JFK GIVES HIS VIEW OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On August 29, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was asked at his news conference...
"Mr. President, Sir, would you tell us what the Monroe Doctrine* means to you today in light of conditions...in Cuba?"**
President Kennedy responded...
"The Monroe Doctrine means...we would oppose a foreign power extending its power to the Western Hemisphere. That is why we oppose what is happening in Cuba today."
In April 1905, Charles F. Dole*** wrote...
"Whatever the Monroe Doctrine historically means, it no longer requires us to stand guard with a show of force to maintain it."
*The Monroe Doctrine was presented in President James Monroe's annual message to Congress on Dec 2 1823. It states that efforts by European nations to interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere will be considered as acts of aggression by the United States.The MD was primarily the work of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.
**In 1962, the Soviet Union was placing offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba just 90 miles off the coast of the U.S. Discovery of the missile bases from U2 overflights led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of Oct 1962.
***Charles Fletcher Dole (1845-1927) was born in Brewer, Maine & became a Unitarian minister, speaker & writer. CFD was chairman of the Association to Abolish War.
SOURCE
"The Right and Wrong of the Monroe Doctrine," by Charles F. Dole, The Atlantic, April 1905, www.theatlantic.com/
