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Sputnik had worried the US and some thought they were falling behind in the arms race with the Soviets
- "Our Nation could have afforded, and can afford now, the steps necessary to close the missile gap.” JFK
Actually, the figures used were inaccurate and inflated
- The Soviets were happy that the US felt that they were falling behind
- Eisenhower refused to comment as he did not want to disclose American Intelligence estimates of the Soviet capabilities.
- Became an issue in the 1960 presidential election
- Kennedy v Eisenhower’s VP Richard Nixon