jan 20, 1961 - John F Kennedy becomes the president of the United States of America

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"JFK took his time in taking advantage of this [what was learned from the photographs and the reality of the Potemkin village]…during the 1960 campaign, of the alleged missile gap that Eisenhower had allowed to develop. To acknowledge its absence too soon after taking office would be embarrassing. (Gaddis 2006, p. 74)

"A string of setbacks that made Kennedy’s first months in the White House themselves an embarrassment:
the failed Bay of Pigs landing against Fidel Castro’s Cuba in April 1961;
the Soviet Union’s success that same month in putting the first man into orbit around the earth,
a badly handled summit conference at Vienna in June at which Khrushchev renewed his Berlin ultimatum;
and in August East Germany’s unopposed construction of the Berlin Wall. (Gaddis 2006, p. 74)

"JFK let it be known that he knew Khruschev was bluffing: “We have a second-strike capability which is at least as extensive as what the Soviets can deliver by striking first. Therefore, we are confident that the Soviets will not provoke a major nuclear conflict” (Gaddis 2006, p. 75).

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