Thursday, October 25, 1962: Knowing that some missiles in Cuba were now operational, the president personally drafts a letter to Premier Khrushchev, again urging him to change the course of events. Meanwhile, Soviet freighters turn and head back to Europe. The Bucharest, carrying only petroleum products, is allowed through the quarantine line. U.N. Secretary General U Thant calls for a cooling off period, which is rejected by Kennedy because it would leave the missiles in place.

“On the night of Thursday, October 25, our aerial photography revealed that work on the missile sites was proceeding at an extraordinarily rapid pace” (59).

Listen: 10:00 am ExComm Meeting & 5:25 pm ExComm Meeting

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 10 – Oct 25.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 25 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct25/

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