'Can You Imagine Such a Marshal?': Hollywood Westerns and John F. Kennedy's Cold War. Issue 5 (14th October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Collings-Wells, Sam
• Is Part Of: International history review. Volume 43:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 966
• Page End: 980
• Publication Date: 2021-10-14
• Subjects: Westerns -- Cold War -- narratives; History -- Periodicals; Histoire; History; Internationale politiek; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 905
• DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2020.1857291
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0707-5332

Abstract

Abstract: Accepting the Democratic nomination for president in July 1960, John F. Kennedy exhorted his fellow Americans to join him in a mission of national sacrifice on the 'New Frontier'. This article will explore the influence of frontier mythology on the foreign policy rhetoric of the Kennedy administration. It will show how the prevalence of the Western in U.S. popular culture led Kennedy and his advisers to carefully construct a meaningful Cold War discourse, one which attempted to situate the administration's foreign policy within a heroic narrative of westward expansion. Yet this rhetorical strategy proved something of a double-edged sword; at key moments during his presidency, Kennedy found his 'New Frontier' rhetoric being turned against him by critics of his foreign policy. Led by Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, these opponents accused the president of deviating from the mythic narratives he appealed to in his speeches, charging that the 'New Frontier' was but a pale imitation of the old. By exploring this contest over frontier mythology and its interaction with U.S. foreign policy, this article seeks to add a new dimension to the recent 'narrative turn' in international history.