President Kennedy : Overreaction Or Textbook Deterrence?

The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. What was at stake in the crisis, and how do you assess President Kennedy’s response to Khrushchev’s provocation? Was Kennedy prudent or rash, suitably tough or needlessly belligerent?

John F Kennedy begins his speech to the american people with an appeal to logic. He uses Logos to convince his audience by using facts or statistics. He tells his audience that there has been solid proof that the cubans had missiles that “include medium range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of striking Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area.” Kennedy continues his speech by using an ethical appeal to convince the cuban leader of his character. “We have no wish to war with the Soviet Union -- for we are a peaceful people who desire to live in peace with all other peoples.” Kennedy tries to peacefully end this situation by telling the cuban leader that he is a man of his word, he has no plans of using those missiles to attack the soviets and wants to peacefully end this. Finally by the latter half of his speech, Kennedy uses pathos to persuade, the cuban leader, Fidel Castro, by appealing to his emotions. “I have watched and the American people have watched with deep sorrow how your nationalist revolution was betrayed -- and how your fatherland fell under foreign domination.” Once again Kennedy tries to find ways to end this crisis peacefully while at the same time showing his character

President Kennedy came to office with warnings of a missile gap. The Soviets had achieved or were achieving a significant advantage in strategic nuclear weapons. Though tensions ran even higher, "Eisenhower’s strategy of massive retaliation made little sense and did not account for the rapidly growing Soviet nuclear arsenal4. Kennedy's nuclear strategy became known as flexible response. The idea was to acquire the military forces that could deal flexibility with varying levels of Soviet Aggression3. The most serious confrontation between Russia and the US was the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Link to Stephanie's page) Soviet leader Khrushchev attempted to place intermediate range missiles in Cuba. Kennedy responded by imposing a quarantine on Cuba. This resulted in the removal of the Soviet missiles and led to Kennedy making the decision to dismantle U.S. missiles based in Turkey. Some analysts argue that the successful outcome was due to the United States’ nuclear superiority, which proved that strategic superiority offered important political advantages5.

Kennedy had given a speech to the American people where he has said “We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction… Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. We must secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere” (Doc 6). President Kennedy was trying to calm the society by explaining they will be prevent the use of the missiles by withdrawing the Western Hemisphere. During the year of 1962, October 27 Premier Khrushchev stated in a message “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes. We have supplied them to prevent aggression against Cuba … With respect and confidence I accept the statement you set forth in your message of October 27, 1962. You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union” (Doc 8). This message was sent to the U.S after ordering a blockade of all offensive military equipment being sent into

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

Imagine that you are John F. Kennedy in 1962, and you find out that your ally, Cuba, has your enemy, Soviet Union, has ICBMS (intermediate- range ballistic missiles) & Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers, that could reach the United States and aimed toward the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen-day confrontation between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. Cuba had the missiles there for like three months before one of the U.S had a spy plane that figured out that Cuba had the Soviets Missiles. For a while, the U.S had Intel that Cuba had the missiles but JFK did not believe that Cuba was betraying them. These missiles were only ninety miles away from Florida the U.S. issued a military blockade to prevent further missiles from reaching Cuba. When all the offensive missiles and light bombers were taken from Cuba the blockade was initially ended on November 21, 1962. Although the Cuban Missile Crisis ruined relations with the United States of America and Cuba, it impacted the blockade between the United States of America and Cuba, the respect for the United States of America, and the Bay of the Pigs.

