John F. Kennedy

====Operation Mongoose====
In late 1961, the White House formed the Special Group (Augmented), headed by Robert Kennedy and including [[Edward Lansdale]], Secretary [[Robert McNamara]], and others. The group's objective—to overthrow Castro via espionage, sabotage, and other covert tactics—was never pursued.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=264}} In November 1961, he authorized [[Operation Mongoose]].<ref name="eu.usatoday.com">{{cite web |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/30/u-s-planned-261-000-troop-invasion-force-cuba-newly-released-documents-show/813376001/ |title=U.S. planned massive Cuba invasion force, the kidnapping of Cuban officials |work=USA Today |date=October 30, 2017 |access-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412004346/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/30/u-s-planned-261-000-troop-invasion-force-cuba-newly-released-documents-show/813376001/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 1962, Kennedy rejected [[Operation Northwoods]], proposals for [[false flag]] attacks against American military and civilian targets,<ref name="1962USJCOS">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1962USJointChiefsOfStaffOperationNorthwoodsUnclassifiedDocument/page/n11|title=1962 US Joint Chiefs Of Staff Operation Northwoods Unclassified Document Bolsheviks NWO|date=1962|website=Internet Archive}}</ref> and blaming them on the Cuban government to gain approval for a war against Cuba. However, the administration continued to plan for an invasion of Cuba in the summer of 1962.<ref name="eu.usatoday.com"/>