The Kennedy presidency 1961-63

• John F. Kennedy – rich democrat of Irish-American descent.

• Big supporter of civil rights for the Black community.

• Wanted to improve education by training more teachers, improving classrooms and ending segregation in schools and universities.

• He aimed to have a man on the moon by 1970.

Kennedys foreign policy

• He continued the policy of Communist Containment and continued to send US advisors to Vietnam

• His greatest test came in 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• Cuba is 160km off the coast of Florida.

• A lot of the land and industry in Cuba was owned by Americans.

• In 1959 Cuba’s brutal dictator Batista was overthrown by a revolution. He was replaced by Fidel Castro.

• At first the U.S. were happy about this until they realised that Castro wanted to turn Cuba into a Communist country.

• America stopped trading with Cuba and refused to buy their sugar – this was a big blow to Cuba’s economy.