American astronauts in space with a total of six flights made. Project Apollo, was a lunar landing program founded with goal of reaching the moon. This project would have the majority of NASA resources dedicated to it with a budget increase by 500% in its first three years.

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Eloquently proposed by John Fitzgerald Kennedy to Congress on May 25, 1961, the Apollo Program, or “Project Apollo,” was the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s third exploratory program and the first project worldwide to attempt the tremendous endeavor putting a man on the moon (Britannica). After sufficient feasibility studying over a five year period, the first flight, unmanned, was launched in 1966. Two years later, the first flight with a trained crew onboard took place (Apollo 7, October 1968). Overall, the 11-year-long project sent 19 different spacecrafts into the atmosphere using multiple launch vehicle designs, including the Little Joe II and the Saturn rocket series. Subsequently, it achieved a fairly

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285 Words | 2 Pages

The Strategic Defense Initiative ultimately played a role in the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the conclusion of the Cold War. President Ronald Reagan’s plans to develop a system that would defend the United States from Soviet nuclear attacks was made clear in 1983. At this point in time, the Cold War was at a stage of extreme intensity, and this initiative would focus on research and develop new defense technology that would counter those of the Soviet Union. The later named “Star Wars” Initiative, due to its far-fetched, fantastic nature and potential use in a nuclear war, was the most prominent issue regarding the strategies of the United States against Soviet threats. The Soviet Union, after Reagan’s announcement, was displaced by this

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Kennedy’s challenge was to send a man to the moon. It was on July 20, 1969 that Kennedy was planning to send a man to space. This challenge had to be done before the decade was out. In seven NASA made a bold decision to send the Apollo 8 all the way to the moon on the first manned flight massive Saturn V Rocket. Next on July 16 they made a crew for the Apollo 11.

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814 Words | 4 Pages

(Alpha History). The Americans feared communism and saw the only way to rid it by expanding their influence into Cuba. They did this without the consent of many Cubans and did it for own personal American gain. Their paranoia fueled their drive to intervene in Cuba, as they saw it

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825 Words | 4 Pages

The Bay of Pigs ‘damaged US relations with foreign nations enormously” and “encouraged Khrushchev’s adventurism” resulting in increased Cold War tensions that demanded the President’s full

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