Outline President Kennedys foreign policy problems as they related to Cuba - Essay Example

President Kennedy’s Foreign Policy Problems as They Related to Cuba Elected, in the year 1960, as the 35th presidentof the United States, 43 years old John F. Kennedy was the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic to hold office. As president he confronted mounting cold war tensions in Cuba, Vietnam and other countries. His record in foreign affairs has been a subject of conflicting interpretations. His aides have, however, defended him for piloting the country safely through international crisis.

Crisis in the foreign affairs arena occurred in April 1961, when he approved a plan to send 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles in an amphibious landing at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. This was intended to spur a rebellion to overthrow the then communist leader Fidel Castro. However, the mission was a failure and led to great embarrassment to the president (Haney & Vanderbush 45). Kennedy’s foreign policy was heavily influenced by the cold war, the continuing conflict of the Soviet Union as well as conflicts in Cuba.

From 1960 until after the 1962 Missile crisis, the American objective was to get rid of Cubans leader, President Castro. Subsequently, during the years of the cold war the U.S foreign policy objectives were to get Cuba to halt its aid to revolutionaries, reduce its military ties to the Soviet Union and to show greater respect for human rights (Haney & Vanderbush 185). The United States trade embargo and other sanctions against Cuba have been in place for some 36 years, and the U.S policy towards the island has changed a little in that time.

In the absence of full access to the diplomatic records in this country and abroad, it is not possible to resolve this debate on Kennedy fully, but certain studies by analysts on the Cuban missile crisis, lend support to the more friendly view of Kennedy. The president certainly made mistakes in foreign policy, and he raised more hopes than he fulfilled. However, he demonstrated a relatively cosmopolitan and sophisticated view of the world, grew in office, and had a feel for diplomacy, which for some time had been lacking in American presidents.

Works citedHaney P. J, Vanderbush W. The Cuban Embargo: The Domestic Politics Of An American Foreign Policy. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 2005. Print.