The President Has Been Shot!: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Nonfiction | Biography | YA | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 3

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Part 1, Chapters 7-10

Part 2, Chapters 11-13

Part 2, Chapter 14-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Part 1, Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Introduction to John F. Kennedy”

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “The Bay of Pigs”

Kennedy supported continuing the Cold War. He had a “personal fascination with counterinsurgency warfare, covert action, and special military actions” (20). Kennedy was especially concerned about Cuba, where the Communist government of Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. Kennedy signed off on a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to have armed Cuban exiles covertly invade Cuba. It was called the Bay of Pigs after the location chosen for the invasion. On April 17th, 1961, the Bay of Pigs operation was launched. The invasion failed and did not inspire a Cuban revolt like the CIA hoped.

Kennedy acted in other ways to protect U.S. interests in the Cold War. He sent more military advisors to the country of Vietnam, where a Communist movement was gaining power. Congress under the Kennedy administration gave more funding to the U.S. military. At the same time, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, which sent young Americans to help in developing countries.

Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “The Cuban Missile Crisis”

In October 1962, the U.S. government found that Soviet missile bases were being built in Cuba. This was in response to the United States having nuclear missiles placed in Turkey and Italy to deter the Soviet Union. This led to a diplomatic crisis between Kennedy and the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev, that could have sparked a nuclear war. The tension was resolved by Kennedy removing the U.S.’s nuclear missiles from Turkey and pledging not to invade Cuba. On the Soviet side, Khruschev agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba.

Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary: “The Space Race”

Another front in the Cold War was outer space. Both the Soviet Union and the United States competed to be the first to make new achievements in space exploration: “Each superpower believed it could tip the balance of influence in its own favor by placing satellites in space and men on the moon” (27). On April 12th, 1961, the Soviet Union succeeded in launching the first human being into space. This inspired Kennedy to urge Congress and the American public to back efforts to explore outer space. As a result, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began to work on the Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo space programs.

Part 1, Chapters 4-6 Analysis

In these chapters, Swanson continues his analysis of the Kennedy administration and The Impact of the Cold War. Swanson views Kennedy’s failed Bay of Pigs invasion and his role in leading the US into the Vietnam War as positive actions. He claims that, at worst, the Bay of Pigs invasion was for Kennedy “a valuable lesson” to “be more skeptical of overconfident promises made by his military and intelligence advisers” (22).

Meanwhile, Swanson implies Kennedy’s intervention in Vietnam was necessary “to prevent the [Communist] ideology from conquering not just Vietnam but also neighboring countries” (22-23), even though today some historians and commentators would argue the Vietnam War was a tragic and costly mistake. In addition, the United States’ intervention in Vietnam would fail to prevent Communist governments from taking power in Vietnam and the neighboring nations of Cambodia and Laos. Even Kennedy’s role in promoting greater investment in space exploration is seen as mainly a part of his overall Cold War policy. Setting achievements in space travel was a matter of “prestige,” but it was also an issue of “national security” (27).

Swanson also continues to make a case for The Importance of the Kennedy Administration. He credits Kennedy with inspiring NASA to work toward the space programs that would culminate with American astronauts landing on the moon (28). Nonetheless, while Swanson praises Kennedy for taking a stand against the Soviet Union, at the same time he approves of Kennedy’s efforts to cool down the Cold War. One such effort was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (33). Another was Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Swanson admits that, during the crisis, a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States nearly began (24). Swanson writes, “President Kennedy had taken the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of a nuclear war in which millions might have perished, but he had solved the dispute in a responsible manner” (26). Through his actions, Kennedy may have prevented a war that could have destroyed human civilization.