Mike Garza
Ch. 3

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1. I think that Kennedy carried out most of the things the said he would do. The only reason he wasn't able to fulfill the rest of what he promised was because we was later assassinated near the end of this third year in office. He got the country moving again even though he was lacking deep congressional support.

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2. I think he did show independence of spirit my letting everyone know what he believed.
Especially when he addressed the religion issue at the Greater Houston Ministerial Association and stated that there was nothing improper about discussing it and all the questions the people had about it would be answered. To some extent Kennedy's advisors and voting experts did help him get on the right track but other than that he was pretty independent with his judgements. He called Correta King to express his concern toward the arrest of Martin Luther King in a traffic offense and his brother Robert called the judge and convinced him to release Dr. King on bond.
When his advisors told him he needed to appear tough against communism, he did so in the television debate, by criticizing how Nixon let Castro draw Cuba into the Soviets orbit, “losing”
Cuba to communism and for allowing a “missile gap” to grow.

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3. He differed from both presidents by being opened about he's religious believes. Eisenhower wasn’t so concerned with the “missile gap” compared to Kennedy, “unworried about the missile race with the Russians clashed with the young Kennedy…who with no specific program seemed to make sheer motion a program on its own.” It was later found that the “missile gap” was in our favor. Kennedy sounded more eager and urgent for combat so that communism could be challenged rather than contained, compared to Nixon. “Kennedy…would be the more likely candidate to seize the initiative against the Soviets.”

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Ch. 4
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1. Kennedy did take on full responsibility for the invasion of the Bay of Pigs which ended up being a disaster. He privately blamed the CIA and fired the three top men in the agency responsible for the operations.

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2. Kennedy learned to generally encourage caution and that he should keep the United States from sending a