Did voters in 1960 blame Eisenhower for the rise of Fidel Castro?

[darklordoftech]

?

[brucejoel99]

Not that I'm aware of, no.

[buritobr]

They shouldn't. Cuba is another country.

[Alben Barkley]

I don't think the majority of voters did, but part of Kennedy's argument was that Eisenhower had allowed Cuba to fall to communism, along with that we had a "missile gap" with the USSR and such. He was actually running a more hawkish campaign than Nixon in some ways, as Nixon was stuck having to defend Ike's record while Kennedy was free to attack parts of it. How much of that contributed to his victory is debatable. Probably he won more because Nixon was no Eisenhower and Kennedy easily beat him in the personality contest, as seen in the debates. Economic arguments also likely helped -- the Democrats blamed Eisenhower and the GOP for the 1958 recession.

Even then, it was very close.

[darklordoftech]

What’s the impetus for your asking this question?

1. Truman was blamed for Mao overthrowing Chiang, Carter was blamed for the Iran Hostage Crisis, etc.

2. The “missile gap” line of attack.

3. The 2020 primaries brought Castro back into the spotlight.

[buritobr]

Fidel Castro declared that his revolution was communist only in 1961. In 1959, it was only a national liberation revolution. Fidel Castro was not a member of the Cuban Communist Party in the 1950s, this party didn't support the July 26th Movement at the beggining.

[Agonized-Statism]

Fidel Castro declared that his revolution was communist only in 1961. In 1959, it was only a national liberation revolution. Fidel Castro was not a member of the Cuban Communist Party in the 1950s, this party didn't support the July 26th Movement at the beggining.

This. Many Americans only turned against Castro in 1961.

[Indy Texas]

He probably should have pressured Bautista to make reforms to legitimize his regime so it wouldn't have been overthrown in the first place.

[morgankingsley]

I don't think so

[AtorBoltox]

Kennedy certainly campaigned on the notion that the USA was 'losing' the cold war, whether voters bought it is another question

[Fuzzy Bear]

Eisenhower left office with amazingly high approval ratings.  He would have won a third term if he ran in 1960.  Americans blamed Eisenhower for very little, even when he was arguably to blame for a situation.

No matter.  Eisenhower was the greatest President in my lifetime.  In a real way, it's been all downhill since Ike.

[mianfei]

I would not think so. If they had, Nixon would not have held Florida, for one thing, and perhaps not California (although he would have lost the Pacific States to a generic non-Catholic Democrat).

[Blair]

FWIW I think that Kennedy did bring it up during the debates or the campaign; he was briefed by the CIA about the Bay of Pigs operation but still attacked Nixon (it tends to be forgotten that Kennedy attacked Nixon from the hawkish right & did so based on a lie- the missile gap)

Nixon was unable to say 'oh well we're preparing to invade it shortly'.

I would not think so. If they had, Nixon would not have held Florida, for one thing, and perhaps not California (although he would have lost the Pacific States to a generic non-Catholic Democrat).

I might be missing something but surely the only Florida residents who cared about Cuba in 1958 where those went there to gamble, those who ran the ferries & those in the Mob.

[Orser67]

I don't think Cuba itself played a large role in the campaign, but I imagine the revolution did contribute to a general sense of unease in the United States. Eisenhower himself remained popular when he left office, but a string of setbacks during Eisenhower's second term (Sputnik, the 1958 recession, a scandal involving Eisenhower's chief of staff, various issues in the Middle East, and the U-2 Crisis) probably cost Nixon the election.