Foreign Policies of JF Kennedy and Richard Nixon - Essay Example

Government Final Paper The onset of the world wars was a major occurrence in the world that saw millions of people dead as well as the economy of the developed world dwindling. World War II specifically was the peak of the world going to a rampage with alliances formed to ensure consolidation of efforts to triumph over the opponents. Two conspicuous alliances were formed, the triple alliance that was constituted by the German, Italy and Austria-Hungary (Beisner 98). On the other side was the alliance called triple entente comprised of the France, Britain and the vast Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR. America for a long time was not interested in the war as it was deemed the European affairs. America at the time observed their doctrines that were designed to keep them at a bay in what the doctrine described as the European affairs. America also feared that should they join the war then there might be another civil war in their own soil since it is constituted of people of different origins, mostly from the European countries. Moreover, their hesitant to join the war could be explained by the fact that since, the war had not contradicted any of their position (Brune 102). World War II was fought when America was under the able presidency of Woodrow Wilson, Wilson was elected on the platform of “he kept us out of the war”. He preferred peace and vehemently negotiated for the rift between Germany and Britain to see into it that the world do not experience a similar war to that of 1914-1918 (Komine 156). In fact, President Wilson was accused by his predecessor as being coward even in the event that countries like German showed blatantly that they do not respect the sanctity of life for other nation. Germany had embarked on what they called unrestricted submarine warfare where they decided to sink any ship headed for Britain in a bid to starve their archrivals (Komine 176). A couple of factors propagated the American entry into the war both were foreign driven. Japan had sunk the American merchant ships at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. The ship had 1125 passenger of which 128 were Americans, these action was highly resented by the Americans and stated warming for the war as it was apparent to them that they were target by some of the parties in the world war (Melanson 234). The Arthur Zimmermann’s letter was another factor that aggravated the growing harsh relationship between America and the triple alliance in the Second World War. Arthur was the right hand man of the then Germany dictator Adolf Hitler, apparently in the telegram, he had instructed Mexico to attack America in the event that they join the war in favor of the triple entente. In return, Mexico was to be helped to regain their lost territories of Texas and Arizona, moreover, they requested for the Mexico’s space for attacking America for the same (Melanson 245). Unfortunately before the letter could be conceived and the recommendations replied by Mexico, the British got access to the content of the letter and Germany and Mexico were no longer privy to the content of the letter. They forwarded it to America and were floated in the whole country, debated in the congress and a ruling passed that to the extent of such preparation to attack America, it was prudent that they join the war to avert in the earliest opportunity possible external aggression aimed at them. The entry of the America to the side of the triple entente brought the imbalance of power as the all-powerful America in terms of resources joined the entente’s side (Paterson, Clifford and Shane 112). The triple alliance side was already exhausted and were also fighting several fronts of war thereby not concentrating their efforts on one side, this cost the triple alliance that were highly anticipated to triumph in the war. After the war in 1945, America had to revise some of their foreign policies that were defining their relationship with other countries given that it envisaged it’s relation with some of the countries were not rosy for any diplomatic ties to exist between them. The foreign policies in America are designed in relation to their interests i.e. their economy, citizens security and respect for human rights (Paterson, Clifford and Shane 132). This paper considers the foreign policies that were ratified during the reign of the two American presidents, JF. