How effectively did US presidents deal with problems posed by Vietnam and Cuba

Intro- American enemy post ww2 is communism, afraid of the spread, Iron Curtain around Europe. Cuba on American doorstep, Vietnam farther away. Various leaders deal with problems with various degrees of success

Communism on the doorstep; JFK (1961-63), growing communist threat, US controlled Cuba under Batista, communist overthrowing by Castro. Soviets get a foothold. Part of the broader cold war. Americans attempt to overthrow, Bay of Pigs disaster, very ineffective and embarrassing for Kennedy.

Growing Threat; USSR places missiles in Cuba, very close to the coast of Florida. US missiles are placed in Turkey, close to Soviet border. Cuban missile crisis, 13 days of tension and the potential for nuclear war; peace in the end. Phone line from Kremlin to the White House. JFK secures peace, very effective

Americans in Vietnam; military and financial aid given to turn Vietnamese from communism, entirely ineffective at quelling the real problem (American imperialism). JFK sends advisors, 1600 in 60, 16000 by 63. Kennedy wants to pull out, anti Diem coup. Kennedy assassinated

Escalation; LBJ (1963-69) feels strongly about Vietnam (publicly), determined not to be the president who lost a war. Post Gulf of Tonkin, Tonkin Resolution in 64, giving emergency powers to the president. Operation Rolling Thunder, very violent approach

Rolling Thunder; carpet bombing campaign, supposed to last 8 weeks, lasts 3 months. Proves they had no measure on the scope of problem, longer campaign needed as initial one ineffective

US Tactics; LBJ didn’t want to appear to be going ‘soft on the communists’ and so went all out. Agent Orange and Napalm. Violent tactics; ‘search and destroy’. All proved entirely ineffective as the true motives were still misunderstood. Vietcong support grows.

War at home; growing home opposition after My Lai and Tet. 700,000 anti-war protests march. Student protests are huge, 4 killed in Kent State University. Public turns against LBJ ‘Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?’. Attempts at justifying the war prove futile

Vietnamisation; LBJ handles war terribly and so steps down, Nixon (1968-74) promises to end the war. Removes draft, introduces Vietnamisation to pull out troops. Effectively quells protests at home. Tries to make peace in 1973 with the Paris Peace Accords, war ends.

Overall; In 1975, Vietnam falls to communism. War ends in utter disaster. Totally useless war as Vietnam still turns communist. War failed because of useless planning. Cuba is also still very ignored by the US

Conclusion; different leaders handled various problems with varying degrees of success, all changed Americas political landscape permanently. After these events, the US hesitates to become involved in foreign affairs for a while.