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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Fourteen

 

But you didn’t see this post coming, did you? Because everyone knows that the crisis only lasted for thirteen days. After all, there is a book and a movie that tell us so.

But truthfully, the crisis didn’t end on Sunday, October 28, 1962. Nor did it end on Monday, October 29. In fact, the crisis was far from over. For one, negotiations still needed to be settled. Negotiations between Kennedy and Khrushchev. Between Khrushchev and Castro. And, well, more or less between Kennedy and Castro.

In fact, “low-level reconnaissance on October 29 appeared to detect continuing construction” (May 411). Truth was, Kennedy had nothing to go on other than Khrushchev’s word that construction on the missiles in Cuba would cease. Just like Khrushchev had nothing to go on but Kennedy’s word that once the Soviet missiles in Cuba were removed, the US missiles in Turkey would follow suit.

October 29th also saw Ambassador Dobrynin deliver a letter to Attorney General Kennedy. “The next day, Robert Kennedy called in Dobrynin and gave the letter back, refusing to accept it. Robert Kennedy’s handwritten notes for this meeting say: ‘No quid pro quo as I told you. The letter makes it appear that there was.’ The missiles would leave Turkey; ‘you have my word on that & this is sufficient . . .  ; if you should publish any document indicating a deal then it is off.’” Dobrynin promised nothing would be published. But, then again, as Kennedy reminded him, he’d also promised that the Soviet Union would never put missiles on Cuba. 

And look how that turned out. It’s also important to remember that these deals were made through, well, back channels. It’s also important to note that the Kennedys (but mostly the CIA) continued secret invasion plans. You just never knew with Castro, after all. Low-level reconnaissance over Cuba also continued.

And, as President Kennedy’s brother points out in Thirteen Days (published posthumously, by the way), there was still the problem of the Cold War. That was far from over. 

“Exasperation over our struggle in Vietnam,” he wrote at the closing of his penultimate chapter, where he reviewed the thoughts and emotions of the past thirteen days, “should not close our eyes to the fact that we could have other missile crisis in the future–different kinds, no doubt, and under different circumstances. But if we are to be successful then, if we are going to preserve our own national security, we will need friends, we will need supporters, we will need countries that believe and respect us and will follow our leadership” (94).

 

 

He did point out, however, that they’d all learned something from this horrifying experience. And that, too, could be taken into the next crisis.

Back to the Cuban Missile Crisis, though. Kennedy was finally able to announce that the issue had been resolved on November 20, 1962. Almost a month later. it had taken many more letters back and forth between him and Khrushchev. But it had been worked out. 

“The IL-28s would come out of Cuba within 30 days. Though there would be no UN inspection, US forces would be allowed to observe departing Soviet ships. Their cargos of departing missiles would be on deck and could be observed by passing US ships or aircraft. The United States would keep flying reconnaissance planes over Cuba. When the offensive weapons were gone, the quarantine would finally be lifted. The US forces would return to normal peacetime deployments and readiness levels. The Strategic Air Command would stand down its airborne alert” (May 412-413).

Works Cited:

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

May, Ernest R, and Philip D Zelikow, editors. The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Norton, 2002.

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Twelve

 

“Thus began the most difficult twenty-four hours of the missile crisis” (71).

 

Saturday, October 27, 1962: A second letter from Moscow arrived, demanding tougher terms, including the removal of obsolete Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Over Cuba, An American U-2 plane was shot down by a Soviet-supplied surface-to-air missile (SAM) and the, killing pilot Major Rudolph Anderson. President Kennedy wrote a letter to the widow of USAF Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., offering condolences, and informing her that he was awarding Anderson the Distinguished Service Medal, posthumously.

During a tense meeting of the Executive Committee, President Kennedy resisted pressure for immediate military action against the SAM sites. At several points in the discussion, also insisted that removal of the American missiles in Turkey would have to be part of an overall negotiated settlement. The Committee ultimately decided to ignore the Saturday letter from Moscow and respond favorably to the more conciliatory Friday message. Air Force troop carrier squadrons were ordered to active duty in case an invasion was required.

Later that night, Robert Kennedy agreed to meet secretly with Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin again. They reached a basic understanding: the Soviet Union would withdraw the missiles from Cuba under United Nations supervision in exchange for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. In an additional secret understanding, the United States agreed to eventually remove the Jupiter missiles from Turkey.

“We had to be aware of this responsibility, the President was deciding, for the U.S., the Soviet Union, Turkey, NATO, and really for all mankind… .” (75).

Listen: 10:05 am ExComm Meeting &  4:00 pm ExComm Meeting (& Cont.) & 9:00 pm ExComm Meeting

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 12 – Oct 27.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 27 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct27/

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

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Eleven

Friday, October 26, 1962: A Soviet-chartered freighter was stopped at the quarantine line and searched for contraband military supplies. None were found and the ship was allowed to proceed to Cuba. Photographic evidence showed accelerated construction of the missile sites and the uncrating of Soviet IL-28 bombers at Cuban airfields.

In a private letter, Fidel Castro urged Nikita Khrushchev to initiate a nuclear first strike against the United States in the event of an American invasion of Cuba.

John Scali, ABC News reporter, was approached by Aleksander Fomin of the Soviet embassy staff with a proposal for a solution to the crisis.

