John F. Kennedy

====Cold War and flexible response====
Kennedy's foreign policy was dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy contests in the global state of tension known as the [[Cold War]]. Like his predecessors, Kennedy adopted the policy of [[containment]] to stop the spread of communism.{{Sfn|Herring|2008|pp=704–705}} Fearful of the possibility of [[nuclear war]], Kennedy implemented a defense strategy known as [[flexible response]]. This strategy relied on multiple options for responding to the Soviet Union, discouraged [[massive retaliation]], and encouraged [[mutual deterrence]].{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=76–77}}<ref>{{cite web |title=1961–1968: The Presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/foreword |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216105026/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/foreword |url-status=live }}</ref> In contrast to Eisenhower's warning about the perils of the [[military-industrial complex]], Kennedy focused on rearmament. From 1961 to 1964 the number of [[nuclear weapons]] increased by 50 percent, as did the number of [[B-52]] bombers to deliver them.<ref>Stephen G Rabe, "John F. Kennedy" in Timothy J Lynch, ed., "The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History" (2013) 1:610–615.</ref> 

In January 1961, [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] declared his support for [[wars of national liberation]]. Kennedy interpreted this step as a direct threat to the "free world."<ref>{{cite book | last = Larres| first = Klaus|author2=Ann Lane|title =The Cold War: the essential readings| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell|year = 2001| page = 103| isbn = 978-0-631-20706-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Schlight |first1=John |title=A War Too Long: The USAF in Southeast Asia 1961-1975 |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/25/2001330271/-1/-1/0/a_war_too_long.pdf |website=U.S. Department of Defense |access-date=27 January 2024 |archive-date=January 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127154428/https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/25/2001330271/-1/-1/0/a_war_too_long.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>