Previous: Kennedy's Inaugural Address.
John F. Kennedy's first year as president, 1961, was, as foreign relations go, one of the worst any president ever endured.
After an idealistic, optimistic inaugural address on January 20, Kennedy was quickly immersed in a catastrophe on the island of Cuba that called his capacities as a leader into question.
CIA Plan
Of course, the saga started with the Cuban Revolution of 1957-59, led by the leftist Fidel Castro.
After Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, ordered the CIA to explore, then implement a plan to overthrow Castro.
The CIA planned to recruit between 1,300 and 1,400 Cuban exiles who had fled Cuba for America during Castro's revolution. The agency would take them to Guatemala, train them as insurgents (Code named Brigade 2506), then insert them into Cuba at the Bahia de los Cochinos -- the Bay of Pigs. The invasion was to look like an organic movement by Cuban expatriates with no help from the U.S. When the invasion appeared successful, the invaders would radio the United States, which would appear to take advantage of the "spontaneous" situation and lend air support to the insurgency.
The operation was not ready when Eisenhower left office. The CIA informed Kennedy of the plan soon after his inauguration. Convinced that Castro and his communist leanings were a violation of the both the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary, and were indeed a Red spear aimed at Latin America, Kennedy okayed the invasion.
Disaster
Kennedy was in over his head. He had no foreign policy experience and, like most Americans, trusted Eisenhower's judgement in such matters since he had led U.S. troops to victory in World War II Europe and had been the first commander of NATO. But Ike, himself, had put too much faith in the CIA which had suffered in its transition from the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to the peacetime intelligence arm of a super power.
The CIA was unable to keep the invasion a secret, and most of the Cuban population of Miami knew about it. Thus, Castro knew about it. In addition, the Soviet KGB had found out about the plan and sent its own warning to Castro.
On April 15, 1961, the air arm of Brigade 2506 -- a few WWII B-26 Marauder, prop-driven bombers painted to look like Cuban planes -- bungled their mission, failing to ground Castro's air force. Had he not already expected the invasion, the air strikes would have alerted Castro.
Then, on April 17, the actual invasion began, coming ashore in the swampy Bay of Pigs area in southern Cuba. Castro had 20,000 troops waiting for them, symbolically commanding them himself. With the added benefit of strafing air power, the Cubans quickly defeated the invaders, killing 100 of them and capturing nearly 1,200 of them.
The next day, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev warned Kennedy to stop bullying Cuba or risk a larger war in Europe.
Kennedy Begins To Mature
Kennedy could have passed the blame for the Bay of Pigs debacle to the CIA, or even to Eisenhower. But he did not.Â
"There’s an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan," Kennedy said. But, shouldering the blame, he said, "I am the responsible officer of this government."
In a meeting with Eisenhower after the invasion, Kennedy admitted that he had not quizzed CIA officers, the Joint Chiefs, and his cabinet members at length to help him make a good decision on the invasion. He had just approved what they presented to him. He vowed to do better.
But Kennedy's bad year in foreign policy wasn't over. Castro was left-leaning, to be sure, but before April 1961 he wasn't fully in bed with the Soviet Union. The Bay of Pigs invasion, and the fear of future, more successful attempts, changed that.
And in the Soviet Union, Khrushchev determined to bore in on Kennedy's youthful inexperience in foreign policy.
Next: Kennedy and Khrushchev -- A Disastrous Meeting.
Sources:
Chambers II, John Whiteclay, ed. Oxford Companion to American Military History. "U.S. Military Involvement in Cuba." 195-96.
History.com. JFK Denies U.S. Military Intervention In Cuba. Accessed November 17, 2013.
John F. Kennedy Library. History: The Bay of Pigs. Accessed November 15, 2013.
Meacham, Jon. "Lessons In Presidential Humility." Accessed November 16, 2013.
U.S. Department of State. Milestones: 1961-1968. Accessed November 15, 2013.
