Skip to main content

Early Foreign Policy Challenges

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Theodore Sorensen and the Kennedys
  • 76 Accesses

Abstract

Ulyatt discusses the early foreign policy errors that the Kennedy administration made, identifying how the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs damaged the president’s reputation and drove Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, into an alliance with the Soviet Union. The chapter details how Sorensen influenced the revised foreign policy structures that President Kennedy adopted after the Bay of Pigs and examines the impact that this had during subsequent foreign policy crises. In doing so, the chapter examines President Kennedy’s early approaches on Berlin, Vietnam and relations with the Soviet Union, highlighting Theodore Sorensen’s growing role in shaping the administration’s foreign policy decision-making.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Brauer, Carl M. 1988. “John F. Kennedy: The Endurance of Inspirational Leadership.” In Leadership in the Modern Presidency, edited by Fred I. Greenstein, 108–133. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brogan, Hugh. 1996. Kennedy: Profiles in Power. Essex: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bundy, McGeorge. 1961. “Memorandum of Meeting on Berlin, July 17, 1961.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, Berlin, Box 42, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dallek, Robert. 2003. John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life 1917–1963. New York: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2011. “The Untold Story of the Bay of Pigs: Newly Declassified CIA Documents Reveal New Blunders and How Close America Came to War During the Failed Invasion of Cuba.” Newsweek 158, no. 9 (August 22–August 29).

    Google Scholar 

  • Draper, Theodore. 1972. “Kennedy’s Decisions Regarding Vietnam.” In J. F. Kennedy and Presidential Power, edited by Earl Latham, 213–221. Lexington, MA: Heath and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giglio, James N. 1991. The Presidency of John F. Kennedy. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, Richard N. 1988. Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halberstam, David. 1972. The Best and the Brightest. London: Barrie and Jenkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahan, Jerome H., and Anne K. Long. 1972. “The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Study of Its Strategic Context.” Political Science Quarterly 87, no. 4 (December): 564–590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Edward M. 2009. A Memoir: True Compass. London: Little, Brown and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, John F. 1954. “Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy on Indochina Before the Senate, Washington, D.C., April 6, 1954.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/United-States-Senate-Indochina_19540406.aspx.

  • ———. 1956. “Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at the Conference on Vietnam Luncheon in the Hotel Willard, Washington, D.C., June 1, 1956.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Vietnam-Conference-Washington-DC_19560601.aspx.

  • ———. 1957. “Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at the Annual Freedom Award to the Hungarian Freedom Fighters in New York City, October 23, 1957.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Hungarian-Freedom-Fighters-Award-NYC_19571023.aspx.

  • ———. 1961. “Radio and Television Report to the American People on the Berlin Crisis, July 25, 1961.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Berlin-Crisis_19610725.aspx.

  • Leaming, Barbara. 2006. Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maier, Thomas. 2003. The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manchester, William. 1983. One Brief Shining Moment: Remembering Kennedy. Boston, MA: Little Brown and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Memorandum of Discussion in the National Security Council on July 13, 1961. John F. Kennedy Papers, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda, National Security Council Meetings 1961, Box 313, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, Robert S. 1964. Interview by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, April 4. https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKOH-RSM-01.aspx.

  • Nelson, Anna Kasten. 1991. “President Kennedy’s National Security Policy: A Reconsideration.” Reviews in American History 19, no. 1 (March): 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Record of Actions by the National Security Council at Its Four Hundred and Seventy-Eight Meeting held on April 22, 1961. John F. Kennedy Papers, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda, National Security Council Meetings 1961, Box 313, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, Thomas C. 1997. A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy. New York: Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. 1965. A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. New York: First Mariner Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, Theodore C. 1961. “Assistance to the President on Foreign Affairs, undated 1961.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Subject Files 1961–64, Foreign Policy, Box 34, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961–1963. “Letters from President Kennedy to Nikita Khrushchev.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, USSR Kennedy-Khrushchev correspondence, Box 55, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961. “Plan for Vietnam, April 28, 1961.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, Vietnam, Box 55, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961. “Memorandum on Declaring a National Emergency, July 19, 1961.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, Defense Build-Up and National Emergency, Box 49, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961. “Memorandum on Berlin Resolution, August 9, 1961.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, Berlin, Box 42, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961. “Memorandum for the President, November 3, 1961.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, Vietnam, Box 55, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962. “U.S. Policy in Vietnam, October 2, 1962.” Theodore C. Sorensen Papers, Presidential Papers, Classified Subject Files 1961–64, Vietnam, Box 55, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1965. Kennedy. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner, Michael. 2008. “The CIA’s Internal Probe of the Bay of Pigs Affair.” Last modified June 27. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter98_99/art08.html.

  • White, Mark J. 2007. Against the President: Dissent and Decision-Making in the White House—A Historical Perspective. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ulyatt, M.A. (2019). Early Foreign Policy Challenges. In: Theodore Sorensen and the Kennedys. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15796-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15796-8_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15795-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15796-8

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics