With the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile crisis in the news, it is worth spending time reviewing Kennedy’s reputation.

Here is a short task to get GCSE students thinking.

  • Kennedy was a young president.
  • Khrushchev thought he could push Kennedy around.
  • The Bay of Pigs of April 1961 was a fiasco.
  • So why then do people think Kennedy was something of a legend when it came to foreign policy?

Students are asked to speculate in small groups. They are then given 5 possible reasons provided in boxes on the resource sheet as well a few blanks for them to add their own ideas.

Resources

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Roosevelt and the 1936 election: can you write his manifesto?The New Deal and electoral support
Rosa Parks – the true storyEvidence and interpretations of Rosa Parks
Marking the anniversary of the Wall Street CrashTeaching the Wall Street Crash
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