John F. Kennedy

Oswald Shoots JFK

William Rubinstein reviews the research of 'amateur historians' on the Kennedy assassination and suggests a new motive for Lee Harvey Oswald's actions.

Berlin and Cuba

Jim Broderick looks at the crisis management of two moments when the spectre of nuclear war shadowed relations between the superpowers.

The Cuban Missile Crisis - 30 years on

Brian Dooley assesses the incident which brought the world perilously close to nuclear war.

In office January 1961 - November 1963

Democratic congressman and senator for Massachusetts, in 1960 he became the youngest-ever and first Roman Catholic president of the USA. He introduced civil rights and social reform legislation. In foreign affairs, he forced Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to back down in the Cuban missile crisis. He helped to bring about the limited nuclear test ban treaty (August 1963) and increased American support for South Vietnam. He also created the 'Alliance for Progress' for aid to Latin America and initiated the Apollo space program. He was assassinated on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Conspiracy theories remain unproven.