Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and VietnamIn his thousand-day presidency, John F. Kennedy led America through one of its most difficult and potentially explosive eras. With the Cold War at its height and the threat of communist advances in Europe and the Third World, Kennedy had the unenviable task of maintaining U.S. solidarity without leading the western world into a nuclear catastrophe. In Kennedy's Wars, noted historian Lawrence Freedman draws on the best of Cold War scholarship and newly released government documents to illuminate Kennedy's approach to war and his efforts for peace. He recreates insightfully the political and intellectual milieu of the foreign policy establishment during Kennedy's era with vivid profiles of his top advisors--Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, Robert Kennedy--and influential figures such as Dean Acheson and Walt Rostow. Tracing the evolution of traditional liberalism into the Cold War liberalism of Kennedy's cabinet, Freedman evaluates their responses to the tensions in Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. He gives each conflict individual attention, showing how foreign policy decisions came to be defined for each new crisis in the light of those that had gone before. The book follows Kennedy as he wrestles with the succession of major conflicts--taking advice, weighing the risks of inadvertently escalating the Cold War into outright military confrontation, exploring diplomatic options, and forming strategic judgments that would eventually prevent a major war during his presidency. |
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25 October Acheson action administration air strike allies ambassador American April argued attack August Bay of Pigs Beschloss blockade Bundy Castro China Chinese cold war communist counterinsurgency coup covert Cuba Cuban Missile Crisis Dean Acheson defense developed Diem Diem’s diplomatic discussion Eisenhower escalation ExComm forces foreign policy FRUS German guerrilla Hanoi Harriman Hilsman idea intelligence invasion issue Johnson Joint Chiefs July Kennedy Tapes Kennedy’s Khrushchev Lansdale later leader Lodge McCone McNamara meeting Memorandum military Moscow move National Security nedy negotiations Norstad North November NSA/Cuba nuclear weapons October operations options Pathet Lao Pentagon Phoumi political position possible prepared president president’s pressure problem proposed regime response risk Robert Kennedy Rostow Rusk Russians Saigon Schlesinger September 1961 situation Sorensen South Vietnam Soviet Union strategy Taylor test ban told treaty troops United Viet Cong Vietnamese wanted warned Washington West Berlin White House Zelikow