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John F. Kennedy and the Flexible Response

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John F. Kennedy and the Flexible Response
Stephen D. Burston
Prof. Nicholas Bergan
POL 300 International Problems
6 November 2011

John F. Kennedy and the Flexible Response

During John F. Kennedy’s presidency the United States was seriously concern with stopping the spread of communism throughout the world and there where hot spots that sparked the Kennedy administrations attention. Containment was the United States foreign policy doctrine that proclaimed that the Soviet Union needed to be contained to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. This containment policy meant that the United States needed to fight communism abroad and promote democracy worldwide. During President Kennedy’s time in office he was faced with the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, the Berlin Wall Erecting in 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the escalation the United States involvement in Vietnam. John F. Kennedy implemented his own version of the Containment policy with the Flexible Response policy. Kennedy’s Flexible response was the doctrine implement and used during political situations that occurred under his watch.

The Bay of Pigs was the first situation John F. Kennedy had to deal with as president. The Bay of Pigs was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidal Castro. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained a force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba all with the support and encouragement of the United States government. The Cuban exile force was named Brigade 2506. The Invasion happened in the first three months of President Kennedy’s term in office. The CIA had trained the Cuban exiles in various facilities locations in South Florida while guerilla training took place in Panama at Fort Gulick and Fort Clayton. The infantry train took place on the Pacific coast of Guatemala near Retalhuleu. The actual invasion

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