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The United States responded to Sputnik by starting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA") in 1958, which is a government-run space program that continues to this day.  In 1961, President Kennedy started "Project Apollo" with the goal of beating the Soviet Union to the Moon. As it turned out, the Soviet Union never tried to get to the Moon, and that country may have just been trying to divert American resources to that project.  On July 20, 1969, a simulated broadcast<ref>http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/nasa.html</ref> of American Neil Armstrong stepping foot on the Moon was broadcast to a record television audience, with Armstrong's words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."<ref>http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Apollo_35th_Anniversary.html</ref>

The United States responded to Sputnik by starting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA") in 1958, which is a government-run space program that continues to this day.  In 1961, President Kennedy started "Project Apollo" with the goal of beating the Soviet Union to the Moon. As it turned out, the Soviet Union never tried to get to the Moon, and that country may have just been trying to divert American resources to that project.  On July 20, 1969, a simulated broadcast<ref>http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/nasa.html</ref> of American Neil Armstrong stepping foot on the Moon was broadcast to a record television audience, with Armstrong's words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."<ref>http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Apollo_35th_Anniversary.html</ref>

=== Communism in Cuba ===

=== Communist takeover of Cuba ===

In the late 1950s, communism spread to a country only 90 miles from Florida:  Cuba, where we still hold a military base as an artifact of the Spanish-American war under President McKinley.  Recall that America gave Cuba freedom from Spain, but in 1959 the communists moved in with a revolution led by Fidel Castro.  The Soviet Union communist dictator Nikita Khrushchev threatened to drop an atomic bomb on us if we intervened.  Castro then ruled Cuba as a brutal dictator for more than four decades, imprisoning or killing those who disagree with him.

In the late 1950s, communism spread to a country only 90 miles from Florida:  Cuba, where we still hold a military base as an artifact of the Spanish-American war under President McKinley.  Recall that America gave Cuba freedom from Spain, but in 1959 the communists moved in with a revolution led by Fidel Castro.  The Soviet Union communist dictator Nikita Khrushchev threatened to drop an atomic bomb on us if we intervened.  Castro then ruled Cuba as a brutal dictator for more than four decades, imprisoning or killing those who disagree with him.

Many Cubans fled to the United States to escape communism, and still flee by risking their lives in handmade boats.  These emigrants from Cuba are fervent opponents of communism because they see how it destroyed their own country, and many long to return to restore freedom there.  Marco Rubio, a conservative Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants.

Many Cubans fled to the United States to escape communism, and still flee by risking their lives in handmade boats.  These emigrants from Cuba are fervent opponents of communism because they see how it destroyed their own country, and many long to return to restore freedom there.  Marco Rubio, a conservative Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants.

President Eisenhower developed a secret or "covert" plan to free Cuba from its communist dictatorship, which Kennedy continued after becoming president in 1961.  It consisted of having about a thousand "Cuban exiles" who had been forced to leave Cuba form an army to invade and overthrow Castro.  But President Kennedy backed away from the plan at the last minute, and apparently someone in the United States government leaked word of the planned invasion to Castro, who then waited with a much bigger force and captured or killed the Cuban exiles when they invaded at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in 1961.  America was humiliated by this tragedy.

President Eisenhower developed a secret or "covert" plan to free Cuba from its communist dictatorship, which Kennedy continued after becoming president in 1961.  It consisted of having about a thousand "Cuban exiles," who had been forced to leave Cuba, form an army to invade and overthrow Castro.  But President Kennedy backed away from the plan at the last minute, and apparently someone (perhaps a communist infiltrator) in the United States government leaked word of the planned invasion to Castro, who then waited with a much bigger force and captured or killed the Cuban exiles when they invaded at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in 1961.  The United States was humiliated by this "Bay of Pigs" tragedy.

President Kennedy was himself assassinated two years later in 1963 in Dallas by a communist sympathizer, Lee Harvey Oswald, who had once tried to become a citizen of the Soviet Union and who supported Castro.  An official commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren later concluded that Oswald acted alone, but unanswered questions remain concerning the assassination of President Kennedy.  An independent poll conducted in 2003 (by ABC) showed that 68% of Americans believed that the government covered up the real truth about this assassination and that Oswald did not act alone.

