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Introduction
It was in October 16th, 1962 that the legacy of President Jack Kennedy would be achieved. At
around 8:45 in the morning, a series of photographs was presented to him where they
documented on Soviet nuclear missiles that had been installed in western Cuba. Although
Kennedy was at first unsure of Khrushchev's intent it was clear that this was a direct
provocation to the United States and an attempting to tilt the balance of power in the West
(Gaddis). State security analysts projected that the missiles could have been ready for use
within two weeks, meaning that Kennedy had limited time to come up with a plan.
With Soviets being strategically placed at a proximal distance to the United States and with
Nuclear weapons leaders knew that a Soviet aggression elsewhere would be possible as it had
been seen Europe (Gaddis). The president had to act fast and wisely. Thus, on that morning in
October, Kennedy came to terms with his greatest challenge and opportunity as president. He
had the chance to face Nikita Khrushchev and show the world the strength that lied within
United States.
The coming week saw, Kennedy and his top advisers camping in the White House, in topsecret meetings to decide on the best action. There were divergent views on whether it was
necessary to launch a military attack on the Cuban missile sites or to convey a letter to notify
Khrushchev on a U.S. blockade (Schwalbe). On 22ND October, Kennedy gave a televised
speech stating the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba and the instigation of an American
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blockade to stop further shipments of Soviet arms to Cuba. Kennedy made an unwavering
declaration that if any of the missiles was launched onto the Western Hemisphere soil, the US
would launch a full punitive attack on the Soviet Union.
Following this statement, numerous letters, would be exchanged between him and
Khrushchev with Kennedy defending his verdict and Khrushchev angrily condemning the
U.S. for interfering with Cuba and going against the international law. This, however, did not
intimidate Kennedy. By 26th October, the American blockade had proven to be effective.
Soviet ships that were thought to be carrying nuclear weapons were turned back as they risk a
confrontation with American battleships off the coast of Cuba (Dudziak).
Regardless of the success that the blockade gave tension continued to rise between the two
nations. In the event that the Soviet launched a resistance, Kennedy had instructed the
military to be on the standby for a massive air strike on Cuba. On October 27th, Khrushchev
gave Kennedy a deal: he wanted the United States to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey
and the Soviet Union would do the same in Cuba (Dudziak). Willing to take the deal, but
indisposed to publicly yielding to Khrushchev's demands, Kennedy decided to negotiate an
agreement behind closed doors (Dudziak).
The president sent his aides to meet with Soviet Ambassador to the United States and arrange
the for the missile withdrawal from Turkey, under the condition that this plan remained secret
(Gaddis). The Soviet Union agreed to this proposal and shortly after, Kennedy made an
announcement that the United States was going to remove the blockade and not attack Cuba
provided that the Soviet Union took its missiles out of the Communist nation.
This strategy, to discuss the deal both privately and publicly, ended in success. The Cuban
Missile Crisis is often seen as an example of Kennedy's steadfastness by managing a crisis by
through diplomacy and not an iron fist. On October 28th, 1962, Khrushchev came to terms
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with President Kennedy's offer and guaranteed the world of his plans to remove the missiles.
As compared to the Bay of Pigs scenario, the Cuban Missile Crisis showed Kennedys
political expertise and ability to negotiate (Gaddis).
For Jack Kennedy, this crisis was his biggest political achievement. After the Missile Crisis,
the reality of other nuclear attacks loomed in Kennedy's mind, and he felt it necessary to
prevent a future nuclear conflict. Throughout 1963, Kennedy and his group of advisers came
up with a rough proposal for a test and ban treaty which would be sent to American diplomat,
Averill Harriman, who would negotiate for the terms of treaty with Soviet representatives in
Moscow (Gaddis).
On 25th July, the two superpowers came to an agreement to ban the testing of nuclear
weapons in space, air and water however not underground. For that reason, the treaty came to
be known as the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The following day, Kennedy would go on
the television and inform Americans of the proposed treaty and get more support for this
agreement, which was later signed in Moscow. This was a turning point for the SovietAmerican relations.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, people were willing to speak and what was surprising was
the hazard which the Soviet presented. They had stationed four submarines in the Atlantic; all
armed with nuclear-tipped torpedoes ambiguous with instructions to use these weapons
(Gaddis). Soviet troops in Cuba were also armed with tactical nuclear weapons, and also
instructed to attack when they came under any threat from the US. If Kennedy had listened to
the advice from the military and invaded or bombed Cuba, these weapons could have been
used. America had no intelligence on this, and they believed that Soviets had not carried such
weapons (Gaddis).
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The possibilities of an accidental war were also very high especially with the unintended
launch of any missile in Cuba. USA military officials had also been given the go ahead to use
retaliation whenever any nuclear presence was picked up by detectors spread across the
country. What can be seen, however, was that the US had strong backing from its allies,
unlike the Soviets who had been on the wrong side of most powerful countries in Europe and
Asia. If it had culminated in an all-out war, the US could have been able to beat the Soviets
17 to 1, especially with an allied support (Gaddis).
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Works Cited
Dudziak, Mary L. Cold War Civil rights: Race and the image of American democracy. New
York: Princeton University Press, 2011. Document.
Gaddis, John Lewis. We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History. New York: Clarendon
Press, 1997. Book.
Schwalbe, Carol B. "Jacqueline Kennedy and Cold War Propaganda." Journal of
Broadcasting & electronic media (2005): 111-127. Document.