John F. Kennedy's first year as president, 1961, was, as foreign relations go, one of the worst any president ever endured.
After an idealistic, optimistic inaugural address on January 20, Kennedy was quickly immersed in a catastrophe on the island of Cuba that called his capacities as a leader into question.
CIA Plan
Of course, the saga started with the Cuban Revolution of 1957-59, led by the leftist Fidel Castro.
After Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, ordered the CIA to explore, then implement a plan to overthrow Castro.
The CIA planned to recruit between 1,300 and 1,400 Cuban exiles who had fled Cuba for America during Castro's revolution. The agency would take them to Guatemala, train them as insurgents (Code named Brigade 2506), then insert them into Cuba at the Bahia de los Cochinos -- the Bay of Pigs. The invasion was to look like an organic movement by Cuban expatriates with no help from the U.S. When the invasion appeared successful, the invaders would radio the United States, which would appear to take advantage of the "spontaneous" situation and lend air support to the insurgency.
The operation was not ready when Eisenhower left office. The CIA informed Kennedy of the plan soon after his inauguration. Convinced that Castro and his communist leanings were a violation of the both the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary, and were indeed a Red spear aimed at Latin America, Kennedy okayed the invasion.
Disaster
Kennedy was in over his head. He had no foreign policy experience and, like most Americans, trusted Eisenhower's judgement in such matters since he had led U.S. troops to victory in World War II Europe and had been the first commander of NATO. But Ike, himself, had put too much faith in the CIA which had suffered in its transition from the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to the peacetime intelligence arm of a super power.
The CIA was unable to keep the invasion a secret, and most of the Cuban population of Miami knew about it. Thus, Castro knew about it. In addition, the Soviet KGB had found out about the plan and sent its own warning to Castro.
On April 15, 1961, the air arm of Brigade 2506 -- a few WWII B-26 Marauder, prop-driven bombers painted to look like Cuban planes -- bungled their mission, failing to ground Castro's air force. Had he not already expected the invasion, the air strikes would have alerted Castro.
Then, on April 17, the actual invasion began, coming ashore in the swampy Bay of Pigs area in southern Cuba. Castro had 20,000 troops waiting for them, symbolically commanding them himself. With the added benefit of strafing air power, the Cubans quickly defeated the invaders, killing 100 of them and capturing nearly 1,200 of them.
The next day, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev warned Kennedy to stop bullying Cuba or risk a larger war in Europe.
Kennedy Begins To Mature
Kennedy could have passed the blame for the Bay of Pigs debacle to the CIA, or even to Eisenhower. But he did not.Â
"There’s an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan," Kennedy said. But, shouldering the blame, he said, "I am the responsible officer of this government."
In a meeting with Eisenhower after the invasion, Kennedy admitted that he had not quizzed CIA officers, the Joint Chiefs, and his cabinet members at length to help him make a good decision on the invasion. He had just approved what they presented to him. He vowed to do better.
But Kennedy's bad year in foreign policy wasn't over. Castro was left-leaning, to be sure, but before April 1961 he wasn't fully in bed with the Soviet Union. The Bay of Pigs invasion, and the fear of future, more successful attempts, changed that.
And in the Soviet Union, Khrushchev determined to bore in on Kennedy's youthful inexperience in foreign policy.
Next: Kennedy and Khrushchev -- A Disastrous Meeting.
Sources:
Chambers II, John Whiteclay, ed. Oxford Companion to American Military History. "U.S. Military Involvement in Cuba." 195-96.
History.com. JFK Denies U.S. Military Intervention In Cuba. Accessed November 17, 2013.
John F. Kennedy Library. History: The Bay of Pigs. Accessed November 15, 2013.
Meacham, Jon. "Lessons In Presidential Humility." Accessed November 16, 2013.
U.S. Department of State. Milestones: 1961-1968. Accessed November 15, 2013.
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