The Civil Defense Policy Of The Kennedy Administration

Civil defense was widely mentioned in the 1920 s.The use of atomic bombs in World War II granted a new meaning to civil defense.Namely,not only resisted attacks of conventional warfare,but also protected people from secondary disasters caused by the nuclear weapons.After the World War II,the US government recognized the necessity to establish a modernized civil defense system.The US government did not take effective civil defense policy until the Soviet Union overthrew the nuclear monopoly in 1949.Civil defense policy was developed to some degree in the Truman and Eisenhower administration.But due to financial and other limitations,the civil defense policy had little success.Facing the complex international situation,such as the second Berlin Crisis,the Cuban Missile Crisis and Soviet Space Competition,When President Kennedy came to power,he adopted active civil defense policy and increased civil defense budgets to support American to build civil defense shelter.The second Berlin Crisis deepened and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred would not only push the Cold War to a climax,but also had a significant impact on the civil defense policy of the Kennedy administration.Although President Kennedy greatly supported the construction of civil defense shelter and implemented the active civil defense policy,because of the limited funds allocated by Congress,people's cold attitudes towards civil defense,poor performance of civil defense department,President Kennedy gave up his original civil defense policy after the Cuban Missile Crisis.In November 1963,President Kennedy was assassinated,the development of the civil defense policy equaled to a halt.Civil defense policy of the Kennedy administration was not only made in the context of the Cold War,also affected by Cold war,and at the same time deeply restricted by it.