Download PBS Video Notes The Cuban Missile Crisis

PBS Video… Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go To War (October 16-29
John Kennedy… President of the United States (1961-1963)
Nikita Khrushchev… Leader of the Soviet Union (1953-1964)
Fidel Castro… Leader of Cuba (1959-2008) (Brother Raul leader 2008-present)
Robert McNamara… Secretary of Defense for President Kennedy
Dean Rusk… Secretary of State for President Kennedy
1. The Cuban Missile Crisis is called “the most dangerous _____ days in the history of mankind.”
2. On October 16, 1962 an American spy plane called a _________ takes pictures of USSR missile silos
on the island of Cuba.
3. At the time of the crisis Khrushchev was 70 years old, was the son of a peasant, and felt he could
___________ the youngest President ever. President Kennedy, the son of a millionaire, would not be
able to rely on personal ______________ to deal with Khrushchev.
4. The US had missiles in __________________ and therefore the USSR wanted to have the same
psychological advantage that the US had in having missiles so near the enemy’s territory. Khrushchev
did not think that President Kennedy had the guts to fight over the issue.
5. One Soviet missile launched on a US city would mean over __________________ citizens would be
killed. Nevertheless the US had a ___ to ____ ratio advantage over the USSR in usable nuclear weapons
at this time. In the event of a total nuclear war between the two super powers all of the USSR would be
destroyed while _______ of the US population would be lost.
6. In ____________ Fidel Castro led and won the Cuban Revolution. In 1960 Castro declared that Cuba
was a “socialist state” and would ally with the ____________. This was a major threat to the United
States because the island is only 90 miles from the southern tip of Florida. Castro knew that the US
would try to overthrow him. This was attempted by John Kennedy during the ____________________
invasion. This led to Castro being willing to accept Soviet missiles for protection from US invasion.
7. Most of the advice that President Kennedy received from his military advisors, including General
Lemay, was to go on the offensive and risk _______________ war over the missiles in Cuba. The military
thought that a naval blockade of Cuba was a ______________ response. They also could not guarantee
the President that a surgical strike could take out 100% of the missiles and that a city in the
southeastern United States would probably be hit by a nuclear strike.
8. On October 22, 1962 President Kennedy went on TV to tell the American people that nuclear war was
possible and that his resolution to the problem was to place a naval ___________________ around
Cuba so that Soviet missiles and military equipment could no longer reach the island.
9. A major issue during the crisis was that _______________________ between governments were
suspect at best. It could take up to _______hours for a telegram to go between Washington DC and
Moscow. This eventually led to a direct hot line between the White House and the Kremlin.
10. It was later discovered that the Soviets had ____________ nuclear missiles in Cuba. These missiles
were capable of 70 to __________ times more destruction than the 2 atomic bombs dropped on
______________ at the end of World War Two.
11. On October 24, 1962 the Soviet ships on the way to Cuba turned around and did not challenge the
US naval ______________. It was later discovered that the Soviet ships were accompanied by Soviet
________________ that actually had torpedoes that were capable of a __________________ explosion.
12. When the Soviet ships turned around, Secretary of State Dean Rusk stated, “We were eyeball to
eyeball and the other guy just ________________.”
13. American U2 spy planes continued to take pictures of the silos in Cuba prompting Adlai Stevenson,
the US ambassador to the _______________________ to openly question the Soviets and their
intentions in Cuba.
14. October 27, 1962 is referred to as _____________ Saturday. The White House received a first letter
from Khrushchev asking that if the US would promise not to invade ____________ then he would
remove the missiles. Before Kennedy could respond a second letter was received asking for the US
missiles in ________________ to be removed as a condition for the removal of the Cuban missiles. The
third communication was that an American Air Force pilot had flown over the north pole and
accidentally flown into _______________ airspace before realizing his mistake.
15. Pilot Rudolf ____________________ was then shot down in his U2 plane by a Soviet surface to air
missile in Cuba. President Kennedy refuses to act immediately deciding to wait to see what would
happen. Operation Raincoat would have to wait until ________________. Castro then communicates
with Khrushchev that he is willing to sacrifice _________________ in the name of socialism. Khrushchev
realizes that Castro is “crazy” and needs to back away from the situation. Meanwhile President Kennedy
realizes that sacrificing the missiles in _________________, which were obsolete, is a fair price to pay
for peace. He ignores his military advisors and tells Khrushchev that the US will secretly remove the US
missiles in Turkey and also promises not to invade Cuba if the Soviets will leave Cuba. The terms of this
agreement still have political, economic, and social implications for US / Cuba relations today.
16. On Sunday October 28, 1962 Radio Moscow broadcasts that the USSR has agreed to remove their
missiles from Cuba. The film declares that ______________ prevented nuclear war. It also states that
the personalities of _________________ and ____________________ made the difference. Both
leaders made good on their _____________________.