Important Moments in John F. Kennedy's Presidency
Important Moments in John F. Kennedy's Presidency
Ask not what your country can do for you - Ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy spoke these words in his inauguration speech on January 20th, 1961 in reference to the Peace Corps he created. (Peace Corps begins as a call to serve, page 1) John F. Kennedy sometimes is remembered as a very hard workingman who worked for his country and but yet as a man who made time to spend with him family. (Biography of John F. Kennedy, page 4-7) While he served the United States of America as president, John F. Kennedy handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, established the Peace Corps, and set the foundation for the U.S.A. to send a man to the moon.
“Good evening, my fellow citizens: - This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba.”(Cuban Missile Crisis, P1) To completely understand that statement, one needs to understand what happened during the time that spanned just one week in October 1962. The United States came closer to engaging in nuclear war than at any other time in her history. This period has come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It occurred after the United States learned that the U.S.S.R. had secretly assisted Cuba in placing missiles and their associated launch sites on Cuban soil, which could potentially be used to attack the United States. The swift and deliberate actions of President John F. Kennedy helped to abate this crisis and to temporarily ease the tensions of the Cold War once again between the United States and the U.S.S.R. (Full Length synopsis of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Pages 1 – 9)
Sometimes I wonder what the world be like if Kennedy didn’t handle the Cuban Missile Crisis like he did. On October 22, 1962 John F. Kennedy gave a speech to the nation. In this speech he informed the American public of what was going on and he also advised the Cubans they were “puppets and agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against its friends and neighbors in the Americas.” (Cuban Missile Crisis, pages 1 – 5) On the day JFK gave this speech there were ships from the U.S.S.R....