Kennedy Doctrine

In his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, Kennedy presented the American public with a blueprint upon which the future foreign policy initiatives of his administration would later follow and come to represent.

In the address, Kennedy warned "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Kennedy expressed this idea in his address when he stated, "In the long history of the world only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom from its hour of maximum danger.

The Eisenhower Doctrine was focused upon providing both military and economic assistance to nations resisting communism in the Middle East, and by increasing the flow of trade from the U.S. into Latin America.

The Kennedy Doctrine was based on these same objectives, but was more concerned with the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Latin America following the Cuban Revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power under Eisenhower.