John F. Kennedy

====Latin America and communism====
{{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Latin America}}
{{see also|Alliance for Progress}}
[[File:Alliance for Progress in Venezuela 1961.jpg|thumb|Kennedy in December 1961 promoting the [[Alliance for Progress]] with Venezuelan President [[Rómulo Betancourt]]]]

Believing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable,"<ref>JFK's "Address on the First Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress", White House reception for diplomatic cors of the Latin American republics, March 13, 1962. ''Public Papers of the Presidents''&nbsp;– John F. Kennedy (1962), p. 223.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/4730892.1962.001|title=John F. Kennedy: 1962 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 20 to December 31, 1962.|last=Kennedy|first=John F. (John Fitzgerald)|date=2005|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-date=March 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331040145/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ppotpus;idno=4730892.1962.001|url-status=live}}</ref> Kennedy sought to contain the perceived threat of communism in Latin America by establishing the [[Alliance for Progress]], which sent aid to some countries and sought greater [[human rights]] standards in the region.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=788, 789}} In response to Kennedy's plea, Congress voted for an initial grant of $500 million in May 1961.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Glass |first1=Andrew |title=JFK proposes an Alliance for Progress for Latin America, March 13, 1961 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/jfk-proposes-an-alliance-for-progress-for-latin-america-march-13-1961-1214880 |website=Politico |date=March 13, 2019 |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126175004/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/jfk-proposes-an-alliance-for-progress-for-latin-america-march-13-1961-1214880 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Alliance for Progress supported the construction of housing, schools, airports, hospitals, clinics and water-purification projects as well as the distribution of free textbooks to students.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Alliance for Progress |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/alliance-for-progress |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112173320/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/alliance-for-progress |url-status=live }}{{PD-notice}}</ref> However, the program did not meet many of its goals. Massive land reform was not achieved; populations more than kept pace with gains in health and welfare; and according to one study, only 2 percent of economic growth in 1960s Latin America directly benefited the poor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alliance for Progress |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alliance-for-Progress |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118175215/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alliance-for-Progress |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Alliance for Progress and Peace Corps, 1961–1969 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/alliance-for-progress |website=United States Department of State |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118180616/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/alliance-for-progress |url-status=live }}</ref> U.S. presidents after Kennedy were less supportive of the program and by 1973, the permanent committee established to implement the Alliance was disbanded by the OAS.<ref name="auto"/>

The Eisenhower administration, through the CIA, had begun formulating plans to assassinate Castro in Cuba and [[Rafael Trujillo]] in the [[Dominican Republic]]. When Kennedy took office, he privately instructed the CIA that any plan must include [[plausible deniability]] by the U.S. His public position was in opposition.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=140–142}} In June 1961, the Dominican Republic's leader was assassinated; in the days following, Undersecretary of State [[Chester Bowles]] led a cautious reaction by the nation. Robert Kennedy, who saw an opportunity for the U.S., called Bowles "a gutless bastard" to his face.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=152}}