President John F. Kennedy's stance towards Cuba was shaped by the Cold War context and the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1961, Kennedy authorized the Bay of Pigs invasion, which was a failed attempt to overthrow the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. The following year, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Kennedy's stance towards Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis was firm. He demanded that the Soviet Union remove its nuclear missiles from Cuba and imposed a naval quarantine to prevent the delivery of additional missiles to the island. Through a combination of diplomacy, back-channel negotiations, and military readiness, Kennedy was able to successfully resolve the crisis without escalating to a nuclear war.
Overall, Kennedy's stance towards Cuba was characterized by a commitment to containing the spread of communism in the Western Hemisphere and a willingness to take decisive action to protect American interests. However, the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the near-miss of the Cuban Missile Crisis also demonstrated the risks and limitations of using force to achieve foreign policy objectives.