President Kennedy's Execution Essay: The Cuban Missile Crisis

In the early days of the crisis, JFK made a formal declaration to both the nation and to the U.S.S.R that any nuclear weapons launched from Cuba onto any target in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an attack on the US and would warrant a full retaliatory response (“The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962”). He followed up that statement by blocking the transfer of all offensive weapons in route to Cuba (Freidel and Sidey). Kennedy showed the people that he wasn’t going to sit idly by while there was such a large threat to the nation’s safety, he was going to act boldly. After many more stressful days passed, JFK, in an attempt to ensure that the situation didn’t escalate any further, agreed to not attack Cuba if the Soviet Union withdrew all weapons from the island nation (Swift). After 13 grueling days of diplomatic actions, the Soviet Union’s ships left Cuba with their hatches open in order to show the Americans that they were carrying the missiles with them (Swift). Kennedy’s choice to pursue a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis, despite intense Soviet aggression, may have saved countless American lives. John F. Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis boosted his reputation considerably and steered America away from a war with the

Kennedy and Soviet ambassador Dobrynin. It describes how Robert searched to appease the embassador by ensuring the United States did not wish for a conflict, their decision to blockade was forced by the aggression. But that the U.S. would eventually retrieve missiles close to the Soviet Union and intended to do so even before the crisis began. The courage Robert Kennedy had, to represent the American people in a time of increasing hostilities is a perfect demonstration of political courage. He spoke efficiently, made quick decisions and managed to bring the tensions down into civilized relations between

The book covers and observes the events that took place from October 16th, 1962 to October 28th, 1962. It shows how ExComm was able to, with quick and intuitive thinking, persevere through even the toughest moments in the crisis. The book only covers the American point of view, from Robert Kennedy’s eyes and into the meeting room of Excomm. Robert Kennedy John F. Kennedy’s younger brother and attorney general, and soon senator. Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 5th, 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan.From the Russian point of view, Max Frankel writes that one day, while the Soviet leader, Nikita S. Khrushchev wasn’t doing anything in particular, when suddenly, the idea of sending missiles to Cuba popped in his head. His reasoning was that if the Americans could have missiles pointed at Russia from Turkey, it should be acceptable that they could have missiles in Cuba pointed at them. So it began, missiles were sent to Cuba as inconspicuously as possible. For about a month, they secretly assembled and built up missiles in Cuba. Only a few people were told of the plan. Khrushchev planned to reveal the missiles in November, after the congressional elections, because the Americans would “make a fuss, make more fuss, and then accept.” (11,

After learning the American history in from 1960s to 1970s, During John F. Kennedy administration, the Cuban missile crisis is attractive for me, but only did because the Cuban missile crisis was a watershed in the Soviet-American relationship, but also the brinkmanship is a special military policy, which was created in the crisis. The Cuban missile crisis also was considered as John F. Kennedy’s finest hour. Since we are living in a world where so many potential and uncertain nuclear deterrence and threats surround us, we still should strengthen our awareness to study the Cuban missile crisis. After I did some researches about this topic, I found that during more than fifty years, the Cuban missile crisis has been one of the most intensely

Kennedy also demanded a withdrawal of all the soviet missiles on cuba. This danger was a serious threat because the soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said that they would not send offensive weapons to cuba after the Bay of pigs and this made it clear that he was lying. Kennedy knew the gravest dangers were at hand and was shocked to find this out. It was such a danger because Cuba was only 90 miles away from Florida, this would be an advantage for the soviet union. He responded with a naval blockade surrounding Cuba. This is technically an act of war so they only stopped the missile carrying ships, the Soviet union was very mad so he wrote a letter to Kennedy “The violation of freedom to use international waters and international airspace is an act of aggression which pushes mankind toward the abyss of world nuclear missile war” It was a very tense time where both leaders were ready to launch an attack. With Kennedy demanding the removal of the missiles the soviet union would not budge. Another

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a crucial moment in American history. As tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union rose, so did the risk of nuclear war. The Soviets, under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, were in a position to strike the United States with nuclear missiles based in Cuba. This uncertain time caused much concern for the citizens of the United States and its President, John F. Kennedy (Brubaker, 2001).

