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[Surname] 1 [Student’s Name] [Tutor’s Name] [Subject Title] [Date] 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 [Surname] 2 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 [Surname] 3 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). [Surname] 4 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). [Surname] 5 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. 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