Chapter 13: Resolute Anti-Communism: From Eisenhower to Kennedy, 1956–1963 (Part II)

Kennedy continued Eisenhower’s anti-communist policies. Shortly after taking office in 1961, he led approximately 1,500 Cuban anti-communist forces trained by the U.S. military to land in Cuba from Florida, attempting to overthrow Castro’s communist regime. Lacking U.S. air support, the invasion failed within three days, and nearly 12,000 were captured. Subsequently, the U.S. exchanged $53 million worth of food and medical supplies for the prisoners. This became the famous “Bay of Pigs Incident.”

In 1962, Castro allowed the Soviet Union to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba. U-2 reconnaissance aircraft captured photographs of the Soviet missiles, showing that 60 nuclear missiles were being deployed, supported by roughly 50,000 troops, with missile launch sites under construction. This move posed a direct and serious threat to the United States. Kennedy decided on a dual approach: he dispatched the Navy to monitor all ships heading to Cuba and prepare for a blockade while simultaneously engaging in diplomatic negotiations with the Soviet Union. Ultimately, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles under United Nations supervision, in exchange for the U.S. removing missiles from Turkey and pledging not to invade Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended after thirteen tense days.

In reality, Khrushchev was not a hardline anti-American; he did not want to risk nuclear war. However, due to strained U.S.-Cuba relations, the Soviets seized the opportunity to pressure the U.S., securing the removal of the Turkish missiles. During his tenure, Kennedy also strengthened U.S. anti-communist deployments in Vietnam, increasing military advisors and special forces from 800 to 16,000, and declared a firm stance against the spread of communism.

In 1963, Kennedy visited West Berlin and delivered a famous speech denouncing communism, highlighting the construction of the Berlin Wall as a failure of communism. He stated: “Freedom is indivisible. As long as one person is enslaved, no one is free. When all people are free, we may look forward to the day when this city will be united, this country will be united, and the European continent will be united in the light of peace and hope. When that day comes—it will come—West Berliners can take comfort: for nearly twenty years, they have stood on the front line. All free people, wherever they live, are citizens of Berlin. As a free man, I am proud to say, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’” He further said, “Freedom is not easily won, and democracy is never perfect, but we have not imprisoned our people behind walls.” Reagan was influenced by Kennedy’s speech and, 24 years later, delivered the famous “Tear Down This Wall!” speech in West Berlin, initiating the movement to demolish the Berlin Wall.

In the Americas, Kennedy established the “Alliance for Progress,” enhancing economic and diplomatic aid to combat communism peacefully. He also founded the global volunteer “Peace Corps,” assisting underdeveloped countries in education, healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure, using peaceful means to counter the spread of communism. Kennedy was determined to maintain U.S. leadership in the space race against the Soviet Union, prompting Congress to approve the $25 billion Apollo program. In November 1963, Kennedy was tragically assassinated, leaving the mess of the Vietnam War to be dealt with later by Nixon.

The Vietnam War represented the struggle between liberalism and communism. Beginning in 1962, when Mao Zedong promised to supply 90,000 firearms and artillery pieces to North Vietnam, China intervened in the war. Mao stated: “Whatever Vietnam needs, we supply first.” At the time, China was in the midst of a severe famine. By the mid-1960s, rice, flour, meat, and fish were rationed. Each person received only one pound of cooking oil, one pound of pork, and 23 pounds of rice per month, supplemented with sweet potato shreds. Mao instructed: “Eat solid food in busy times, thin gruel in slow times.” Six hundred million Chinese citizens tightened their belts to support Vietnam.

China supplied North Vietnam with large quantities of tanks, firearms, artillery, and other military materials, while also providing uniforms. Chinese forces trained North Vietnamese troops in guerrilla tactics and sent military advisors. After Operation Rolling Thunder, China dispatched engineers and air-defense units to North Vietnam, aiding in repairing facilities damaged by U.S. bombing, and helped build industrial infrastructure and railways, allowing North Vietnamese troops to focus on fighting in the South. From 1965 to 1970, China sent a total of 320,000 troops to support North Vietnam, peaking at 170,000 in 1967.

China was North Vietnam’s principal supporter. To compete with the Soviet Union for leadership of the communist bloc, China provided over $20 billion in aid to Vietnam, further straining its own economy. However, a unified Vietnam did not become a reliable Chinese ally, as Hanoi feared its national interests would be compromised by both Cambodian communist radicals and Chinese influence, eventually leaning toward the Soviet Union. On April 29, 1975, U.S. forces in Vietnam organized the largest helicopter evacuation in history. On April 30, a helicopter lifted the last U.S. citizens from the roof of the American Embassy, marking the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. On the same day, Saigon fell, with North Vietnamese forces capturing the U.S. Embassy and the Presidential Palace, toppling the South Vietnamese government.

After the communist takeover of South Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese “boat people” fled to escape political and economic oppression. Those caught by the Vietnamese government could be imprisoned as traitors. Refugees faced storms, disease, starvation, and pirate attacks at sea, with an estimated 200,000–400,000 perishing. Survivors eventually reached Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and Japan. In 1982, Hong Kong director Ann Hui depicted the experiences of Vietnamese Chinese refugees in the acclaimed film Boat People, documenting this human tragedy.

Zhongwen concludes: Eisenhower was resolutely anti-communist, but his handling of the two major crises in 1956 was seriously flawed, especially regarding the Hungarian Revolution. Nevertheless, his “Eisenhower Doctrine” introduced the following year partially remedied these errors, earning him a score of 85. Kennedy, in his less than three-year presidency, demonstrated near-perfect anti-communist leadership and declared, “No weapons for communist countries.” His performance against communism was almost flawless, though missteps included the withdrawal of Turkish missiles and the poorly planned Bay of Pigs invasion, earning him a score of 95.