“I had heard the military take positions, which if wrong, had the advantage that no one would be around at the end to know” (38).

Saturday, October 20, 1962: President Kennedy returns suddenly to Washington and after five hours of discussion with top advisers decides on the quarantine. Plans for deploying naval units are drawn and work is begun on a speech to notify the American people.

“The President arrived back at the White House at 1:40 P.M. and went for a swim. I sat on the side of the pool, and we talked. At 2:30 we walked up to the Oval Room” (38).

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 5 – Oct 20.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 20 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct20/

Kennedy, Robert F. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Norton, 1971.