Kennedy’s exaggerations and misspeaks about our defense system was what CAUSED the Bay of Pigs in the first place (in his debate with Nixon). The Kennedy’s penchant for “risk-taking” almost got us and Russia both mutually annihilated.
I was in the army for a three year hitch back in those days.
Eisenhower told Kennedy about the planned Bay of Pigs invasion, Don’t start a war unless you intend to win it.
So Kennedy started a war and then immediately chickened out. Worst thing he could have possibly done. He was tested again and again by the USSR because they judged that he was a weakling.
Even the Cuban missile crisis was resolved by a retreat, when Kennedy agreed to pull our defensive missile shield out of Europe.
I have a friend whose father worked in JFK’s administration and had interesting stories to tell. When it came to women, JFK was a pig who wouldn’t take no for an answer.