I lived four years in Berlin. The Berlin Wall was planned long before JFK became President in January 1961. East Germany was hemorrhaging people including those with real skills. And what would any American President have done faced with the construction of the Wall? The answer is nothing any more than we did when the Hungarian Revolution was put down or when the Berlin blockade was put in place precipitating the Berlin Airlift. Look at a map and see where Berlin is located. It was deep inside East Germany.
Quite true, but it is also Kennedy who changed the concept of operations reportedly changing the landing area to the more remote Bay of Pigs
To suggest that JFK was micromanaging the invasion is nonsense. The CIA and Cuban exiles called the tune. Eisenhower refused to approve the operation. JFK made a terrible mistake, but not for the lack of being aggressive.
True, that. However, Khrushchev's reading of Kennedy as a soft touch probably led to the emplacement of the Soviet nuclear missiles in the first place.
Correct that to misreading. Some would say JFK was reckless placing the US in the position of causing a nuclear exchange. We came very close to WWIII--probably the closest we have ever been to nuclear war. In the old days of the USSR, they always tested new US Presidents to gauge their strength. They seriously underestimated JFK.
Kennedy elected to go on the defensive and fight a guerilla war in South Vietnam rather than attack the real problem, which was the Communist regime in the North which was organizing, training, and equipping the increasingly massive and successful Viet Cong insurgency in the South.
There was no political will in the US to launch an attack on North Vietnam nor was there any international support for such a move. We had just recovered from WWII and Korea. There was no stomach for another land war in Asia.
I served in Vietnam 1967 to 1968 including during the Tet Offensive. It was LBJ who got us involved in Vietnam in a big way after the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
I was initially impressed by Kennedy and his words and soaring oratory. I (and others) became increasingly disillusioned by his actions.
I share that sentiment. What I don't agree with is that he was soft on communism or lacked the will to employ American power. In some respects, he was too eager to take aggressive actions--almost reckless.
The world was a far different place in 1961. We still had over half a million troops in Europe to counter a possible invasion of Europe by the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. Chairman Mao was showing aggressive intentions including working on plans to get nuclear weapons. And most of the world was sill recovering from the death and destruction of WWII.
The world today is a far different place and our present leadership and their vision is terrible, with a few individual exceptions.
*Go Cruz!!*
His freaking Father was A Sympathizer as Ambassador to GB in the late 30’s, early 40’s.
Don’t give this pariah too much credit!
Micromanaged by others just like zero.