President Kennedy was himself assassinated two years later in 1963 in Dallas by a communist sympathizer, Lee Harvey Oswald, who had once tried to become a citizen of the Soviet Union and who supported Castro.  Oswald was in communication with communist Soviet Union agents in Mexico City, and had previously attempted to murder an outspokenly conservative American general (Ted Walker) but was not caught for that crime.  An official commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren later concluded that Oswald acted alone, but unanswered questions remain concerning the assassination of President Kennedy.  An independent poll conducted in 2003 (by ABC) showed that 68% of Americans believed that the government covered up the real truth about this assassination and that Oswald did not act alone.

Spying was a central aspect of the Cold War.  The United States sent secret spy planes to fly over the Soviet Union to take pictures of activities there from high in the sky.  But in 1960, while Eisenhower was still president, one of these "U-2" planes crashed and an American pilot was captured.  This caused an international uproar and hurt ongoing attempts at reconciliation (rapprochement).  The pilot was later traded in exchange for a Soviet spy held by the United States, but the cause of the crash of the U-2 plane remains a mystery.

Spying was a central aspect of the Cold War.  The United States sent secret spy planes to fly over the Soviet Union to take pictures of activities there from high in the sky.  But in 1960, while Eisenhower was still president, one of these "U-2" planes crashed and an American pilot was captured.  This caused an international uproar and hurt ongoing attempts at reconciliation (rapprochement).  The pilot was later traded in exchange for a Soviet spy held by the United States, but the cause of the crash of the U-2 plane remains a mystery.

Then, in 1962, the Soviet Union challenged President Kennedy again, whom the communists did not respect.  They installed missiles in Cuba, which the communist Fidel Castro had taken over, and aimed them directly at American cities and targets.  Cuba, a mere 90 miles from Florida, could then destroy American cities in a very short period time.  This created the "Cuban Missile Crisis" when U-2 spy planes photographed these missiles, and a United States Air Force general immediately put bombers on high alert for the possible bombing of Cuba.  President Kennedy then ordered a blockade of Cuba until the missiles were removed, and the Soviet Union backed down and apparently took the missiles back by ship.

Then, in 1962, the Soviet Union challenged President Kennedy again, whom the communists did not respect.  They installed missiles in Cuba, which the communist Fidel Castro had taken over, and aimed them directly at American cities and targets.  Cuba, a mere 90 miles from Florida, could then destroy American cities in a very short period time.  This created the "Cuban Missile Crisis" when U-2 spy planes photographed these missiles, and a United States Air Force general immediately put bombers on high alert for the possible bombing of Cuba.  President Kennedy then ordered a blockade of Cuba until the missiles were removed, and the Soviet Union backed down and apparently took the missiles back by ship.

 

Throughout the 1960s, both the United States and the Soviet Union built ever-bigger nuclear weapons, pointing them at each other.  This became known as the "arms race," and newspapers began to clamor for peace treaties that would limit the building of these weapons.  In 1972, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treat ("SALT") was ratified by the U.S. Senate and contained promises to reduce these "arms" or weapons pointed at the enemy.  Conservatives opposed this treaty because it embraced the approach of "Mutual Assured Destruction" and prevented each side from building defensive systems.  In addition, there was no way to enforce the communists' side of the bargain; many expected the communists to break their own promises, while the Americans abode by theirs.

Throughout the 1960s, both the United States and the Soviet Union built ever-bigger nuclear weapons, pointing them at each other.  This became known as the "arms race," and newspapers began to clamor for peace treaties that would limit the building of these weapons.  In 1972, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treat ("SALT") was ratified by the U.S. Senate and contained promises to reduce these "arms" or weapons pointed at the enemy.  Conservatives opposed this treaty because it embraced the approach of "Mutual Assured Destruction" and prevented each side from building defensive systems.  In addition, there was no way to enforce the communists' side of the bargain; many expected the communists to break their own promises, while the Americans abode by theirs.