Thirteen days in October of 1962 were a few to remember. They were the days in which World War Three almost started and it was a time in which America was being threatened. It was a day that all people would remember as the closest we ever came to a nuclear war. To many Americans this was very frightening; we have all heard what nuclear weapons can do. No one wants to feel the effects of these nuclear weapons. But you may ask, what caused the crisis and why did it not end in World War III? Who and/or what were the most important actors, structures and institutions involved? And most importantly, which characteristics of those actors, structures and institutions provide the strongest, clearest and most efficient explanations for the …show more content…
In the end, Khrushchev decided to give up and disarm. This was a relief for America, there wasn 't going to be a war. This was a point in history where it almost felt like the world stop turning, as if it was at a stand still. Forty-one years later, it seems as if this situation with Saddam is the exact same as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Maybe we can learn from it, maybe we can 't.
During these 13 days, America had to come up with a gameplan in order to protect their people in the safest manner. President John F. Kennedy created the Ex Comm or Executive Committee. The Ex Comm was a group of advisors that were gathered by President Kennedy in order to deal with this crisis. Members of the ExComm included some notable people such as Ted Sorensen (personal advisor and speechwriter for JFK), the attorney general, and the brother of JFK, Robert F. Kennedy.
Their first task was to clearly identify the problem in which they used U-2 spy planes to circle the expected location of the missiles . They then came up with a goal; to remove the missiles from Cuba. Afterwards, they came up with alternatives such as bombing Cuba, if their goal wasn’t met. The attorney general found this to be the best thing to do mainly because he thought in the Constructivist perspective. In essence, he wanted to blow Cuba off the face of the earth not thinking even the slightest bit that that action would cause a nuclear war. However, President Kennedy thought otherwise; he had a more realist
“Do everything in such a way that the U.S. public opinion will not be aware of this until November 4th or after November 4th…The Americans are going to have to swallow this the same way we have had to swallow the pill of missiles in Turkey,” stated Premier Nikita Khrushchev. He wanted to keep this a secret until the missiles would be operational. The Soviet Union eventually brought 45,000 troops, 80 missiles, some bombers, and several SAM sites to Cuba by sea, which were meant to shoot down U-2 planes that routinely flew over Cuba, so they would not discover the offensive missiles (Eubank 20-24). On October 15, a U-2 plane discovered offensive missiles and this was reported to President Kennedy the next morning at 9:00 AM. Kennedy didn’t seem too shocked. He simply discussed plans with his advisors, also known as the ExComm, about solutions including an invasion, air strikes, withdrawing missiles from Turkey, and blockades (Eubank 36-41). Kennedy finally came to a decision and decided to reveal it to the public through a speech on television. Kennedy’s speech on October 22, 1962 addressed the fact that he wanted Khrushchev to remove the missiles from Cuba and that Khrushchev claimed that there were no offensive missiles in Cuba. Kennedy further explained the fact that there was evidence from photographs that U-2 spy planes took over the island of Cuba. Additionally, Kennedy announced that a naval quarantine or blockade would take place on Cuba to stop ships from bringing in any offensive weapons (“Presidents Grave”). Everyone rushed to the supermarkets and stocked up on food in panic (Cullough). Soviet ships continued towards Cuba even after the speech. One of the members in the ExComm, McCone, stated, “Mr. President, we have a preliminary report which seems to indicate that some of the
The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.
Thirteen days was all it took to bring down a world power to its most vulnerable stages. Fear consumed John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, as he was notified on October 16, 1962, that the Intelligence Community had become convinced that Russia was placing missiles and atomic weapons in Cuba. According to a U-2 that had finished a photographic mission, these missiles were pointed to the United States and capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere. Not only was the peace and freedom of the American people compromised, but so was the rest of the world’s fate. And the decisions of one man could essentially save the people or result in a never ending ballistic war. President John F. Kennedy was not
Faced with the Great Depression and World War II, Franklin D Roosevelt, or “FDR”, brought America through its hardest times. Franklin Roosevelt was brought into to office during one of America's greatest domestic crisis’s, The Great Depression, this was a time when America's economy had a rigorous decline. Roosevelt acted swiftly during these times, and did what he believed was best for America. The United States changed during Franklin Roosevelt's presidency by the creation of a new role for the government in the economy, the nature of presidency changing, and the establishment of the social security act, which is an act that set up a pension system for people who have retired, established unemployment insurance, and created insurance for victims who were involved in work related accidents. This act also provided aid for mothers and children who were in poverty, the blind, and the disabled.
“The world the American people had tried to exclude after the First World War could not forever be kept at bay.” (The Great Depression and World War II;Kennedy, David). World War II began in the year 1939 and lasted until 1945. (history.com,Pearl Harbor) Many of the issues that arose during the Second World War was initial baggage from the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles was the reason why the First World War ended between the Allied Powers and Germany. (history.com). During this time, the United States wanted as little involvement with Europe’s controversies. Meanwhile, the United States did not know at the time that Japan was a threat to our country because of unresolved issues prior to Pearl Harbor. (history.com). The common denominator between both of our countries in this era was that we were both in financial crises. (Gilder Legrman, Institure of American History) The United States was suffering from the Great Depression and Japan was in a financial crisis. One of the reasons that the United States was not in favor of Japan was because we did not support their attacks on China. “The United States allied with China when Japan declared war on China in 1937” (Office of The Historian). “The United States responded to the aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes” (Pearl Harbor and the road to war, history.com). Japan was upset
Thirteen days. For some, it seemed like a lifetime. Thirteen days. For others, it was the scariest moments of their lives. Just thirteen short days to prevent a nuclear war. After Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government, he turned Cuba into a communist regime. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics decided to provide Cuba with Soviet aid. Soon after, The United States found evidence of nuclear missiles. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an important time in both Cuban and American history. Castro’s Cuba was just the beginning, things then started to intensify with Soviet aid, and culminated with the United States responding to end it all.
