Bay of Pigs Invasion: Difference between revisions

The failed invasion severely embarrassed the Kennedy administration and made Castro wary of future U.S. intervention in Cuba. On 21 April, in a State Department press conference, Kennedy said: "There's an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan... Further statements, detailed discussions, are not to conceal responsibility because I'm the responsible officer of the Government..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid%3D8077 |title=Archived copy |access-date=24 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506182204/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8077 |archive-date=6 May 2016 }} The President's News Conference 21 April 1961.</ref> The invasion's failure initiated Operation Mongoose to destabilize Cuba.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bay of Pigs {{!}} JFK Library |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-bay-of-pigs |access-date=6 May 2024 |website=www.jfklibrary.org |language=en}}</ref>

 

 

The initial U.S. response concerning the first air attacks was of a dismissive quality. Adlai Stevenson denied any involvement in the first wave of airstrikes, stating before the UN, "These charges are totally false and I deny them categorically." Stevenson continued to promote a story of two Cuban planes that had reportedly defected to the United States, apparently unaware that they were in fact U.S. planes piloted by U.S.-backed Cuban pilots to promote a false story of defection.<ref>."Bay of Pigs Declassified." ''History Undercover''. Aired 9 July 2000. History Channel.</ref>