the rise of john f. kennedy
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" - JFK
The U-2 Incident, 1960
- Elected 35th president after Eisenhower's two terms
- Wins 1960 election, begins 1961 with Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson
- defeats Richard Nixon
- Youngest President at 43
- first and only Catholic President
- advocate of the space race
The U-2 Incident, 1960
- USSR shoots down american spy plane known as a U-2 (pilot gary powers taken prisoner)
- High altitude planes had flown over russia taking pictures for years
- with introduction of rocket missiles they were able to shoot one down
- russian walked out of a summit conference in paris
Summary: John F. Kennedy was elected as the President of the United States after the 1960 election to take over from Eisenhower. He beat out Richard Nixon and became the youngest man to govern over the United States at 43 years of age. Kennedy supported the space race, and had no intentions of backing down to the USSR. During the start of his term, JFK was forced to make a number of critical decisions in order to maintain the well being of the United States. For example, during the U-2 incident Russia shot down an American U-2 spy plane and took the pilot hostage.