Bay of Pigs Invasion
April 1961
Introduction to Document
Cuba’s fall to communism represented a major threat to the United States. The Bay of Pigs invasion was an attempt to have Cuban soldiers, trained by the United States, overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist regime and restore a democracy. Last minute changes and Kennedy’s refusal to use direct military action resulted in the failure of the invasion. The political cartoon illustrates how the failure of the Bay of Pigs would continue to haunt the Kennedy Administration, curbing Kennedy’s idealism. This formulated Kennedy’s modern foreign policy of positive nation building while still taking a firm stance when necessary.
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Questions for Discussion
1. What does the location of the rooster over the White House symbolize for the Kennedy Administration.
2. What are some events that the Bay of Pigs Invasion instigated or influenced? 3. How would the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion curb Kennedy's idealism in foreign policy? |
Crockett, Gib, "Home to Roost?", Washington Star, April 19, 1963 from PBS: Freedom: A History of the U.S., http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web14/features/see_it_now/1960.0142.html (accessed August 11, 2015).