John F. Kennedy 1961-1963
1. New Frontier
2. Laos
- Jan. 2, 1961 - SEATO in Bangkok, but deGaulle opposed intervention
- Feb. - pro-U.S. Gen. Phoumi lost Plain of Jarres to pro-communist Pathet Lao - map Sept. 1959
- Mar. 9 - JFK declared continued support to Phoumi against external threat - supported by the Wise Men
- Mar. 23 - dramatic TV press conference with large maps, said U.S. ready to intervene, asked for allied help - MacMillan agreed to help - JFK sent Seventh Fleet, 500 marines to Thailand - took Gromyko for walk in the Rose Garden Mar. 27
- Apr. 1 - Khru. said he would seek to establish a neutral Laos, but could not get Pathet Lao to stop fighting
- Apr. 5 - U.S. advisors without uniforms help Phoumi, but defeated by Apr. 14
- Apr. 15-17 - Bay of Pigs - popularity increased
- Apr. 20 - JFK ordered advisors to wear uniforms - 4 captured Apr. 24
- May 1 - SEATO arranged ceasefire supervised by International Control Commission
- Oct. 8 - Geneva conference agreed on coalition government of 16 members (4 Pathet Lao, 4 conservatives, 8 neutralists)
- Feb. 1, 1962 - Gen. Phoumi resisted settlement and Averell Harriman persuaded JFK to cut off all aid to Phoumi
- May 6 - Pathet Lao defeat Phoumi and capture Nam Tha
- June 11 - coalition re-established under neutralist Souvana Phouma
- July 23 - Geneva agreement signed by all sides, but Souvana Phouma independent
3. Vietnam
- Ngo Dinh Diem anti-communist, pro-U.S. in south; Ho Chi Minh pro-USSR in north - map 1954
- National Liberation Front organized in south Dec. 20, 1960, by anti-Diem groups
- infiltration from north began 1961, communist People's Revolutionary Party gained leadership of NLF by 1962
- JFK sought "limited partnership" with Diem, flexible response, counterinsurgency, nation-building, reform without revolution
- CIA recruited Meo (Hmong) tribesmen in Laos, Montagnards in Central Highlands to fight Pathet Lao and Viet Minh
- Maxwell Taylor and Green Berets May 1961 - article by Joseph Kraft - uniforms and training and languages
- Operation Ranch Hand Nov. 1961 - 18m gals herbicides (2/3 was agnt Orange) on 8% land area by 1971
- MAAG (Truman's Military Advisory and Assistance Group) replaced by MACV (Military Assistnce Command, Vietnam) Feb. 12, 1962, under Gen. Paul Harkins and Project Beef-Up - 11300 advisors sent during 1962, with 300 aircraft, automatic rifles, napalm, penicillim - 16000 advisors by Nov. 1963
- Operation Sunrise - strategic hamlet program - 6800 built by Nov. 1963
- Texas group awarded $2b to construct bases at Saigon, Danang, Cam Ranh Bay, Qui Nonh
- Battle of Ap Bac Jan. 2, 1963 in Mekong Delta - map - 350 VC attacked by 2 ARVN battalions with 5 new HU-1 Iroquois helicopters, but ARVN reluctant to fight, all helicopters shot down, 3 U.S. pilots killed - Lt. Col. John Vann led 13 M113 armored personnel carriers into vilage after ARVN refused to advance - battle revealed weakness of popular support for the Diem Catholic urban mercantile elite government
- JFK State of Union speech Jan. 14 declared that "aggression blunted in Vietnam"
- JCS sent investigation team Jan. 18 - Joe Mendenhall said VC getting stronger
- infiltration from NV grew from 850 per month to 1700 per month, with new Russian heavy weapons imported by fishing boats - 81mm mortars with 2-mile range, 75mm recoiless rifle - launched major offensive in Delta that destroyed strategic hamlets and captured 200,000 U.S. weapons by Nov.
- Buddhist riots May 8 led by Tri Quang - Diem's troops fired into Buddhist crowd and killed 8 - immolation suicide of Quang Duc June 11
- Diem assault on Buddhist pagodas Aug. 20 - martial law - 1400 arrested
- JFK feared that the U.S. would "lose" Vietnam like Truman lost China in '49 - replaced Nolting with new ambasor Henry Cabot Lodge in Aug. - Rusk cable to Lodge Aug. 24 to encourage SV generals planning coupt to overthrow Diem - JFK approved on Oct 5 the selective suspension of aid to Diem - Rusk cable to ladge Oct. 6 "while we do not wish to stimulate a coup," the U.S. would support a more popular government - Diem assassinated Nov. 2
- JFK approved on Nov 20 McNamara's Plan 34A, covert operations in NV including commando raids, kidnapping, mercenaries, parachute sabotage teams, U.S. Navy intelligence-gathering DeSoto patrols
- Same policies followed at first by Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam
4. Cuba
- Castro since 1959
- Track 2 - Bay of Pigs invasion by expatriate army trained by CIA
- Alliance for Progress
5. Vienna
- JFK summit with Khrushchev June 3-4, 1961
- Berlin, A-bomb, Laos
- ICBM arms race, civil defense, bomb shelters
6. Trade Expansion Act
- Outer 7 and Inner 6
- Konrad Adenauer
- Volkswagon imports
7. Space Program
- Mercury, Gemini, Apollo
- Telstar and Comsat
8. Conservative opposition
- Southern Democrats in Congress - seniority system
- Civil Rights legislation blocked
9. Television
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