December 18th, 1960:
President-Elect Richard Nixon releases names of likely nominees to cabinet positions. A number are surprises.
-Secretary of the Treasury: Charles Halleck (R-IN)
-Secretary of Defense Douglas MacArthur (R-NY)
-Attorney General: John V Lindsay (R-NY)
-Postmaster General: Prescott Bush (R-CT)
-Secretary of the Interior: Harold Stassen (R-MN)
-Secretary of Agriculture: Fred A Seaton (R-NE)
-Secretary of Commerce: Ronald Reagan (D-CA)
-Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare: William G Stratton (R-IL)
-White House Chief of Staff: Robert Finch (R-CA)
-National Security Adviser: Henry Kissinger (I-NY)
-United States Permanent Representative to NATO: Alfred M Greunther (R-NE)
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Secretary of the Army: John Eisenhower (R-NY)
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Secretary of the Air Force: Curtis LeMay (R-CA)
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Secretary of the Navy: Robert P Anderson (D-TX)
Certain surprises are his picks for National Security Adviser, Attorney General, and Commerce Secretary. Professor Henry Kissinger, a friend of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, will become the nation's 6th National Security Adviser. One-term Congressman and Liberal Republican John Lindsay will become the nation's 64th Attorney General. Lastly, actor, Democrat, and Nixon supporter Ronald Reagan of California will become the nation's 15th Secretary of Commerce. His work as General Electric Spokesman inspired this pick. Noticably empty on the list of cabinet picks is Secretary of State.
January 13th, 1961
Nixon announces his choice for Secretary of State. Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine will become the nation's 54th Secretary of State and of course the first female Secretary of State.
January 20th, 1961:
Richard M Nixon is sworn in as the 35th President of the United States of America.
January 22nd, 1961:
In his first chance to meet with Congressional leaders as President, Nixon, in talks with Senate leaders Lyndon B Johnson (D-TX) and Everett Dirksen (R-IL), House leaders Sam Rayburn (D-TX), John McCormack (D-MA), and Leslie C Arends (R-IL), as well as Treasury Secretary Charles Halleck, President Nixon states that he would dearly like to pass a significant tax cut within his first one hundred days to stimulate the economy. In order to attempt to appease all sides of the aisle, it is agreed that there shall be no major cuts in defense spending or poverty fighting initiatives, but also cuts in the State, Post, Interior, and Commerce departments in order to attempt to continue Ike's record of fiscal discipline. It is agreed that it could be accomplished.
January 23rd, 1961:
"Mr. President, on the issue of Vietnam, I strongly encourage de-escalation. That one war has the potentiality to turn into a quagmire that would be incredibly hard to win." states Defense Secretary Douglas MacArthur. Over his time as Defense Secretary, MacArthur will grow angered as his advice goes unheeded inside and outside the Pentagon.
January 24th, 1961:
Margaret Chase Smith is confirmed as Secretary of State. She resignes her Senate position to take her new office.
February 13th, 1961:
The American Economic Management Act of 1961 is introduced in the House of Representatives by Nixon friend Congressman Gerald Ford of Michigan. Debate immediately begins though the bill itself is fairly non-partisan and has been set up in an "everybody wins" situation, something that will not occur very often in the next few years. Privately, Secretaries Smith, Stassen, and Reagan aren't very supportive of the bill due to cuts in their departments, though they each decide individually to not voice much complaint over the bill.
February 19th, 1961:
The American Economic Management Act of 1961, by now termed "Aim61" by insiders, is passed by the House of Representatives by a large margin. Nixon, a man who had intended to become a foreign policy President, has experienced a small domestic achievment in the passing of Aim61.
February 20th, 1961:
Edward M Kennedy, brother to the popular Senator and 1960 Democratic Presidential nominee John F Kennedy, begins work as Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. During his time in the job he will develop a hard-nosed attitude towards crime.
February 27th, 1961:
The American Economic Management Act of 1961 is introduced in the Senate by Senator Thurston B Morton (R-KY). The only protest is from Westerners who protest the cuts to the Interior Department. Agriculture Secretary Fred Seaton (R-NE) speaks before the Senate, attempting to assure Westerners that it will in no way endanger their interests as the Department of Agriculture will still perform its tasks.
March 4th, 1961:
The American Economic Management Act of 1961 is passed by the Senate, thus giving President Nixon his first domestic policy success.
