ICY WORDS OVER CUBA DURING THE COLD WAR
Moscow, USSR and Washington, D.C. USA (JFK+50) The Cold War turned a notch colder 55 years ago today, July 9, 1959, as the world's superpowers exchanged icy words on the situation in Cuba where Fidel Castro ruled 90 miles off the coast of Florida.
In Moscow, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev warned that the USSR was prepared to use nuclear missiles to protect Cuba from intervention by the United States.
Premier Khrushchev said...
"One should not forget that now the United States is no longer at an unreachable distance from the Soviet Union as it was before."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in response, said that the United States was unwilling to allow...
"the establishment of a regime dominated by international communism in the Western Hemisphere."
The Central Intelligence Agency operation to train anti-Castro Cubans to attack Cuba was already underway at this time. It would be left, however, to President John F. Kennedy, who took office on January 20, 1961, to give his approval of the plan and see that it would be carried out.
The Bay of Pigs invasion, April 17, 1961, would go down as "one of the greatest presidential mistakes" in American history.
JFK WELCOMES HOME 132nd FROM GERMANY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 52 years ago today, July 9, 1962, President John F. Kennedy welcomed troops from the 132nd Tactical Control Group on their return from Germany today.
The American forces had been sent to Germany the previous year in the wake of violent demonstrations in opposition to the building of the Berlin Wall.
SENATOR KENNEDY ARRIVES IN LA
Los Angeles, California (JFK+50) 54 years ago today, July 9, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, having won all the Democratic primaries he had entered, arrived here in Los Angeles for the 1960 Democratic National Convention.
Having a big lead in committed delegates, the young senator was expected to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
Moscow, USSR and Washington, D.C. USA (JFK+50) The Cold War turned a notch colder 55 years ago today, July 9, 1959, as the world's superpowers exchanged icy words on the situation in Cuba where Fidel Castro ruled 90 miles off the coast of Florida.
In Moscow, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev warned that the USSR was prepared to use nuclear missiles to protect Cuba from intervention by the United States.
Premier Khrushchev said...
"One should not forget that now the United States is no longer at an unreachable distance from the Soviet Union as it was before."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in response, said that the United States was unwilling to allow...
"the establishment of a regime dominated by international communism in the Western Hemisphere."
The Central Intelligence Agency operation to train anti-Castro Cubans to attack Cuba was already underway at this time. It would be left, however, to President John F. Kennedy, who took office on January 20, 1961, to give his approval of the plan and see that it would be carried out.
The Bay of Pigs invasion, April 17, 1961, would go down as "one of the greatest presidential mistakes" in American history.
Eisenhower and Khrushchev
According to the Cuban Policy Foundation, the present policy of the United States toward Cuba is "rooted in an approach devised at the height of the Cold War."
This policy includes an embargo with economic sanctions and restrictions on travel to Cuba in effect.
The embargo, according to the foundation, was a result of Castro's "anti-American policies" which included "the expropriation of Americans' property...and the alignment of Cuba with the Soviet block."
President Eisenhower set up the embargo in October 1960 and diplomatic relations were cut off in 1961. The following year President Kennedy "made it illegal for almost all Americans to travel to Cuba."
SOURCE
"History of U.S. Policy," Cuba Policy Foundation, http://www.cubafoundation.org/policy-2.html
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 52 years ago today, July 9, 1962, President John F. Kennedy welcomed troops from the 132nd Tactical Control Group on their return from Germany today.
The American forces had been sent to Germany the previous year in the wake of violent demonstrations in opposition to the building of the Berlin Wall.
US military forces in Berlin (1961)
SENATOR KENNEDY ARRIVES IN LA
Los Angeles, California (JFK+50) 54 years ago today, July 9, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, having won all the Democratic primaries he had entered, arrived here in Los Angeles for the 1960 Democratic National Convention.
Having a big lead in committed delegates, the young senator was expected to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
Senator Kennedy Arrives in Los Angeles
July 9, 1960
JFK Library Photo
