Cuba in the Cold War Essay -- Bay of Pigs invasion

On April 17, 1961 one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes of the Cold War was made, the attempted invasion of the Bay of Pigs, Cuba. The failed invasion happened under the administration of John F. Kennedy and caused the deaths and imprisonment of over 1500 Cuban exiles fighting to over throw the rule of Fidel Castro. The aftermath caused much larger impacts towards United States foreign policy. The invasion made the United States look imperialistic to the rest of the world and allowed the Soviet Union to portray America as an aggressive and hostile country to its neighbors, which in turn allowed the Soviet Union to aid Cuba even more for future affairs. The Bay of Pigs also caused President Kennedy to distrust many of his advisers from the CIA for misinforming him. The CIA led him to believe the invasion would be over quickly and successfully after Kennedy had only been in office for three months. This distrust of his advisers certainly affected how Kennedy acted in future cri ses involving both Cuba and the USSR. This of course leads the question did the Kennedy Administration act appropriately for the Bay of Pigs invasion and how did the outcome affect United States foreign policy with Cuba and USSR? Fidel Castro was a growing issue towards the US. Castro was the communist prime minister of Cuba. He rose to power through the Cuban Revolution in 1953 and ruled Cuba under communist philosophies. Fidel Castro was also threat to the United States national security because of his affiliation with the Soviet Union and his alliance with Nikita Khrushchev. There was rising tensions between the US and Castro's government because American owned oil companies which were operating in Cuban territory refused to produce crude oil for t... ...r, 2011. Walsh, Daniel C. "An Air War With Cuba; The United States Radio Campaign Against Castro." Reference & Research Book News, October 7, 2012. Accessed March 15, 2014. Academic OneFile /Gale (A304010214). Wood, Jeff. "Cuba Missile Crisis." In Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History. Accessed February 11, 2014. American History Online (DACH0151). Prados, John. "The Perfect Failure." MHQ: The Quarterly Journal 19, no. 3 (Spring 2007): 82-92. Endnotes "Cuban Missile Crisis," in Encyclopedia of American Foreign "Fidel Castro," Hastedt, "Political Aspects of the Bay of Pigs," Kreiser, "JFK: Trials, Triumph and Tragedy," The New York Times "Overview John F. Kennedy," Rasenberger, Brilliant Disaster Walsh, "An Air War With," Wood, "Cuba Missile Crisis," in Disasters, Accidents, and Crises Prados, "The Perfect Failure," [Page #]. â€Æ'