Kennedy used was absolutely critical to the fate of not only the nation but the world. During the crisis, the President “spent more time trying to determine the effect of a particular course of action on Khrushchev or the Russians than on any other phase of what he was doing.”(Kennedy 95). By knowing how the Soviet Chairman would react, President Kennedy was able to use the art of persuasion. This is because he did not want to humiliate the Soviet Union in order to prevent the escalation of the potential war. Thus, President Kennedy was reluctant to stop any more Russian ships and use any military tactics against the Soviet Union. He established a profound connection between himself and Khrushchev. They both did not want to unintentionally start a war and wanted to establish the former peaceful relations they had acquired. Each decision that the President made would affect the Soviet Union, and in order to gain their trust, he needed to present himself as a credible and reliable leader. This was parallel to what he wanted to accomplish in the U.S. as well. In order to gain respect and attention from the people, he needed to persuade them that he would be an exemplary leader. Therefore by utilizing logos, ethos, and pathos the President was able to gain respect and attention from the American and the Russian people. These rhetorical devices and the President’s dedication to saving a nation and

The Kennedy Administration adverted many catastrophes during its shortened term using its leader's young mind and ability to negotiate with their peers. The Cold War tested the young John F. Kennedy because he had to stay composed to his country yet control the melt down his administration had just been put through with The Bay of Pigs Invasion. Kennedy had always tried to search for ways to avoid any military actions and he found the correct ways to use language rather than weapons to get his point across to Soviet Russia that he would not tolerate any missiles so close to his country. The Cold War challenged the President even further with the Soviets advances into Cuba to plant new missiles. The Cuban Missile Crisis is etched into

The failures brought upon Kennedy by the Bay of Pigs played a role in shaping way Kennedy sought future advice. The discovery of nuclear missiles provided by the Soviet Union on Cuba offered an even bigger conflict for Kennedy. Had he of used the same advice seeing methods as he used regarding operation ZAPATA nuclear exchanges were not only possible, but also likely. This can be attributed to a more sceptic approach on military intervention. Hesitant to work with the department’s how left him on a limb regarding the Bay of Pigs. An example of Kennedy learning from his mistake is the creation of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council ‘ExComm’ This group of foreign affairs specialist’s, ‘goal was, as he put later, to decide

While it may be true that Fidel Castro had a strong impact on the uprising of the crisis, it is crucial to consider John F. Kennedy as the person most at fault for the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy, America's president at the time, is often been called the most to blame because he overreacted to the missiles in Cuba. The question is if it was an overreaction or just a precaution for the safety and security of the American people. After the CIA spotted the missiles in Cuba, they informed Kennedy and he immediately called for a “quarantine” on Cuba’s eastern coast, setting up a blockade of ships along the coastline. Although many perceive this as an act of safety and protection, it is also easy to say that it was in fact “an act of aggression”

39 United States, Congress, Guided Missile and Astronautics Intelligence Committee. “Supplement 8 to Joint Evaluation of Soviet Missile Threat in Cuba” (CIA, 28 Oct. 1962). 40 Carter 34. 41 John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, “Day 13: Oct. 28.” (Cuban Missile Crisis - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum). 42 Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Democracy in the Dark: the Seduction of Government Secrecy. (The New Press, 2015). 43 Carter 35.

It was in October of 1962 that a U.S. spy plane discovered that the Soviet Union had nuclear equipped missiles placed in the country of Cuba. This was a serious threat to the United States because Cuba was just 90 miles from our shores and Cuba was a close ally of the Soviet Union. President Kennedy was shocked and started right away to secretly meet with his advisors to discuss this big problem. Nuclear equipped missiles could easily reach America being that we were so close to Cuba. He didn’t want the soviet union or cuba to know that he discovered the missiles.There were already tensions between the U.S and Soviets due to the ongoing cold war with the Soviet

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.

When speaking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy said, "It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization” (“Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” 1). the Cuban Missile Crisis was a time where these two men, Kennedy and Khrushchev, had the power in their hands to end civilization. In order to understand the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis one must understand, the Cold war drama; the dangerous crisis; and its importance today.

For this reason, I would like to investigate the extent to which John F. Kennedy’s decision-making process changed from the Bay of Pigs Invasion to the Cuban Missile crisis during his presidency. I chose the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis because the first is an event in John. F. Kennedy’s presidency before he gained experience from this job and the latter is an event from after he was acquainted with the presidential role.