There was always competition between Russia and America because they were two superpowers. There was the Arms Race, where both countries competed for newer, stronger weapons than the other. Such as when America developed the A bomb, Russia got the A bomb, America got the H bomb, Russia got the H bomb and so on. They were both trying to out do each other with nuclear weapons, but if one of them used them then it would probably lead to the end of mankind

Were contemporaries correct in regarding President Kennedy as the saviour of the western world after the Cuban missile crisis? This is the question that I return to. The Crisis when over made Kennedy appear to have come out of the event the hero, but was this idea really fair. By looking at source D1 it shows us exactly what Kennedy wanted, as it is an extract from his inaugural address in January 1961. This was the first speech he made as the President of the United States. He states that he would bear any burden so would fight anyone and he would “Support any Friend and oppose an foe” this meaning that he would support an ally like Britain, and would oppose any non – ally like Communist Russia, and then he moves on to say that he assures the survival and the success of liberty or freedom. It is a contempary source and favors Kennedy making him look like the good guy, also its is biased as it was Drawn by the Daily Mail a British newspaper and Britain at the time and still is an ally to America. The picture also shows the definite split between Russia and Cuba, and America. It portrays Kennedy wearing white and on the side both Castro and Khrushchev are wearing dark colours; this shows us quite clearly the good and bad sides. Kennedy is the sheriff and Castro and Khrushchev are the outlaws. By looking closely at the picture, in the background you can faintly see the town’s people running away probably leading us to believe they are running away in fear of the devastation of nuclear war between Russia, Cuba, and America.

When Kennedy took over as American president in 1961, he became the youngest ever president. He was told of a CIA plan to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro, which he allowed to go ahead but the result was a disaster, and became known as the Bay of Pigs. On April 17th, about 1500 of Castro’s opponents landed at Cochinos Bay (Bay of Pigs) on the southern coasts of Cuba. They were equipped with arms provided by the USA. These rebels had told the CIA that the Cubans would join them and overthrow Castro, unfortunately they did not. The group was poorly trained and badly equipped; even their maps were out of date. They were outnumbered by almost 300 to 1 and within three days the invaders were either dead or in prison. The results of the Bay of Pigs were the opposite of what the CIA had intended. Firstly, Castro became more popular because of how easily the Cuban army had defeated the invaders. Source C1 is a primary source because it is a speech made by Fidel Castro at the funerals of the Cubans killed in the Bay of Pigs. What he is saying is that what the Americans can’t stand is that the Cubans have made a revolution right under the American’s noses, and they didn’t even realise. It is obviously a biased source because it is from Castro, the Cuban president. C2 is a poster issued by the Cuban government with the phrase “The defence of our country is everybody’s duty”. This poster is trying to get people to join the Cuban army, and especially after the Bay of Pigs there was a lot of anti-American feeling around. Again this is a primary source because it is taken from the time. Also, Castro now saw the USA as a very serious threat and asked Khrushchev to help defend Cuba. The Bay of Pigs also didn’t help Kennedy’s reputation as a new president. In a speech he says, “How could I have been so far off base? All my life I’ve known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid to let them go ahead?”

On October 16th he appointed an Executive Committee to give him advice. The leading figure on the committee was the president’s younger brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The committee narrowed it down to three options. The first was to launch a nuclear strike against the missile sites. The second was launching a conventional air strike, followed by an invasion and the third was initiating a naval blockade that wou

Some topics in this essay:
Bay Pigs, Kennedy Khrushchev, USA Polaris, Robert Kennedy, President Kennedy, West B4, Arms Race, USA Kennedy, Crisis Kennedy, Chairman Khrushchev, bay pigs, kennedy khrushchev, naval blockade, missiles cuba, nuclear war, cold war, cuban missile, nuclear weapons, remove missiles, remove missiles cuba, missile crisis, cuban missile crisis, strike followed invasion, air strike followed, soviet ships heading,