jfk success vs. failure

what happened?

-berlin speech (success): berlin wall built to keep East germans in by soviets, JFK delivered speech at west berlin

-bay of pigs (failure): the US attempted to secretly overthrow castro, failed within 3 days

kennedy’s role

-berlin speech (success): became a symbol of democracy, opposing USSR communism

-bay of pigs (failure): put the plan to overthrow Castro into action (approved it) and takes responsibility of it

outcome

-berlin speech (success): strengthens US reputation and shows what they stand for, increased morale in west

-bay of pigs (failure): strengthens relationship between cuba and USSR, communism growing outside east, USSR backdoor into US (from cuba)

how did the US look to the world?

-berlin speech (success): confident, strong, committed to their beliefs (defending democracy)

-bay of pigs (failure): inferior, impulsive, disorganized, overconfident, irresponsible

key quote

-berlin speech (success): “ich bin ein berliner.”

-bay of pigs (failure): “the responsibility rests entirely with me.”

what this event shows about JFK’s leadership

-berlin speech (success): he believes in what he talks about and he’s willing to fight for it, confident leader

-bay of pigs (failure): willing to make up mistakes for the US, focusing on learning and improving from the failure (rather than dwelling on it)