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Nixon served as the congress between 1946-52 after which he served as the vice president under president Einsenhower between 1953-61 and finally as the president in 1969-74, when he was impeached on allegation of the water gate scandal. He was a republican and strongly opposed communism. Nixon’s foreign policies oscillated in promoting world peace, this is evidenced when he assigned his secretary of state’s Henry Kissinger for ‘shuttle diplomacy’ in ensuring that the Israeli and the Arabs notably the Palestine restores peace within their boarder, Gaza Street. Nixon also brought it policy the populous Nixon doctrine of 1969 that pledged that America is under obligation to honor its numerous treaties regardless of anything and will confer protection to its allies in the event that they risk attack with nuclear power (Komine 247). In the same breadth, the doctrine has it that when the attack is non- nuclear then still America will be obliged to give economic and military support in as much as their allies are expected to use their own forces in such an event (WITTKOPF and MCCORMICK 164). Nixon’s second term foreign policies also targeted reduction and limitation of the nuclear power development. In this case, America under Nixon was to impose strict control over the development of the nuclear power as these was perceived as a threat to the security of the world. America also signed to refrain on engaging on the world affairs that do not contravene their interests- this was manifested when they decided to withdraw their soldiers who were participating in the Vietnam War (Melanson 177). With regard to this they were also interested in ensuring that no power block imposes any ideology or control of others when they are suppose to be independent. In other words, they wanted to prevent external aggression that was advanced by some countries to others in a bid to conquer and siphon resources for their own benefit. Nixon also extended ties with the rapidly growing and densely populated China to enhance trading opportunities and to fuel the Sino-soviet tension where the relation between China and the USSR became sour. This was known as the rapprochement policy by the US given that Mao Zedong had formed the People’s Republic of China, PRC. Nixon went ahead to ratify the policy of détente to ensure that their hostile relations with USSR is salvaged and there is limitation of testing weapons (Komine 169). To that effect, the Strategic Arms Limitation Test, SALT II and I. In the Vietnamization Nixon intended to withdraw the US soldiers in a bid to save the American lives as well as enormous expenditures in financing the wars. Concisely, most of the American foreign policies were aimed at disarming the notorious states in efforts to cultivate peace in the whole word; this was extended to Pakistan, Cambodia, Chile, and India (Komine 174). JF Kennedy was another US president that was assassinated in 1963 and was a member of the Democratic Party. During his reign, he equally ratified several foreign policies aimed at defining the relation of the United States of America and other countries in the post World War II. Amongst the several policies attributed to JF Kennedy are; in the peak of the cold war, a war of suspicion and fueled by propaganda, Kennedy came forth with diplomatic ties to end the devastating effects of the war, these policies were dubbed the best and the brightest. He was also involved in the Cuban missiles crisis and the 1961 Berlin crisis in finding a lasting solution of the differences (Yetiv 146). He also passed the partial nuclear test ban treaty and promoted the position of the third world countries in their quest to gain independence and to be economically viable as well as literate. It is evidenced from the literature above that both Nixon and Kennedy had these similarities in their policies; both had their policies geared towards ensuring that the world is a safe place to live and that acts of aggression are limited so that the sovereignty of the nations are also respected. The tension brought by the two world wars compromised the security of the world as the need for arm race was the order of the day. Arm race made countries to declare war on one another at the slightest provocation. The development of the nuclear power was resented by both the policies of Nixon and Kennedy (Yetiv 192). In contrast, the Kennedy’s policies tended to target in equal measure the development of the third world countries unlike those of Nixon. Nixon was also keen on the economic issues with the east where he signed several pacts with countries like China but was keen to ensure that he supports only those countries that embraced capitalism as the perfect political ideology (WITTKOPF and MCCORMICK 188). In practical sense, some of the foreign policies that were ratified by the two presidents were simply aimed at appeasing the targeted groups to ensure safety and peace in the world. Works Cited Beisner, Robert L. American foreign relations since 1600: a guide to the literature. Carlifonia: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print. Brune, Lester H. Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1932-1988. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print. Komine, Yukinori. Secrecy in US foreign policy: Nixon, Kissinger and the rapprochement with China. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2008. Print. Melanson, Richard A. American foreign policy since the Vietnam War: the search for consensus from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush. M.E. Sharpe, 2005. Print. Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. WITTKOPF, EUGENE R. and JAMES MCCORMICK. DOMESTIC SOURCES OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLI, THE: INSIGHTS AND EVIDENCE. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print. Yetiv, Steven A. Explaining Foreign Policy: U.S. Decision-Making in the Gulf Wars. JHU Press, 2011. Print. Read More