Argumentative Essay On The Cuban Missile Crisis

While the U.S was trying to make countries democratic to have friends So the Cold War began. The Cuban missile crisis was all political, it began when the U.S put nuclear weapons in turkey and pointed them at the Soviet Union which Americans though was totally okay. Until the Soviet Union sent Nuclear missiles to Cuba to point at the U.S. Now president John F. Kennedy got satellite

Kennedy did not give support for air assistance for the invasion which made him look vulnerable. This caused damage to America’s reputation around the world. JFK was constantly worried about nuclear war between the soviet union and United States. The Cuban missile crisis was said to be his fault. He was to blamed for the situation because he taunted the Soviet Union and they reacted by placing missiles in Cuba.

This aggressive approach to foreign policy stirred fear in the Soviet Union, thus contributing greatly to the Second Cold War

In January of 1959, Fidel Castro came to power. The United States’ attempted to overthrow Castro with the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a CIA operation to overthrow Fidel Castro by landing 1200 disgruntled Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs. The attempt fails miserably and is a huge embarrassment for Kennedy, who then vows to bring down Castro. After the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, Castro looked to the Soviet Union for protection. According to document D in 1962 “The soviets began shipping 40,000 troops, 60 missiles and 158 nuclear warheads to communist Cuba.”

This fear includes communism not only within our nation but internationally as well. As secretary of state, John Foster Dulles stated that if communism captures any American state it will “increase the danger to the entire free world” (Document B). Moreover, Dulles feared Latin America particularly due to their close proximity and the idea that if one state becomes communist then the rest will follow, otherwise known as the domino theory. However, a note to keep in mind about Dulles is that he favored the policy of massive retaliation, a nuclear strategy supporting the idea that if the United States was attacked, we would retaliate with an even greater force which only intensified the fear. In addition, not only were we afraid of what the Soviets would do to those states around them, but a striking fear became present through the possibility of spies within the United States.

President Jimmy Carter attempted diplomacy and a military rescue of the hostages but did not succeed. Carter became aware of the consequences of the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and delivered a State of the Union Address. Carter stated, “Our excessive dependence on foreign oil is a clear and present danger to our Nation 's security.” The dependence on foreign oil escalated to endangerment of American lives. The United States needed to find an alternative energy in order to secure the safety of the nation.

However, another Reagan staff member decided to use the profits made from selling the weapons to Iran to fund the contras in Nicaragua. This was an illegal diversion of funding since it violated the Boland Amendment and congressional budget authority. This event caused the president to have an image of someone who 's easily manipulated. He also helped improve US Soviet relation. In 1985 Gorbachev became the new Soviet Union leader and he wanted to make reforms so that Soviet Union moved toward political freedom and by introducing free market

The Containment Policy was created by George Kennan in 1947 and was the United States’ main method of fighting against the Soviet Union during the Cold War (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/kennan). Because the Americans were very against the idea of communism, the containment policy was needed to help stop the spread of communism growing into other countries. The United States wanted more allies, and so provided resources to multiple countries to stop them from falling to communism gained their trust. The containment policy largely contributed to the Cold War because it formed the Marshall Plan, which helped to shape the NATO and the Truman Doctrine made the war more stressful.

As apparent in Document C, in which the quintessential “nuclear family” sits in a bunker, concerns about nuclear war stood at the front of the American ethos. This fear of nuclear war was also reflected in Document E, in which the question is posed of whether or not the “U.S. [should] take the first blow?” This question of “whether a policy of accepting the first blow may be the best one” became intertwined within the minds of the America people, heightening American fears. President Eisenhower, while addressing the issue of the Soviet Union and its subsequent tensions through nearly doubling “defense spending…of government spending” (Document H). However, the Eisenhower administration failed to successfully mollify these fears, apparent in the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, who pledged not to “dare to tempt [challenging nations] with weakness” (Document I).

A “Nuclear Bomb” is a weapon of mass destruction that can lead to many disadvantages but at the same time many advantages. If you were to be a person that hosts a Nuclear Bomb and you possibly decide to release it, other countries will come against you and fire back, so basically, all the countries that have these weapons know that if they fire, others will fire too and that can be useful. Some even believe that the Second World War ended earlier than it should've when they used a Nuclear Bomb against Japan. "It is impossible to win a nuclear war, and both sides realized that maybe for the first time."

This was due to an incident called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis was a result of the USSR putting nuclear weapons in Cuba. The, Cuba would be in range to hit the US with weapons of mass destruction. The incident lasted only a few days until the Kennedy administration defused the ticking time bomb. Though a great charismatic leader, one operation puts a blemish on JFK’s report card.

One option during the Cuban Missile Crisis was to go into an all out nuclear war. None of the countries wanted this option, but it was still possible. This is true because in Document C it says, “The most important thing for us is to get an agreement as soon as possible.” This proves that both the USSR and the US wanted to come to a quick

One of Kennedy’s greatest examples of Flexible response was during the Cuban missile crisis. When the soviets went past the blockade, Kennedy did not use the nuke button like most of his predecessors would, instead he decided to see what would happen (Bowes 1/20/17). Shortly after the boat crossed it turned right back around and sailed back home. If Kennedy would of taken action this little struggle would of made the soviets retaliate and end up destroying the world. Unlike Truman and Eisenhower, Kennedy focused on Military use one of the big examples is the naval blockade around Cuba.

Part two, Covert Action, of Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, by Stephen Kinzer, presents situations in Iran, Chile, South Vietnam, and Guatemala where covert actions were used to abolish governments that the United States claimed had communist influence and intentions. These threats were misguided, but the excuse was used to justify the actions to the public. The true intention of these interventions was to protect American businesses in foreign countries. These interferences are still causing problems for all countries involved.

We ended up cutting off trade with Cuba because of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This was a time where Russia sent nuclear weapons to Cuba that was in reach of the United States. The States got scared and demanded Cuba to give the missiles back to Russia. However, Cuba did not like that idea so the United States cut off all forms of communication. Cuba kept the missiles and the United States went along on their day.