The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the Cold War directly to America’s doorstep. This event marks the only real threat during the Cold War to America itself and not just America’s interests in various countries around the world. Before the events in Cuba, the fighting had been contained to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. This event marked the first time that communism posed a direct threat to the American homeland and put the United States itself at risk of an attack. President Kennedy knew that long-range missile sites in Cuba posed a direct threat to American security and had to be removed. Instead of bombing the sites or using ground troops to remove them, he opted to blockade the island to prevent the Soviet Union from delivering any more

And, after he was advised he was given advice from him assistant and the head general of the military. The general was war-hungry opposed to Kennedy’s assistant, which wanted to benefit everyone, but at the same time wanted to keep Cuba happy with the U.S. According to Fortune.com President Kennedy had negotiated with the Soviet Union in order to stop Cuban missiles from firing (Kimbell 2017). Yes, this was an extremely close downfall for the United States and President Kennedy being in his position as president, and having control over military

In Thirteen Days, Robert Kennedy recollects his time with President John F. Kennedy in handling the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis, as described in Thirteen Days, started on October 16, 1962. President John F. Kennedy was provided with a photograph that gave little evidence of a missile base. The whole area was about the size of a football field and, to many of the cabinet, seemed like nothing. Kruschev, the chairman of the USSR said that there was nothing to worry about. When real proof was provided, the lies of Kruschev were exposed, and Robert Kennedy said, “I now know how Tojo felt when he was planning Pearl Harbor” (Kennedy, 25).

Khrushchev sent President Kennedy an extensive message that raised the specter of nuclear holocaust, and presented a proposed resolution. “If there is no intention to doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war, then let us not only relax the forces pulling on the ends of the rope, let us take measures to unite that knot. We are ready for this.” Both leaders realized the overwhelmingly destructive possibility of a nuclear war and publicly agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would dismantle the weapons sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States not to invade Cuba. President John F. Kennedy agreed in a separate secret deal to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey in order to keep both leaders dignity. This concluded the massive disastrous nuclear war that could have happened and killed over one hundred million people in each country. (National Archives)(U.S. Department of State Office of the

In 1959 Fidel Castro led a successful revolution that overthrew the Cuban government, placing him in total control. During this time America had considered “ Central America - and the Caribbean - as its own ‘backyard’”, and therefore, when they saw a communist running the Cuban government tensions began to build (Todd 140). Eventually, in 1960 Castro led Cuba into an economic deal with the Soviet Union (or USSR), as a result of this American and Cuban relations were completely cut off (Dobbs 12-18). A year later President John F. Kennedy was elected with hopes to be stricter against communist countries like Cuba. Meanwhile, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev had made a deal with Castro to supply weapons to form a Cuban Army. In an attempt to

One of the scariest moments in the history of the United States is the day Soviet Missiles were found in Cuba. For thirteen days, President Kennedy and Americans sat in fear of what the Soviets and Cuba would do next. The Cuban Missile Crisis is not only one of the most dangerous struggles in American history, but also one that taught the upper level members of the government, including the president, lessons about dealing with a conflict of this nature. In the midst of the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and the United States were the closest they have ever been to a nuclear war. When the missiles were finally taken off of Cuban land, the U.S. was finally at peace and realized that action needed to be taken. After

John F. Kennedy said at the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 that, “It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.” (Kennedy, 1963). The Cuban missile crisis was a detrimental event in the course of history. On October 22nd, 1962, John F. Kennedy gave his Cuban missile crisis oval office address. Kennedy gave this speech to inform Americans about the nuclear missile sites that the Soviet Union established in the island of Cuba. (Kennedy, President Kennedy 's Cuban Missile Crisis Oval Office Address, 1962) I chose this speech because did I not only find it very interesting, but it described very well the events that were happening at the time. In addition, the way that Kennedy informed the public and presented the speech was great in getting their attention and presenting the facts. Kennedy’s speech was televised and radio transmitted in order to better reach the general public. My father, having lived in Cuba during the Cold war and the Cuban missile crisis, has told me many stories about how life was like in the country and things that were going on. However, there was only so much that he could remember and was able to tell me. Due to this I decided to choose this speech in order to learn more about the situation in which my father grew up in and how this affected not only the later years in his life but also the ones of the other people in both Cuba and the United States. I also

It wasn’t until early October 1962, when it had come to my attention that the decisions I were to make in the future had never been valued with such crucial importance. These decisions could essentially result in the mass destruction of entire societies and inescapably produce a nuclear war. Looking back now, I realize the Cuban Missile Crisis was an extreme pivotal moment in the Cold War. 6 months ago my own country, the United States of America, had never been so close to Armageddon with the Soviet Union.

In the end, the crisis could have ended being a devastation to the Western Hemisphere, but luckily both Kennedy and Khrushchev were reasonable men that didn't act out on impulse. During an interview documented by USNI News, Sergei Khrushchev stated, “We have to negotiate with our adversaries and enemies. If you negotiate with them, you can impose your influence on them. You will be able to explain to them and understand their position and sooner or later find some peaceful resolution. Imposing sanctions and unconditional surrenders it is not really a productive way to negotiate. You negotiate with your enemies, not with your friends…” To summarize, the Cuban Missile Crisis will teach future generations about negotiating and finding reasonable resolutions to dissolve