Kennedy doctrine

 

Kennedy Doctrine refers to foreign policy of the United States under the presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, mainly with regard to Latin America. 

Inaugural speech 

 

In his inaugural speech on January 20, 1961, President Kennedy presented to the American public the political will that his administration's foreign policy:

 “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

It also calls on Americans to support “a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” 

Cold war 

One of the priorities of Kennedy during his tenure was to contain the advance of Communism, and at any price. In this context of the Cold War, Kennedy called that the "strength and unity necessary military in the fight against communism are offset by hopes of disarming and global cooperation"

Another theme of Kennedy's foreign policy was the belief in America's ability to control world events, and that they should do so in practice. He explains this idea by saying:

“In the long history of the world only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom from its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.” 

Historical context

The Kennedy doctrine was essentially a continuation and a generalization of the foreign policy of Eisenhower and Truman administrations. The policy of these Presidents focused on communism and how that would commit the United States to contain its expansion. The Truman Doctrine was to provide economic assistance to non-Communist countries of Western Europe, to prevent them from falling into the Eastern Bloc. The Eisenhower Doctrine was about it economically and militarily supporting the anti-communist countries in the Middle East and to increase the volume of trade between the United States and Latin America, always in the same order. The Kennedy doctrine is a kind of synthesis of these two doctrines, but it is mainly directed towards the fight against the spread of communism in Latin America after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and the coming to power of Fidel Castro.

Alliance for Progress

From his inaugural address, Kennedy evokes an "Alliance for Progress" with the countries of Latin America.

In a speech on March 13, 1961, addressed to Latin American diplomats and members of the U.S. Congress, he said:

“I have called on all the people of the hemisphere to join in a new Alliance for Progress – alianza para el Progreso – a vast cooperative effort, unparalleled in magnitude and nobility of purpose, to satisfy the basic needs of the American people for homes, work and land, health and schools – techo, trabajo y tierra, salud y escuela.”

In this speech, Kennedy reaffirms the commitment of the United States to participate in the defense of all nations whose independence would be in danger, and promises to increase food assistance programs and economic support for nations need.

In the same speech, he described the Alliance for Progress as an “alliance of free governments – and it must work to eliminate tyranny from a hemisphere in which it has no rightful place. Therefore let us express our special friendship to the people of Cuba and the Dominican Republic – and the hope they will soon rejoin the society of free men, uniting with us in our common effort.”