April 12th, 1961:
The Soviet Union's launch of Vostok I, containing Kosmonaut Yuri Gargin marks the first time a human being will be in space. President Nixon neither congratulates Nikita Kruschev on the accomplishment, nor pushes for more NASA funding, as he is apathetic towards the Space Race, focusing much more on earth-bound affairs.
April 14th, 1961:
The actions that will lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion begin as a diversionary landing planned for the night is aborted.
April 15th, 1961:
Air strikes on Cuban air fields begin as eight Douglas B-26B Invader bombers in three groups simultaneously attack three Cuban airfields at San Antonio de Los Banos and at Ciudad Libertad, both near Havana, plus the Antonio Maceo International Airport at Santiago de Cuba. The planes are disguised to look like part of the Cuban Air Force. At the United Nations, Cuba attempts to accuse the United States in having a hand in the situation going on in Cuba. Secretary of State Margaret Chase Smith firmly denies the accusations, herself not being informed by the rather secretive President Nixon, on the situation.
April 16th, 1961:
During the night, a diversionary landing takes place near Bahia Honda. It contains boats twoing rafts carrying sound broadcasting equipment imitating a shipborne invasion landing.
April 17th, 1961:
The official Bay of Pigs Invasion takes place as troops begin unloading from transports on Cuban shores. Landing was delayed due to unseen coral reefs. Cuban Airforce planes begin attacking ships unloading troops at approximately 06:30. This results in the damaging of the USS Houston. At approximately 07:30, paratrooped soldiers fail in their attempt to block the road to Playa Larga and Palpite due to equipment being lost in a swamp. Other troops elsewhere are able to maintain their positions for the few days of the invasion. Different failures and difficulties occur throughout the day, mixed with events that go more smoothly. On the same day, Osvaldo Ramirez, leader of the rural resistance to Castro, is located and executed by Castro's forces. A night airstrike on San Antonio de Los Banos fails, reportedly due to incompetence and bad weather.
April 19th, 1961:
On D-Day +2, Fighting continues. A final air attack mission, titled
Mad Dog Flight, end in failure as Cuban Air Force planes shoot down two of the five B-26's. Meanwhile, without direct air support, and short of ammunition, Brigade 2506 ground forces retreats to the beaches in the face of considerable onslaught from Cuban government artillery, tanks and infantry. While President Nixon agrees with Defense Secretary MacArthur to send air support, it is too late for that. Later that night, American ships scour the coast looking for the remains of forces before Cuban fire forces the ships to withdraw.
April 20th, 1961:
D-Day +3, the last day of the field Bay of Pigs Invasion, searches begin for survivors along the coast line, reefs, and islands for scattered survivors of the brigade. Also, reconaissance flights are flown over areas that were formely battlefields looking for further troops.
April 22nd, 1961:
Searches have finally ended for any remaining survivors. Around 25 people are rescued.
April 25th, 1961:
Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), at a press conference, proclaims "Bay of Pigs is the most disgraceful military actions I've seen or heard of in a long while, and I hope to God we don't get anything worse!" Draft Goldwater movements have existed since 1959, and now, even with a Republican incumbent who will likely run for re-election, Goldwater seems to be building more and more steam.
April 28th, 1961:
"We can not allow the United States to be further disgraced by communist nations. While the Soviet Union continues to construct missiles, further outpacing us, ninety miles from our borders lies the communist threat, and we so far have failed to eliminate it!" cries Senator John F Kennedy (D-MA). Having campaigned more hawkishly than Nixon in 1960 and with some swing voters feeling voters' remorse already, it looks like Senator Kennedy could redeem himself in time for the 1964 election. "The man is a damned fool" whispers the Presidents as he views Kennedy's remarks on television.
May 25th, 1961:
Senator John F Kennedy claims "As a nation we should make a commitment to landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade!" His calls are unheeded within the White House.
August 26th, 1961:
In East Germany, the order is given to close the border it shares with Western Germany and erect a wall to permanently separate the two. It is a response to citizens fleeing the country, especially Easter German scientists and philosophers who have fled the Warsaw Pact country.
August 27th, 1961:
The border between East and West Germany is officially closed.
September 1st, 1961:
The first concrete blocks for the so-called Berlin Wall are put in place.
September 2nd, 1961
"One advantage of this situation, Mr. President, is that any potential plans for the taking of West Berlin or all of Western Germany have now been forfeited or proven they were never in the works" drones National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger at a meeting of the National Security Council. Others are not so calm, MacArthur the most obviously concerned about the erection of the wall.