John F. KennedyPresidency |
What was the Bay of Pigs invasion? |
This was a failed plan begun in the Eisenhower administration but approved by President Kennedy. After Communist leader Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959, the U.S. government looked at him as a threat. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained thousands of Cuban nationals, who were to be brought back to Cuba to lead an uprising. The nationals were to land on a beach in the Bay of Pigs. The U.S. government would provide air support once the Cuban nationals initiated an uprising.
The plan failed miserably, as the CIA-trained nationals were overwhelmed by Castro’s forces. The U.S. did not provide air support. Kennedy accepted responsibility for the failure.

Kennedy leaves the hospital after back surgery. Many Americans did not realize that their president suffered from excruciating back pain for much of his adult life.