I did not think that it was a big deal at the time. Castro was more or less a hero to the left here and to many in the MSM. There would be no war -- especially nukes -- over Cuba.
"When New fork Times columnist James Reston asked Kennedy following the [1961] Vienna summit, 'How was it?', Kennedy responded 'Worst thing in my life. He savaged me,' and he added, 'I think I know why he treated me like this. He thinks because of the Bay of Pigs... I had no guts.'"
[End quote]
"He" being Khrushchev was right. Kennedy got us into Viet Nam (it was either that or Berlin) to try to prove that he had "guts." Krushchev was just pushing the empty suit he'd humiliated in Vienna.
The MSM helped make it look and sound dramatic, though.
Kennedy was a "great" president solely because he was telegenic and it was the beginning of TV.
Krusty humiliated jack even further when he propped up the Berlin Wall. Jack just stood there and did nothing.