Who Was To Blame For The Cuban Missile Crisis

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 in October of 1962 changed the course of the World in the nuclear age forever. The Cuban Missile Crisis represents the closest brink of mutual nuclear destruction the World has ever been close to reaching. The leadership in place throughout the crisis is critical to the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Three men dominated the nations involved in the crisis and captivated citizens of all corners of the world. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy of the United States, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro dominated the airwaves and news circuits leading up to the infamous crisis, which put the three leaders and nations in a cold silence of misperceptions, miscommunications, and unprecedented

With the news and uncertainty of this war possibly bringing upon more than a 100 million American and Russian deaths, our president at the time John F. Kennedy went public with the impending news. Kennedy begun by issuing a public warning against the Soviet Union of entering and prohibited weapons into Cuba. After the initial warning the White House received pictures showing clear cites of nuclear missiles under construction in Cuba from a U-2 aircraft, and the precipitating of the Cuban Missile Crisis begun.

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,

“On October 16, 1962, President Kennedy learned that the Soviet Union was building nuclear missile installations in Cuba” (Pauk, 2009). Over the next 13 days negotiations ensued that involved multiple parties to include the USA, Soviet Union, Cuba, Turkey, and the UN. Tensions were high throughout the negotiations and at many times it appeared that nuclear war was inevitable. One bad move could cost the lives of hundreds of millions.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of those events that held people’s breaths as the possibility of a nuclear war became more probable with every passing second. The whole Western Hemisphere (along with the rest of the world) was to be impacted by such events which made the United States’ commander in chief’s address all that more important. Had John Fitzgerald Kennedy not addressed the people, Cuba, the Soviet Union, and all other countries in an effective manner, the fears of World War III with nuclear weapons would have become a reality. Through his impeccable skills as an orator, John F. Kennedy successfully delivered a speech that informed the country about the current crisis, described the uncertainty of these events, and warned the Soviet Union that any attack will not proceed without consequences.

On October 16th, 1962, President Kennedy was informed about the presence of nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba (White), a direct threat to national security situated 90 miles south of the United States. In context, the event was a domestic challenge for Kennedy, as he had taken a hard stance against Fidel Castro and the presence of a Communist nation in the Western Hemisphere. In his 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy had attacked Richard Nixon, Vice President and the Republican nominee for President, and the Eisenhower administration for allowing Fidel Castro to overthrow the American-favored dictator Fulgencio Batista in the 1959 Cuban Revolution (Fursenko and Naftali, 65). This factored into the events of Kennedy’s administration,

When we ask the question of who is to blame for the Cuban missile crisis,Cuba is the least to blame for causing the crisis. Although Cuba still did played a small part in causing the crisis due to some of its provoking actions and decisions. Firstly, it took over all American businesses by nationalizing them in Cuba in order to receive its profits. Also,it was responsible for for weapons from the USSR, Cuba permitted shipment of Soviet troops, mechanics and defensive weapons. Cuba permitted the offensive nuclear weapons in its country.

Not many events in United States history have ever been as stressful as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The nuclear standoff occurred in October of 1962, and has been remembered by many throughout the past few decades. During this crisis, which lasted nearly two weeks, adults and children alike were taught how to protect themselves and find shelter in the case of an attack, while members of the National Security Council dealt with the possibility of one. Now that the threat has since disappeared, many historians are looking back and researching the event, why it happened, and the logic behind all the decisions made. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian who graduated from Harvard College, gave some great insight to the crisis in his foreword in the

The Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev risked the missile bases for the goal of being in range for a nuclear strike. Khrushchev was apprehensive about the number of nuclear weapons that were targeted at The Soviet Union from countries in Europe and Turkey, so he needed to find away to even out the playing field (Cuban Missile Crisis. History.com). The finding of the missile bases imposed a sense of urgency on the situation. The base unit in Cuba was only ninety miles away from the southern coast of Florida. This information was alarming because the communist were finally capable of reaching the eastern United States. From that moment, President Kennedy knew something that had to be done about the medium-ranged missile sites in Cuba. Both superpowers were aware of the others aggressiveness and assertiveness. This means that once one missile goes off, there will be massive havoc; both sides will strike until they are defeated. If a nuclear missile went off, there could have easily been an end to a civilization. President Kennedy immediately formed a group of advisors and officials. Eventually this group was called the executive committee, or the Excom. From the beginning, the executive committee and Kennedy agreed the missiles in Cuba had to go. The Excom had many different choices of ways they could approach the situation. From bombing the missile bases or a full invasion of Cuba, but their ultimatum was to remove the missile bases from Cuba without stirring up

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.

The early nineteen sixties saw the world go through one of the most stressful and dangerous periods in history: The Cuban Missile Crisis. For thirteen days, the Kennedy administration dealt with the possibility of a nuclear attack by the Soviets in the form of missiles launched from Cuba. Once Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, he allowed the Soviets to bring in nuclear missiles, putting the U.S. in danger. Through perseverance and diplomatic agreement, EXCOMM was able to prevent a catastrophe from occurring. Despite having nearly resulted in the eradication of the human race, the background, events, and aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis were important lessons

Fidel Castro was Prime Minister of Cuba at the time of The Cuban Missile crisis. This crisis was a dispute between the United States and Soviet Union about Cuba’s development of ballistic weapons. It took place from October 16th to the 28th in 1962. The purpose of this investigation is to assess to what extent Fidel Castro played a part in the Cuban Missile crisis. Therefore, Fidel Castro’s actions taken during the crisis must be viewed throughout its many phases. These pivotal moments include the shooting down of the American U-2 plane and the conflict’s final resolution. Research will be conducted using, The National Security Archive on the Cuban Missile crisis and the text Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse.

Originally, the nuclear weapons were sent by Khrushchev, and not Castro. Also, Castro’s involvement in the downing of the U-2 plane, was more than a minor mistake made by the Soviets. As debated by Bonsal, the Crisis was wholly between the United States and the Soviet Union. This perception are able to be justified when the feasibility that Khrushchev could have commissioned Soviet missiles in order to achieve more than the Cuban leaders protection and also recognizing the removal of Castro’s involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis’ consultations. Fidel Castro’s ¨role¨ during the Cuban Missile Crisis, if one should be identified, is that Castro, unknowingly, assisted President Kennedy into persuading Khrushchev to surrender and give in to the United States demands. Castro says, ¨I cannot take the credit for the resolution of the crisis...the major role belongs to Khrushchev who caused that crisis by his stubbornness, and then resolved

24 Carter 20. 25 Robert F. Kennedy, Thirteen Days: a Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis (W.W. Norton and Company, 1969) 23-4. 26 Sheldon M. Stern, The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths Versus Reality (Stanford University Press , 2012) 22. 27 Timothy Naftali and Philip Zelikow, eds., The Presidential Recordings: John F. Kennedy, vol. 2 (New York: W.W. Norton, 2001) 583-84. 28 David Shedden, “Today in Media History: In 1962 President Kennedy Announced the Discovery of Soviet Missiles in Cuba” (Poynter, Poynter Institute, 2 Mar. 2017).