Introduction
John F. Kennedy is considered one of our greatest presidents. JFK grew up in a Boston political family to become a war hero, a United States President, and one of our country's most famous tragedies. Begin your quest to discover more about the life of John F. Kennedy.
Task
You have now entered the most dramatic time period of the Cold War.
Your Task: Follow your guide to complete the quest and discover why this event held so much tension and understand how Kennedy dealt with the drama of the Cold War Era.
Process
Leading up to Kennedy in Office
1. Look at the image below, (Question 1) What do you think this object is?
2. Watch the video below to discover how Kennedy became known as a war hero.
Link: American Experience: JFK & the PT-109
3. Check out this link to find the answer to Question 2: What was the object above and what did JFK use it as in the Oval Office?
Link: Mystery Object
4. Before Kennedy took office, issues between the Soviet Union were becoming more common. As tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased, the two world superpowers began to put their knowledge and technology to work. The Space Race brought about one of the greatest rivalries the modern world has known.
Link: BREAKING NEWS, OCTOBER 6TH,1957 (Watch first 35 seconds)
Link: Sputnik Mania Trailers: Fear spreads across America
Question 3: Which events sparked fear into the American people, making them feel as if America was lagging behind the Soviet Union in regards to technology?
Kennedy in Office
5. (Question 4) In 1960 Kennedy won the presidential election with Lyndon B. Johnson as his Vice President. View his innaguration speech below: Question 5: In your opinion, what was the overall message of JFK's speech to other countries?
Link: Inaugural Address: John F. Kennedy
6. One of the first actions JFK took when elected president was to sign an executive order to create a Peace Corps.(Question 6) An executive order is a rule issued by the chief executive that has the force of a law. Americans who volunteer for the Peace Corps worked in other countries as teachers, health workers, and advisers. issues JFK had to deal with when he took office was the
7. JFK entered office during some of the most heated times of the Cold War. Passed onto him from President Eisnhower was the issue of Germany. After seperating Germany into East and West, the Soviet Union proceeded to seperate the capital of Germany, Berlin, in half as well. (Question 7) The Soviet's goal was to prevent East Germans from getting into West Berlin, thus they began to build the Berlin Wall.
8. Question 8 - According to the map below, which area of former-Germany was the Berlin Wall bult around?
9. Explore the photo gallery The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall. Question 9: Which photo stood out most to you and why? (each photo has a title at the beginning)(2-3 sentences)
Increased Tension
10. Prior to Kennedy taking office, Fidel Castro had seized power in Cuba in 1958. When Castro formed an alliance with the Soviet Union, Americans felt threatened because of Cuba's close proximity to the south of Florida.
(Question 10) During Eisenhower's presidency the CIA had forged a plan to overthrow Castro. The CIA recruited refugees who had fled Castro's Cuba and settled in the U.S. The plan called for these individuals to land in Cuba and spark an uprising to overthrow Castro. Although Kennedy had doubts about the plan, he accepted the advice of military advisers and the CIA and allowed it to go forward.
On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Southern Cuba.
11. (Question 11) The Bay of Pigs was an epic disaster. Kennedy had refused to send backup support resulting in the invaders quickly being killed or imprison, in addition, the Cuban citizens did not join the invasion.
12. (Question 12) Immediately following the Bay of Pigs invasion, Soviet leader, Nikita Krushchev, sent missiles to Cuba to help "defend against future American aggresions."
Castro and Krushchev
13. The most dangerous Cold War dispute between the Americans and Soviets came in 1962. Visit the website below and flip through the most dangerous 13 days America has ever lived through.
Link: World on the Brink: Thirteen Days
Directions:
-Read through the Introduction to the Cuban Missle Crisis
-Read through Day 1, view the aerial map
-Read through Day 6, view JFK's call/meeting list. Recognize any names?
-Read through Day 7
-Read through Day 10
-Read through Day 11, (Question 13) What is Krushchev's offer to Kennedy?
-Read through Day 13, Listen to Kennedy's call with Eisenhower explaining the results of the Cuban Missle Crisis (Only need to listen for 1-2 minutes)
14. (Question 14) As a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis and in protest of Castro breaking his promise to the U.S. to not become a dictator, the U.S. began a trade embargo on Cuba. Cuba and U.S. foreign relations have been a popular news item in the past few years, review the following timeline on the relationship (Only read the introduction and skim the timeline up to today)
Link: CFR Backgrounders - U.S.-Cuba Relations
Question 15: What is America and Cuba's relationship like today? What occured on March 20th, 2016?
Tragedy
15. *BREAKING NEWS* (Watch the 35 seconds)
(Question 16) What occured November 22nd, 1962?
Link: John F. Kennedy Assassination
16. If you have extra time, check out this video on "The Kennedy Curse"
Conclusion
Your quest was to discover why the Cold War held so much tension and how Kennedy dealt with it. Hopefully this Webquest helped you better understand the Cold War tensions and President John F. Kennedy.
Turn in your assignment to Mr. Smith when completed.
Credits
1. http://www.military.com/video/forces/navy/american-experience-jfk-and-t…
2. http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Ey5l6Vagyk2dwA6BTctDZg.aspx
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMFvr1VwSSo
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXS1-X3ehh0
5. http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/inaug…
6. http://www.ap.org/explore/berlin-wall/img/map.png
7. http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1631993,00.html
8. http://v1.sahistory.org.za/pages/hands-on-classroom/classroom/pages/pro…
9. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/BayofPigs.jpg
10. https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/…
11. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/
12. http://www.cfr.org/cuba/us-cuba-relations/p11113
13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B_jJEV25g4
14. http://www.biography.com/people/john-f-kennedy-9362930/videos/john-f-ke…
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpo4BrvNrEA
16. The American Journey Textbook, Glencoe, 2007.