Louis-François Roubiliac was a French sculptor who worked in England, one of the four most prominent sculptors in London working in the rococo style, He was described by Margaret Whinney as "probably the most accomplished sculptor ever to work in England".

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman. He served as a United States Congressman from New York from 1949 to 1955 and as the first chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1965 to 1966. Roosevelt also ran for Governor of New York twice. He was a son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War II.

The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. Covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government, the operation took place at the height of the Cold War and its failure led to major shifts in international relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

In 1952, American ally General Fulgencio Batista led a coup against President Carlos Prio, and forced Prio into exile in Miami. Prio's exile inspired the creation of the 26th July Movement by Castro. The Movement successfully completed the Cuban Revolution in December 1958. Castro nationalized American businesses—including banks, oil refineries, and sugar and coffee plantations—then severed Cuba's formerly-close relations with the United States and reached out to its Cold War rival, the Soviet Union. In response, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower allocated $13.1 million to the Central Intelligence Agency in March 1960, for use against Castro. With the aid of Cuban counter-revolutionaries, the CIA proceeded to organize an invasion operation.