Why was the bay of pigs incident such a major setback for the United States and for President Kennedy?

When Kennedy came into power in January 1961 he made a famous speech in which he said they would fight anyone to 'assure the survival and success of liberty'. By 1961 Fidel Castro was firmly on the side of the enemies of the USA and had to be dealt with. Kennedy was informed of a plot to overthrow Castro, which had been developed by the CIA under President Eisenhower in collaboration with Cuban exiles opposed to Castro. Kennedy was assured by the CIA that Castro was hugely unpopular and a revolt would be welcomed by the Cuban people.

In 1961 the Cuban exiles staged their invasion at the bay of pigs but the plan ended disastrously. Easily defeated it was a major embarrassment for the USA and President Kennedy. He was criticised by his political opponents inside the USA and abroad by people such as Kruschev, who thought him easily lead and weak. Not only was Kennedy humiliated across the globe but the failure at the bay of pigs also set into motion foreign policy. After the attack, Castro was concerned that the USA may try again and so looked for support that he found in the USSR. In 1962 Castro visited Moscow to negotiate defence agreements and there was nothing the Kennedy administration could do to prevent the communist states from aligning themselves. This made the whole event at the bay of pigs a major setback.