1. 1961- “It was a mean year.”
• 1. Space Program
• 2. Bay of Pigs
• 3. Berlin Crisis

2. 1. Space Program
• 1957-USSR won space race
with Sputnik
• April 12, 1961
• Yuri Gagarin (USSR)
completes first orbit of the
Earth
• May 5, 1961
• Alan Shepard is first
American into outer space
• JFK’s Goal-To land a man on
the moon and bring him back
by the end of the decade.

3. 2. Bay of Pigs-April 17, 1961
• JFK criticized Ike for being
soft on Cuba
• Afraid Communism might
spread
• Ike called for invasion
worked in Guatemala
• JFK hoped that the invasion
would foster a revolution

4. Results of the Bay of Pigs
• Unlike Ike, JFK took full
responsibility
• Popularity rose to 83%
• JFK sent $53 million to Cuba
for 1100 prisoners
• Cuba became top US priority
• Operation Mongoose
• 10 million set aside to kill
Castro
• By 1975, US tried to kill Castro
24 times

5. Vienna Conference-June 1961
• JFK & Khruschev met
for the 1st time
• Khruschev thought that
he could push JFK
around
• Bay of Pigs
• 3 Days of meetings

6. 3. Berlin Crisis (June-August 1961)
• Khruschev wants Berlin to
be a “free city”
• “If JFK wants a war, he’ll be
the last President of the US”
• Real Problem-2000 people
leaving Berlin every day
• US Tanks faced off against
USSR tanks
• "Freedom has many difficulties
and democracy is not perfect,
but we have never had to put
a wall up to keep our people
in."
• “Ich bin ein Berliner.”

7. Results of Berlin Crisis
• Berlin Wall constructed
by USSR
• Began August 12, 1961
• JFK- “A wall is a hell of a
lot better than a war”
• Wall seen as a failure
• 89 people killed trying to
cross the wall

8. Vietnam (1961-1963)
• Vietnam is the Cornerstone of the Free World in SE Asia
• Assassination of Diem-Nov. 1, 1963
• 16,000 Advisors
• Aid-$1.5 Billion