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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Michael Massa
Virginia Commonwealth University
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was born May 29, 1917 in
Brookline, MA. Kennedy served in World War II. Later Kennedy served as a member of the
House of Representatives and then the United States Senate. Often referred to by his initials,
J.F.K., Kennedy was president from 1961 till his assassination in Dallas, TX in 1963.
The 13 day confrontation in October, 1962 with Russia and Cuba on one side and the
United States of America on the other side, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, has been
identified by many as a time when the Cold War came closest to nuclear war (Marfleet, 2000).
Decisions made by the Kennedy Administration would weigh heavy on the possibility of nuclear
war. Fear of massive mutual assumed destruction spread across the both hemispheres.
The crisis was an adaptive challenge for Kennedy as there was no preexisting protocol,
resources, remedies, tools, or solutions to help guide the leadership teams of both countries
involved (Drath, 2011). The challenge to President Kennedy was twofold. Kennedy would need
to make the best decision possible to avoid a massive tragedy. Kennedy would also need to exert
a sense of strong, bold leadership in front of both his experienced military counsel and a nation
that had been embarrassed as a result of his leadership in the Bay of Pigs invasion (Grattan,
2004).
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Tensions Rise
Following the Korean War and failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, tension and mistrust
between the United States of America and Russia were at an all-time high (Brophy &Paterson,
1983). Continuing Dwight Eisenhower’s earlier containment strategy, by the early 1960s, the
United States had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, positioned to strike Moscow. Soviet
Premier Nikita Khrushchev alerted to the construction of the missile sites in Turkey, contacted
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and forged an agreement to install Russian Nuclear missiles in Cuba
pointed at the East Coast of the United States.
Challenge for a Young Leader
Preparations for the construction of the missile site in Cuba were reported to President
Kennedy by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The United States sent a military spy plane over
Cuba verifying the presence of nuclear weapons in Cuba through photographs. The United
States proposed direct military action against the island nation through sea and air attacks but
ultimately decided that a military blockade would be more prudent (McKeown, 2001).
Kennedy suffered a major embarrassment earlier in his presidency by the defeat and
capture of American soldiers in the Bay of Pigs invasion (McKeown, 2001). Due to the earlier
defeat, Kennedy may have been reluctant to directly attack Cuba for a second time (McKeown,
2001). The United States announced that no weapons would be permitted into Cuba through the
blockade unless the missiles were disassembled and returned to the Soviet Union. Kennedy
received a letter from Khrushchev after the blockade stating that the United States had illegally
formed the blockade in international waters and air space and that such an act could lead to
nuclear war (Khrushchev, 2010).
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
While Kennedy and Khrushchev were in negotiations through the United Nations, several
Soviet ships tried to break through the blockade. As a result American ships were ordered to fire
upon any ships that would again try and sail through the blockade. The Soviet Union also fired
upon, and destroyed a United States military plane. At this point, Kennedy assembled his 9
member Executive Committee of the National Security Council to come up with different
strategies while the United States and the Soviet Union sat on the brink of Nuclear War. The
options given to the President ranged from no reaction, diplomatic pressure toward the Soviet
Union, to attacking Cuba and overthrowing Fidel Castro (JFK Presidential Library, 2011). The
Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that the President give the order to attack and take over Cuba.
John F. Kennedy had the most important decision of his presidency to make. A wrong decision
could lead to massive destruction and insurmountable loss of life.
Kennedy’s Reaction
While Kennedy continued to receive suggestions of full scale assault on Cuba from his
Joint Chiefs of Staff and some members of his cabinet, he was having secret communication with
representatives from Moscow. It was important that while Kennedy was negotiating with the
Soviets, he continued to show strength and willingness to project American power abroad
(Paterson, 1986). This was important as Americans had come to expect this of their President’s
foreign policy after Truman. (Paterson, 1986).
The Cuban Missile Crisis ended on October 28th, 1962. Kennedy had agreed to remove
United States missiles from sites in Turkey and Italy in exchange for the removal of the Soviet
missiles in Cuba. Kennedy held the meetings in secret due to the hardline position of his Joint
Chiefs and the extremely delicate nature of the standoff.
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy’s decision is an example of a leader who used relational dialogue to overcome
and adaptive challenge. The principle of rational dialogue recognizes leadership as an embracing
of differences, and an openness to the continuous unfolding of possibility (Drath, 2011)
Kennedy, his cabinet, and his military advisors were committed to solving the crisis due the
participation in an unknown future (Drath, 2011). In this case Kennedy used the tool of symbol
in executing relational dialogue. Kennedy understood that the American people and his military
advisors wanted a strong show of force in the face of the Soviet threat. Kennedy, understanding
the political need to deliver such a force placed a major blockade around the island of Cuba, flew
war planes over the island nation, and used strong and precise rhetoric when discussing military
options to the media. Kennedy did this, aware that the symbol of strength was a political
necessity. While the world saw the show of strength, it would not be aware of the negotiations
until years later when tapes and transcripts were declassified.
Kennedy’s Success
Kennedy was ultimately successful in his resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Immediately after the crisis, observers characterized it as a textbook case of the appropriate use
of force (Marfleet, 2000). Kennedy had been victorious in steering the country away from the
massive destruction and horrors of nuclear war. Kennedy also had a symbolic victory, through
use of relational dialogue in the face of an adaptive challenge, by creating a symbolic perception
of strong and reassuring leadership in a time of crisis. Many scholars and experts in crisis
management described the resolution as one of the calmest, coolest, most measured and laudable
examples of exerting rational control over a complex and dangerous international situation
(Pious, 2001). The disparity between Kennedy’s public and private aspects of the handling of
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
the crisis were quite large. Kennedy negotiated in a quid pro quo manner while the perception of
the public was a military ultimatum that forced Soviet withdrawal (Marfleet, 2000).
For thirteen days in 1962, Kennedy, the youngest American President, had masterfully
adapted and overcome one of the most daunting threats to American citizens in history.
Kennedy utilized his strengths in relational dialogue to solve the adaptive challenge through
calm negotiation, while also navigating through a political framework. At the end of the conflict
no blood was spilled, no military action occurred, and Kennedy had strengthened public
perception of American Strength.
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
References
Drath, W. (2001). The deep blue sea: Rethinking the source of leadership. (1st ed., pp. 25-27).
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Brophy, W. J., & Paterson, T.G. (1983). October missiles and November elections: The Cuban
Missile Crisis and American politics, 1962, Journal of American History, 73(1), 87-119
Grattan, R. F. (2004). The Cuban Missile Crisis: Strategy formulation in action. Management
Decision, 42(1), 55-68
Library of Congress, (2010), Khrushchev letter to President Kennedy (Moscow 24 October
1962)
Marfleet, B.G. (2000). The operational code of John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile
Crisis: A comparison of public and private rhetoric. Political Psychology, 21(3), 51-55
McKeown, T.J. (2001). Plans and routines, bureaucratic bargaining and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Journal of Politics, 63(4), 1163
National Security Council. (2011). National security action memorandum (196). Boston, MA:
JFK Presidential Library and Museum.
Paterson, T.G. (1986). The origins of the cold war. OAH Magazine of History, 2(1), 5-9, 18.
Pious, R. M. (2001). The Cuban Missile Crisis and the limits of crisis management. Political
Science Quarterly, 116(1), 81-105
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John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
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