President Kennedy Crisis Analysis

The reasons why McNamara and Kennedy and other U.S. politicians were so fearful of a nuclear was because according to U.S. analysts at the time, the 24 MRBM’s (Medium range-ballistic missiles) and sixteen IRBM’s (intermediate-range ballistic missiles) that were found in Cuba had significantly increased the number of U.S. targets that the Soviet’s could lethally attack by forty percent.[8] Furthermore, having missiles within Cuba allowed the Soviets to bypass the U.S. warning radars, especially the Ballistics Missile Early Warning system, which was stationed in the North Pole.[9] By bypassing the U.S. warning radars, it certainly amplified the risk of a surprise strike upon certain American air bases and important command posts.[10] To address this risk, the U.S. army went from “Defence Condition Five” (peacetime alert) to “Defcon 3” (war alert) which further illustrated the high levels of precautions the U.S. government were taking in order to protect itself from an offensive attack from the Soviet.[11] It was quite clear from these precautions that the impending nuclear threat in Cuba threatened the lives of American civilians, troops, and government officials. In the event that the situation escalated out of control, the two world superpowers could have engaged in a third World War that, with nuclear technology had the potential to kill hundreds of millions of civilians and soldiers.[12] Fortunately, the Cuban Mission Crisis never escalated this

Machiavelli would mostly disapprove of John F. Kennedy as a leader. He would disapprove of John F. Kennedy ‘concerning cruelty and clemency’, and ‘concerning things for which men, especially princes, are praised or blamed’. On the other hand, he would approve that JFK was right in ‘that one should avoid being despised and hated’.

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

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the US and the USSR engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. Disaster was avoided when the US. agreed to Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the US promising not to invade Cuba; Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. There has been considerable debate amongst historians about Kennedy's handling the Cuban Missile Crisis. The orthodox view maintains that Kennedy conducted himself skilfully from the beginning of the crisis, and all the way through it until its resolution; Kennedy was very calm and controlled during the thirteen days of crisis. However, revisionist historians claim that Kennedy and his advisors almost turned a negotiable Cold War into a nuclear WW3. The result of the crisis is of a high complexity as Cuba was still on the way to become a communist country but the end to the crisis was a success because the risk of direct confrontation between two superpowers was

had ever received. Instead of tactics such as “massive retaliation,” Kennedy had a different idea. This was called “flexible response.” Flexible response is the idea that instead of instant aggression, we try and use forms of diplomacy (talking it out) to fix our issues. (Ayers). This strategy worked a multitude of times and is still used today. Kennedy was constantly fighting to send economic aid to small countries that he feared were being slowly consumed by communism. He was also intent on sending supplies to war-torn and third world countries, showing his use of military aid. Though he tried his hardest to stay away from war, there was a very notable time in our history where he was forced to. This was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. America had discovered Soviet missiles in communist Cuba pointed at the U.S. Kennedy ordered that the Soviets must remove their nuclear warheads. The Soviets refused, saying that Kennedy must remove the American nukes in Turkey. Kennedy refused and ordered a military blockade of ships to prevent Soviet ships from reaching Cuba. Kennedy stated that if a single ship crossed the blockade, they would open fire. In order to test us, the Soviets sent one ship slightly across. Kennedy was able to see through their tricks and ordered the U.S. fleet to stand down. Soon, the entire Soviet fleet left, showing that we had won. Kennedy kept us from the brink of nuclear war where it could have very well happened. This was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

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 events that took place in October of 1962 had correlated a cease of movement due to what the Americans believed that a possible missile crisis was arising amongst the Soviet Union and Cuba. All three countries had undergone a change of leadership, opposing American ideals, making matters that even more difficult to come to a compromise between the three states. Ultimately, this had led to a blockade on part of the American government a few days on retrieving evidence of the accumulation of missiles within Cuba and resulted in immediate, carefully thought out action on part of President Kennedy. It is arguable that Castro and Khrushchev had reasonable action to work together, but this cooperation of the two led to a near nuclear crisis possibly leaving the US on warzone territory. Despite the circumstances, President Kennedy was valiant in his efforts in upholding actions where matters can

