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Bay of Pigs Invasion
Kennedy decided to implement the plan. on April 17, 1961, a CIA-led force of Cuban exiles attacked Cuba in the Bay of Pigs invasion. The invasion was not planned well, and almost the entire army got destroyed. As a result, it strengthened Castro's position in Cuba, and many Cuban Americans distrusted Kennedy. -
The Berlin Crisis
The Berlin Wall became a visible symbol of the reality of the two Germanys and the gulf between the communist East and democratic West. Kennedy responded by sending 1,500 U.S. troops to West Berlin. For a time, Russian and American tanks moved within sight of each other. Yet, neither side could fully claim a victory. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
U.S. intelligence discovered that the Soviets were building nuclearmisile sites in Cuba, apparently to protect Castro from another American invasion. During this, Kennedy and Khrushchev stood on the edge of a nuclear war and the slowly backed away. -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The year after the crisis, the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first nuclear-weapons agreement, which ended above ground nuclear tests. Thirty-six other nations soon signed the agreement. -
Vietnamization
President Nixon refused to accept the North Vietnamese peace terms. He was committed to a policy of "peace with honor" and believed that there were still military options. He countinued a gradual pullout of American troop, and expressed faith in the ability of the army of Republic Vietnam to assume the burden of war.