After reading this chapter and the section specifically about the use of metaphors in film, I realized that metaphors are essential when it comes to non-fiction and fiction films. I agree with Nichols that Metaphors are powerful and help us understand something in a different perspective. For example, if a film is about a complex subject like politics and there is no metaphors I personally will be disengaged. For a few reasons: one some aspects of politics are confusing and two the topic is not interesting. By using just facts and the standard definition of something will bore your audience.
The film, Thirteen Days, is a stark reminder of just how close the United States came and stood at the brink of war with the Soviet Union. It also depicts the internal struggle within the White House, and how even those who are on lower rungs of the ladder could severely impact the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although Kennedy and his inner staff wished to avoid a war at all costs, his military staff, on the other hand, had different intentions. The Kennedy administration ultimately avoided a war that would have resulted in nuclear destruction, and learned a valuable lesson as well, when it came to combating communism aggressively.
The Kennedy Doctrine, which was to “Respond flexibly to communist expansion, especially guerrilla warfare” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 58), was executed in this history-making event to the letter. Kennedy could have, and had the power to cease the unfolding events with an all out air strike on the Soviet Union. Some say it is due to bureaucratic politics and the accessibility of information that was provided to the National Security Council by the CIA and air force that this did not occur. In responding flexibly to what The Soviet Union and Cuba were planning, America assessed the volatile situation, forethought possible outcomes and negated all their options albeit under a tight time constraint. America’s forces were mobilized and ready to strike, had word been given nuclear war was on the cards. Kennedy wanted to give The Soviet Union an out and put a halt to a possible war, rethink the situation and allow an alternative to occur. Due to this diplomacy, The Soviet Union entered into negotiations “the Kremlin offered a deal: no Soviet missiles in Cuba if Washington promised not to invade” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 87). By using the flexible response tactic, Kennedy was
On one of the following days, Kennedy asked if the Air Force could take out all of the missiles in Cuba. The Air Force then told the President that with that process there would be 10-20,000 civilian casualties. Kennedy then decided to set up a blockade around Cuba. US ships prepared for a quarantine. The press then learned about the nuclear missles and questioned them about it, the President asked the reporters not to reveal the news so he could announce it to the American people on TV. The Soviets had instrustion to launch the missiles within minutes of Kennedy’s speech. After Castro listened to the President’s speech he moblized all of Cuba’s military forces.
Zeus, god of all gods, it must be hard to control all the Greek gods. I personally would not be able to handle all those gods, I can barely control my dog! So anyway, I thought “hey wouldn’t it be nice if Zeus came to the school and controlled the teachers to give no homework!” Also, make a thunderstorm when we have to go outside for gym!
The “Thirteen Days” movie describes how the 35th president of United States of America (USA), John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis during the period of October 14-28, 1963. It shows how JFK’s leadership saved the world from having World War III (WWIII), or worse, Nuclear War. JFK’s crisis management and decision-making skills was tested during this period. He was under an extreme pressure, having the Cuban missiles were about to be ready to become operational and most of his Generals suggested him to launch a military strike, while he didn’t want to start a war and prefer to avoid one. To make things worse, the Joint Chiefs, who most of them were older than JFK, pressurized
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a frightening moment for the entire world. It started October 14th, 1962 after the Soviet Union planted nuclear missiles inn Cuba. The U.S. found out that these missiles were being planted without their knowledge, but the Soviet Union continued the construction of these nuclear missile sites, even after President Kennedy, the president of the U.S., sent out a warning against these weapons in Cuba. Even after this warning, Kennedy once again found out that the construction was still happening. Following the discovery of the ongoing construction, Kennedy wanted to meet with people at the White House to solve the problem that they were encountering. There were multiple sides during their talk about the missiles. Some of the people at the meeting wanted to take a more aggressive approach and destroy these missiles and then follow up with an attack. Kennedy eventually decided to quarantine Cuba. After Kennedy quarantined Cuba, there were many messages sent between the White House and the Kremlin to try and solve the problem. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for thirteen extremely tense days. At the end of these thirteen days, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended with an agreement between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis greatly impacted history. It strengthened the bond between the United States and Soviet Union, showed people how to come to a
The Missile Crisis developed in 1962 because Fidel Castro believed that America would soon try again to invade his country. He asked the Soviet Union for help in defending his island nation. The Soviet Union replied by sending small arms, tanks, and infantry units to Cuba, as well as secretly transferring nuclear missiles to missile silos that were under construction in Cuba. The Americans were shocked when one of their U-2 spy planes discovered the nuclear silos under construction in Cuba because it meant that for the first time the Soviet missiles were within range of most major U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C. This created a very difficult problem for American President John F. Kennedy for which he needed to find a solution. He could not allow the missile silos to finish being constructed because that would place the United States in danger. That meant that either he would have to try diplomatic means to attempt to negotiate the removal of the weapons, or he would have to use the might of the American military to remove the weapons by force. Neither option looked particularly favourable. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (the President's military advisors) urged a swift and strong military invasion to destroy the silos before the Soviets could react. Kennedy was concerned, however, of the possibility of Soviet nuclear retaliation for the invasion because invasion was clearly an act of war. Up until that point, neither side had been willing to risk direct
The movie Thirteen Days is based off of the real life situation of the Cuban Missile Crisis that occurred back in 1962. The United States learned that the Soviet Union was placing missiles with nuclear weapons in Cuba. The movie follows President John F. Kennedy and his advisors as they are trying to come up with a plan of action for how to handle the situation.