Asa McKercher is the Social Science and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at Queen’s University (Canada) and is also currently the Royal Bank of Canada Visiting Fellow at the Bodleian Library. In this presentation, Dr McKercher will re-examine Canadian-US relations during the presidency of John F. Kennedy, a period that coincided not just with the “crisis years” of the Cold War but also with the some of the most difficult moments in the bilateral relationship between the two North American neighbours since the War of 1812. While the young president has often been criticised for stirring up anti-US opinion due to his conduct toward Canada, in fact he dealt with Ottawa in a judicious manner that took account of Canadian nationalism. This talk will point to the Kennedy administration’s wider difficulties resulting from its closest allies’ doubts over US leadership in the Cold War and concerns over American economic and military hegemony.