Jfk: cold war image
John Kennedy was a remarkable president who presided over
many extremely tense and important situations domestic and foreign. Kennedy was truly the first president to be global, but also was at heart a Cold War warrior. Throughout the Kennedy Presidency course it is clear from reading the documents, watching the videos, and listening to tapes that Kennedy at his core acted in a way that would give the United States an upper hand in the Cold War. His mission to create the ideal image of the US through Civil Rights, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and other events proves that he wanted to appear superior to the Soviet Union to gain a definitive upper hand between the two great superpowers. The anthology of sources is a compilation of documents that will show Kennedy as a president who dealt with a variety of issues at home and abroad. He dealt with domestic issues in the video on Civil Rights in Albany, Georgia, while looking to Cuba in his Address on the Buildup of Arms in Cuba and Berlin in his Report on the Berlin Crisis. The wide range of issues that Kennedy dealt with make him more of world presence over even Truman and Eisenhower who both dealt with their fair share of issues around the globe. He dealt with these issues in his short time in office in a very effective manner. As he dealt with these issues Kennedy was always looking towards the Cold War in his decisions. The sources on this site show a president willing to help the country, which he discussed as his reason for trying to become president in his video interview JFK on Running for President. Despite his good intentions, his ultimate goal was to provide an image of the United States that would allow him the best opportunity to fight communism. In our course this was evident through tapes of Kennedy talking to NASA officials about getting to the moon being the top priority above all other goals of the NASA program. Looking at Civil Rights Kennedy felt that problems at home showed other countries that were at risk that the US could not handle its own affairs and keep citizens happy. Therefore, he wanted to fix the Civil Rights issue not only for African Americans rights but to also show the world that the US had things under control. In turn countries in third world status would be more inclined to side with the US rather than the Soviet Union. Kennedy’s goal of image is shown in the anthology extremely well in his City Upon a Hill speech which he gave shortly before his took office as president. In this speech Kennedy outlined that the US needed to be an image of democracy for the rest of the world. Our image was paramount in becoming a true world leader. It would allow the US to challenge the Soviet Union for supremacy, and give the US an advantage over recruiting new nations to become democratic over communist. Image was even part of the White House itself. Mrs. Kennedy built programs to foster the arts around the nation and cherish the history of the White House and its past residents. Her remodeling of the White House and the beginning of projects such as the National Endowment of the Arts allowed for a culture of American progress to be started. She made sure this was showcased in a CBS special tour of the White House to show to the nation and the world that the US was a superior culture in comparison with the Soviets and that individual thought was valued in the US. The anthology of sources compiled on Kennedy would be a target for use with my high school students in US History. My 11th graders would be able to navigate the different sources using the guiding questions that I have placed on each page for each source. Students could work together or alone to go through these documents to learn more about the presidency of John Kennedy. The site would also be useful for other teachers trying to gain an insight into Kennedy or looking for sources to use in class to teach his administration and the Cold War. Weebly has shown itself to be a useful tool for my classroom. In future assignments I am looking forward to use this site as a tool to build web quests for my students to complete using different sources of media as they explore various topics in class. |