Upon the election of JFK, Nikita Khrushchev the premier chairman of the Soviet Union, sent a telegram of congratulations to the new president. John F. Kennedy cordially responded to the chairman and both leaders looked forward to continuing an uneasy peace that had been established at the end of World War II. However, tension between the United States and the Soviet Union had been festering in 1960; the Soviets had shot down an American spy plane over Russia, just months before the election. The progress that had been made to ease Cold War tensions, by Khrushchev and Eisenhower, were a memory by the time John F. Kennedy assumed the office of the presidency. Instead, the wary Soviet leader believed the new leader of the free world was a boy without the knowledge or the experience to match the progressive Soviets. The two leaders would soon have a face to face meeting, in Vienna, that would in the eyes of Nikita Khrushchev confirm his belief that John F. Kennedy was “very inexperienced, even immature [...] the youthful Kennedy was 'too intelligent and too weak.' to handle global issues successfully. "With a very low opinion of the leader of the free world", Khrushchev proceeded to erect the Berlin Wall and make plans to place nuclear missiles in Cuba (Thrall). The communist threat was 90 miles from the door of the United States of America. As John F. Kennedy had done many times in his past, he recognized communism as one of the greatest threats that America was facing at the time, and took actions to eliminate the controversial ideology from taking root in America the other American countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Think about
In the following correspondence between Nikita Khrushchev and the President- elect John F. Kennedy, Mr. Khrushchev congratulates Mr. Kennedy on his victory and extends an offer of continued peace. The President - elect, Kennedy thanks the Chairman, for his thoughts and his good wishes.
In the following correspondence between Nikita Khrushchev and the President- elect John F. Kennedy, Mr. Khrushchev congratulates Mr. Kennedy on his victory and extends an offer of continued peace. The President - elect, Kennedy thanks the Chairman, for his thoughts and his good wishes.
- What do you think is Khrushchev's intent in his message to President - elect Kennedy? Provide as evidence to support your opinion.
- What is the intent behind Kennedy's response? Provide evidence to support your opinion.
KENNEDY-KHRUSHCHEV EXCHANGES
1. Message From Chairman Khrushchev to President-elect Kennedy
Moscow, November 9, 1960.
//Source: American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, p. 476. No classification marking.
ESTEEMED MR. KENNEDY, Allow me to congratulate you on the occasion of your election to the high post of the President of the United States.
We hope that while you are at this post the relations between our countries would again follow the line along which they were developing in Franklin Roosevelt's time, which would meet the basic interests not only of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. and the United States but all mankind which is longing for deliverance from the threat of a new war.
I think you will agree that the eyes of many people are fixed on the United States and the Soviet Union because the destinies of world peace depend largely on the state of Soviet-American relations.
We have declared and declare our respect for the peaceable and gifted people of the United States and we are ready to develop the most friendly relations between the Soviet and the American peoples, between the Governments of the U.S.S.R. and the United States.
We are convinced that there are no insurmountable obstacles to the preservation and consolidation of peace.
For the sake of this goal we are ready, for our part, to continue efforts to solve such a pressing problem as disarmament, to settle the
German issue through the earliest conclusion of a peace treaty and to reach agreement on other questions, the solution of which could bring about an easing and improvement of the entire international situation.
Any steps in this direction will always meet with the full understanding and support of the Soviet Government.
I wish you fruitful activity in the responsible capacity of United States President and prosperity to the American people.
/1/Printed from an unsigned copy. Nikita Khrushchev
2. Message From President-elect Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev
November 10, 1960.
//Source: American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, p. 476. No classification marking.
I am most appreciative of your courtesy in sending me a message of congratulations./1/ The achievement of a just and lasting peace will remain a fundamental goal of this nation and a major task of its President. I am most pleased to have your good wishes at this time./2/
/1/Document 1.
/2/Printed from an unsigned copy. John F. Kennedy
November 10, 1960.
//Source: American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, p. 476. No classification marking.
I am most appreciative of your courtesy in sending me a message of congratulations./1/ The achievement of a just and lasting peace will remain a fundamental goal of this nation and a major task of its President. I am most pleased to have your good wishes at this time./2/
/1/Document 1.
/2/Printed from an unsigned copy. John F. Kennedy