Later, a long, rambling letter from Khrushchev to Kennedy made a similar offer: removal of the missiles in exchange for lifting the quarantine and a pledge that the U.S. will not invade Cuba.

Additionally, a surprise came to Kennedy at 7 that morning when the first vessel, the Marucla (an American-built Liberty ship) was officially stopped and boarded: One of the two ships to to follow it was the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (the other being the John Pierce), the ship named for Kennedy’s older brother, a Navy pilot who died during WWII. This is the same ship that brother, Bobby, would serve on shortly after WWII.

 

“The Soviet Union had been adamant in its refusal to recognize the quarantine. At the same time, it was obviously preparing its missiles in Cuba for possible use. The President in response ordered a gradual increase in pressure, still attempting to avid the alternative of direct military action… . [P]rivately the President was not sanguine about the results of even these efforts. Each hour the situation grew steadily more serious. The feeling grew that this cup was not going to pass and that a direct military confrontation between the two great nuclear powers was inevitable” (64).

Listen: 10:10 am ExComm Meeting & 12:00 Meeting with Intelligence Officers (amongst other discussions)

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 11 – Oct 26.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 26 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct26/

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

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Ten

 

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.

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Nine

Wednesday, October 24, 1962: The ExComm met as the quarantine went into effect. By a little after 10, they received word that Russian ships were approaching the quarantine line, the Gagarin and the Komiles. “This was the moment we had prepared for, which we hoped would never come. The danger and concern that we all felt hung like a cloud over us all and particularly over the President” (53).

Then, the really disturbing news came. A Russian submarine. They debated whether it was in America’s best interest for the first stopped Russian ship to actually be a sub. 

“I think these few minutes were the time of gravest concern for the President. Was the world on the brink of a holocaust? Was it our error? Was there something further that should have been done? Or not done? His hand went up to his face and covered his mouth. He opened and closed his fist. His face seemed drawn, his eyes pained, almost gray. We stared at each other across the table. For a few fleeting seconds, it was almost as though no one else was there and he was no longer the President” 

Meanwhile, Chairman Khrushchev replied indignantly to President Kennedy’s October 23 letter.

“You, Mr. President, are not declaring a quarantine, but rather are setting forth an ultimatum and threatening that if we do not give in to your demands you will use force. Consider what you are saying! And you want to persuade me to agree to this! What would it mean to agree to these demands? It would mean guiding oneself in one’s relations with other countries not by reason, but by submitting to arbitrariness. You are no longer appealing to reason, but wish to intimidate us.”

 

Listen: 10:00 am ExComm Meeting & 5:05 pm Meeting with Staff and Congressional Leadership

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Six

Sunday, October 21, 1962: After attending Mass at St. Stephen’s Church with Mrs. Kennedy, the President meets with General Walter Sweeney of the Tactical Air Command who tells him that an air strike could not guarantee 100% destruction of the missiles.

 

“Secretary Dillon recalled that we sent United States missiles to Europe because we had so many of them we did not know where to put them” (National Security Council Minutes).

“And in the present days of strain, it is well to remember that no country’s leader supported the U.S. more forcefully than did France. General de Gaulle said, ‘It is exactly what I would have done,’ adding that it was not necessary to see the photographs, as ‘a great government such as yours does not act without evidence.’ Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany voiced his support as well, and the Soviet Union was prevented from separating the U.S. from Europe. (John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada, was greatly concerned with how to convince the rest of the world” (40-41).

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 6 – Oct 21.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 21 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct21/

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

“Minutes of the 506th Meeting of the National Security Council.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 21 October 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct21/doc1.html

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Five

“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.

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Four

Friday, October 19, 1962: President Kennedy leaves for a scheduled campaign trip to Ohio and Illinois. In Washington, his advisers continue the debate over the necessary and appropriate course of action. Before President Kennedy left the White House, he made his brother, Bobby, promise to call him “if and when he should cut short his trip and return to Washington” (May 123).

We meet all day Friday and Friday night” (Kennedy 37).

Image result for cuban missile crisis day 4 meeting

 

Listen: 9:45 am Meeting with the Join Chief of Staff

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 4 – Oct 19.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 19 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct19/

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

May, Ernest R, and Philip D Zelikow, editors. The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Norton, 2002.

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Day Two

 

Wednesday, October 17, 1962: American military units begin moving to bases in the Southeastern U.S. as intelligence photos from another U-2 flight show additional sites; and 16 to 32 missiles. President Kennedy attends a brief service at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in observance of the National Day of Prayer.

 

 

In the later afternoon, President Kennedy met with Soviet Foreign Minister, Andrei Gromyko – a long-standing appointment. In the meeting, Gromyko assured the President that the USSR was in no way providing Cuba with weapons that “could ever constitute a treat to the United States” (32). In reply, President Kennedy reminded Foreign Minister Gromyko of the stance the U.S. would take in the event the Soviet Union should place missiles or offensive weapons within Cuba – a message he’d made on September 24th.

“Gromyko assured him this would never be done, that the United States should not be concerned. After touching briefly on some matters, he said good-by. . . .The President of the United States, it can be said, was displeased with the spokesman of the Soviet Union. . . .” (32-33).

Works Cited:

“Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 2 – Oct 17.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, 17 Oct 2017. http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct17/

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

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