Kennedy, the Berlin Wall, and the American public

[Skybird]

The story goes slightly different than is expected.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...658349,00.html

[NeonSamurai]

I wondered if the article would include when he called himself a doughnut in Berlin

[Onkel Neal]

Interesting article, but I get the feeling Speigel is a little biased by some of the leading questions they asked:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Because Kennedy did not care first and foremost about the people in East Berlin.

I think the answer really sums up what was at stake and risk, for Germans, Americans, and the world.

Smyser: He was concerned about American lives in Berlin. The President said: German reunification is not an issue. (Of course not, the war was very recent, the Germans were not "entitled" to reunion at this stage--NS) What he worried about in Berlin was Khrushchev's effort to force the Americans out or to shoot down an American plane flying there. He thought that might be a reason for war since he could not accept such hostility due to the strategic importance of Berlin during the Cold War. Kennedy was very concerned about a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union, much more than his predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the first US president who had to cope with the fact that the Soviets could reach America with a nuclear missile.

Also, it should be remembered that JFK had just been elected a scant 7~8 months earlier, and had seen the Bay of Pigs blow up in his face in April. From a psychologial POV, I can imagine he was anxious about any confrontations because they were potential disasters.

When did Kennedy begin to realize that his initial reaction to the construction of the Wall had been too muted?

Smyser: About 48 hours later. He realized it because in the two days after the construction, almost every American newspaper wrote that this was unacceptable and that it was a big defeat for the United States. They accused Kennedy of appeasement. Leading diplomats cabled the President from Europe: Hope is dying here, you have to do something. That was a real blow to Kennedy. Finally he decided he had to send a brigade to Berlin to avoid a public relations disaster. He did not anticipate American outrage over the construction of the Wall to be so strong.

Man, have times changed! These days, the media would be patting him on the back and half the American people would be very grateful he did not get them involved in a quagmire.

Good article, thanks