General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: JFK Conference: James DiEugenio made clear how Foreign Policy changed after November 22, 1963 [View all]Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)No, you don't really think think that. You know as well as anybody that America was on the brink of war with the Soviet Union then, a war JFK would have fought.
Just as I'm sure you know JFK's response to Khrushchev over Berlin was to tell Americans on July 25, 1961 to get ready for a possible war over the USSR's actions in Germany. You also know that in that same speech, he brought up Southeast Asia as another front in the Cold War.
Did he want to avoid war if he could? Of course. But he was getting us more and more involved in Vietnam. He didn't pull military advisers out: he put them into the country. He didn't leave the missiles in Cuba: he forced them out. He maintained the options of war and peace as long as he could. But don't kid yourself. He would have gone hot with a war if he thought it necessary. And he gave every indication that a collapse of peaceful efforts and a Communist breakthrough in Southeast Asia would need to be met with open military force.