The Bay Of Pigs: Lessons Learned

Students analyze President Kennedy’s April 20, 1961 speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors framing the invasion as “useful lessons for us all to learn” with strong Cold War language. This analysis will help students better understand the Cold War context of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and evaluate how an effective speech can shift the focus from a failed action or policy towards a future goal.

About this Resource

Grade Level
9
10
11
12
Time Required
0-1 hour
Curricular Resource Type
Lesson Plans & Activities
Curricular Resource Subject Area
Civics and US Government
English Language Arts
US History
World History
Curricular Resource Topic
The Cold War
International Relations
Persuasive Writing and Speaking
Curricular Standards
Common Core
C3 Framework for Social Studies
National History Standards (UCLA)
National Council of Teachers of English
Massachusetts Framework - English Language Arts
Massachusetts Framework - History and Social Science

Download this lesson plan, including handouts, in pdf format.

Overview

Goals/Rationale

Students analyze President Kennedy’s April 20, 1961 speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in which he unapologetically frames the invasion as “useful lessons for us all to learn” with strong Cold War language. This analysis will help students better understand the Cold War context of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and evaluate how an effective speech can shift the focus from a failed action or policy towards a future goal.

Essential Question:How can a public official address a failed policy or action in a positive way?

Objectives

Students will:

  • explain the US rationale for the Bay of Pigs invasion and the various ways the mission failed.
  • analyze the tone and content of JFK’s April 20, 1961 speech.
  • evaluate the methods JFK used in this speech to present the invasion in a more positive light.

Preparation

Historical Background and Context

The Bay of Pigs invasion was the failed attempt by US-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. President Eisenhower authorized the operation and it was subsequently approved by President Kennedy. On April 17, 1961, a 1,400-man invasion force of anti-Castro Cuban exiles, Brigade 2506, landed at the Bay of Pigs beach on the south coast of Cuba. Quickly overwhelmed by a counterattack of Castro’s armed forces, the invasion force was crushed two days later. More than 100 men were killed, and nearly 1,100 were taken prisoner and held in Cuba for nearly two years. Instead of toppling the Castro regime, the invasion strengthened Castro’s image with the Cuban people, solidified his alignment with the Soviet Union, and emboldened Premier Khrushchev in his belief that Kennedy was weak and inexperienced.

Publicly, President Kennedy took responsibility for the invasion’s failure. “We intend to profit from this lesson,” he said in his address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 20. In a news conference the following day, he noted “There's an old saying that victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan… I'm the responsible officer of the Government…” Gallup polls taken the following week showed Kennedy had an 83% approval rating and 61% of Americans approved of his handling of the invasion.

Materials

Procedure

  1. For homework, have students read the CIA web page “The Bay of Pigs Invasion” and answer the following questions:
    • Why did the US government begin planning to overthrow Fidel Castro in 1960?
    • What were some of the major mistakes made in the operation?
    • Based on this article, who do you think holds the most responsibility for the failed invasion? (It can be more than one person or group.)
  2. In class, working in groups, ask students to share answers from their homework. Ask them to consider, if they were President Kennedy, how they might address the failed invasion in a public speech on April 20, three days after the initial invasion attempt. Have them list their main points. Discuss these points as a class.
  3. As a class, model a close reading of the first five pages of President Kennedy’s reading copy of his April 20 speech, answering the prompts below. You may want to show the students a video of the first part of the speech before they analyze the reading copy (watch from 1:30 to 6:00).
    • To whom is Kennedy addressing his remarks? (Newspaper editors? American public? Soviets? Cubans? World?)
  4. Divide the class into small groups and have each group do a close reading of the remainder of the speech (pages 6-13 of the reading copy), practicing the skills they have demonstrated in step 3. You may want to show the students a video of the rest of the speech before they analyze the reading copy (watch from 6:00 to 14:15). Have students answer the following questions:
    • Why does Kennedy emphasize certain words in his reading copy of the speech?
    • What is the tone of the second part of the speech? (conciliatory, threatening, etc.?)
    • What are the “lessons" that JFK says can be learned from the invasion?
    • How does he characterize the danger posed by a Communist Cuba? Provide specific examples from the speech.
    • How does Kennedy characterize the US commitment to containing the spread of Communism? Provide specific examples from the speech.
  5. Bring the students together to debrief their analyses. Have them compare their initial thoughts about what they would have included in this speech with Kennedy’s actual address.
    • Why do you think Kennedy emphasizes certain words in his reading copy of the speech?
    • What is the tone of the first part of the speech? (conciliatory, threatening, etc.?) Provide specific examples to support your conclusions.
    • How does Kennedy depict the invasion? (As a mainly Cuban effort, a US effort, or both?) Provide specific language to support your conclusions.
    • How does Kennedy characterize this invasion? [A failure? A success?] Provide specific language to support your conclusions.

Assessment

In a one- to two-page written essay, ask students to evaluate how this speech takes a failure of the Kennedy Administration and reframes it into a message of lessons learned, focusing on future US foreign policy. Looking back from our time, based on their knowledge of the events, do they think it was an effective speech or not? Why?

Connections to Curriculum (Standards)

National History Standards

  • US History, Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
    Standard 2: How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics.
  • World History, Era 9: The 20th Century Since 1945: Promises and Paradoxes
    Standard 1: How post-World War II reconstruction occurred, new international power relations took shape, and colonial empires broke up.

Common Core State Standards

  • ELA College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language
  • ELA – Reading Informational Texts, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Literacy in History/Social Studies for grades 9-10 and 11-12

C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards

  • Discipline 2 - Applying disciplinary concepts and tools (History)
  • Discipline 3 - Evaluating sources and using evidence
  • Discipline 4 - Communicating conclusions and taking informed action

National English Language Standards (NCTE) 1, 3, 5, 6

Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework

  • USII.T5: United States and globalization
  • WHII.T5: The Cold War Era, 1945–1991

Massachusetts English Language Arts Framework

  • Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language