On October 15, 1962, a photograph proved the existence of the missile being constructed on Cuba, and for the U.S., the nightmare began. After a week of intense debating with his closest advisors, President Kennedy made a decision. He decided to impose quarantine, of sorts, around Cuba to ensure there were no more missiles arriving. The Soviet Union demanded the

Like all presidents before and after, Kennedy also had failures. One of his biggest was the Bay of Pigs. Although during the Eisenhower administration, Kennedy was still briefed by the CIA before his inauguration, on the plan to train Cuban exiles for an invasion on their homeland. The main goal was to overthrow Castro and his establishment of a non-communist government that would be pleasant with the U.S. The original plan was to have two secret air strikes to launch a surprise attack. And

President Kennedy did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to find about these secret photos. He then met in secret with his advisors for several days to discuss the issue and after many long and difficult meetings, Kennedy decided to place a naval ring of ships, around Cuba. The reason of this action was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites begun. On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to the nation about the crisis in a televised address(JFK

John F. Kennedy's fail on "The Bay of Pigs" could have been prevented many ways. One way to have prevented that disaster was to order more airplanes for the airstrike, than just six. The air strike didn’t do that much damage. A way to have stopped all those Cuban Exiles from dying is having them backed up by air forces. Kennedy ordered only a small airstrike and no air force to back the exiles up. Cuba was on high alert, so when they saw ships arriving, they didn’t know how big the invasion was. Castro ended up deploying his whole military. Kennedy could have done more to stop this, but the CIA told him that it was an easy win.

In the October of 1962, the world looked on at the Soviet Union and the United States as they partook in a head-to-head face off which could have potentially result in their immediate destruction. Before this event, no one had truly considered the potential damage nuclear weapons could cause, but only realized the consequences as war became a possible reality. During those crucial 13 days, John Kennedy and his administrators crafted and developed solutions that would ultimately save the United States and the world from a nuclear holocaust. During the Cuban Missile crisis, John F. Kennedy was forced to make many difficult decisions on how the United States should respond to the crisis. While listening to the many voices of reason, it became evident there was no easy solution to resolve the conflict and with many possible outcomes. For JFK, "The essence of ultimate decision [remained] impenetrable to the observer - often, indeed, to the decider himself.... There [would] always be the dark and tangled stretches in the decision-making process - mysterious even to those who may be most intimately involved”. As a president of the United States, his role was to protect his nation, and as the leader of a world power, he also had to consider the well being of the world. His decision was based off of more than just defending the country, but he took into consideration the intentions of the Soviets. John F.

There was a suspicious report that there was a nuclear threat from Soviet that might've been based on Cuba with missiles aiming to bomb America. On 29 August President John F. Kennedy ordered periodic flights over to Cuba by high-speed, high-altitude U-2 spy planes. A quote that relates and explains more about this is "Although U-2 flights through 7 October showed Soviet antiaircraft missile (SAM) sites under construction and the introduction of Soviet-built patrol boats, they turned up no hard evidence of offensive missile sites or introduction of such missiles" (The Cold War Continued: The Cuban Missile Crisis). The evidence shows that the prior statement confirms Kennedy's swift action to protect the safety of the American people. This led Kennedy to send forces to examine if Cuba actually had missiles; which they didn't. He always made sure that this country was protected. His priorities was straight and he knew exactly what had to be

On October 15, 1962, the United States viewed reconnaissance photographs of Cuba and discovered Soviet missiles which were under construction. The next day President John F. Kennedy was informed of the discovery and the President formed a group of twelve advisors to plan and handle the crisis. The advisors met for seven days to plan a strategy on how to handle the crisis and on October 22, 1962, President Kennedy revealed the crisis to the American public and of his decision to surround and blockade Cuba. President Kennedy also made the announcement that the Soviets would need to remove their missiles from Cuba and any missiles fired from Cuba would be considered a direct threat to and attack on the United States.

Kennedy was informed the the missiles that very same day and his advisors told him that they wanted an air strike followed by an invasion put up in Cuba. Kennedy knew that if the US invaded the Soviets would use their missiles.