Let’s Learn about the Cold War: Part 19 – JFK Published Oct. 13, 2015 By Senior Airman Sean D. Smith Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- President John F. Kennedy was a key American leader during the Cold War. Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States in 1961. Though his presidency was short, ending prematurely with his assassination in 1963, it was densely packed with crises and significant American events. Kennedy served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, commanding patrol torpedo boats. In 1943, Kennedy's PT-109 was struck by Amagiri, a Japanese destroyer. The PT boat was destroyed, but Kennedy and his crew voted not to surrender, instead swimming to an island where they were later rescued. Kennedy turned to politics after the war ended. With the backing of his influential family, Kennedy ran as a Democrat for a congressional seat in Massachusetts and won. He served for six years before beating out Republican Henry Cabot Lodge II to join the Senate in 1953. Kennedy began his presidential bid in 1960, and defeated the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon. The Eisenhower administration preceding Kennedy had already initiated a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba -- the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion. Kennedy ordered the invasion to take place, and after its failure, was forced to negotiate for the release of the prisoners that resulted. The next year Kennedy was confronted with the Cuban Missile Crisis, considered the height of the Cold War, and the closest the world has ever come to a nuclear exchange. Kennedy's administration was able to de-escalate the extremely sensitive situation, despite numerous obstacles. Kennedy saw to the creation of the Peace Corps, and faced the early days of the crisis in Vietnam. Kennedy understood that the United States couldn't win in Vietnam, but by 1963 giving it up to communist forces wasn't an option. Kennedy maintained U.S. support for South Vietnam, but made no official policy on the matter before his assassination. There was also a communist push for Germany, and Kennedy gave his famous 'Ich bin Berliner' (I am a Berliner) speech in the summer of 1963. Meanwhile, Kennedy supported the American space program, and encouraged international cooperation in space. He was also a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, and helped lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Kennedy was shot while traveling in the presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas in November, 1963. Next time: Khrushchev