The Cuban Missile Crisis At

Home , EXCOMM, Operation Mongoose, Robert McNamara

92 the Most Dangerous rom Being Learnedfrom Five Decadeslater, 50 Lessons areS missile By PeterKornbluh Days inHistory cuban crisis the at till till I “we no longer live in a world where “we nolongerliveinaworldwhere words duringthemissilecrisis— 7 speech,citingJohnF. Kennedy’s cloud,” hedeclaredinanOctober come intheformofamushroom the smokinggun—thatcould cannot waitforthefinalproof— weapons ofmassdestruction.“We out SaddamHussein’s purported tive strikewaswarrantedtotake missile crisis wasthatapreemp- ous momentinhumanhistory.’’ Cold War. Itwasthemostdanger most dangerousmomentofthe Fidel Castro.“Thiswasnotonlythe international conferencehostedby sor andrenownedhistorian,atthe Schlesinger Jr., atopKennedyadvi - learned,’’ observedArthurM. sile crisis.“Therearelessonstobe 40th anniversaryoftheCubanmis- in Havanatocommemoratethe nedy WhiteHouseaidesgathered Iraq, anelitegroupofformerKen- For Bush,thekeylessonof prepared fortheinvasionof dent GeorgeW. Bushopenly n Octoberof2002,asPresi- - for thepresent.Adecadeago the history continuestoholdlessons brink ofnuclearwaritsdramatic crisis brought the world to the Fifty yearsaftertheCubanmissile Post, “Iwouldflunkhiminhistory.” Schlesinger toldtheWashington President Bushwashisstudent, Secretary Robert McNamara. If preemption,” statedformerDefense preemption. Itwasthereverseof nedy’s strategyin1962“wasnot ruled outapreemptivestrike.”Ken- strike, becauseJFKhadspecifically intended tojustifyapreemptive cited, clarifiedthattheywere“not who had drafted the very words Bush dore Sorensen,JFK’s speechwriter misappropriation ofthepast.Theo- quickly challengedthePresident’s forthcoming attackonIraq. maximum peril”—tojustifythe a nation’s securitytoconstitute represents asufficient challenge to only theactualfiringofweapons From Cuba, Kennedy’s aides •

this page: Alan Oxley/Getty Images; opposite: Abbie Rowe/PhotoQuest/Getty Images

photo credit tk territory inSeptember1962. States offiringonCuban page, accusestheUnited crisis. FidelCastro, opposite during theCubanmissile military equipmenttoCuba interdict thedeliveryof allowing U.S.warshipsto signs aproclamation President JohnF.Kennedy 93 92 the Most Dangerous rom Being Learnedfrom Five Decadeslater, 50 Lessons areS missile By PeterKornbluh Days inHistory cuban crisis the at till till I “we no longer live in a world where “we nolongerliveinaworldwhere words duringthemissilecrisis— 7 speech,citingJohnF. Kennedy’s cloud,” hedeclaredinanOctober come intheformofamushroom the smokinggun—thatcould cannot waitforthefinalproof— weapons ofmassdestruction.“We out SaddamHussein’s purported tive strikewaswarrantedtotake missile crisis wasthatapreemp- ous momentinhumanhistory.’’ Cold War. Itwasthemostdanger most dangerousmomentofthe Fidel Castro.“Thiswasnotonlythe international conferencehostedby sor andrenownedhistorian,atthe Schlesinger Jr., atopKennedyadvi - learned,’’ observedArthurM. sile crisis.“Therearelessonstobe 40th anniversaryoftheCubanmis- in Havanatocommemoratethe nedy WhiteHouseaidesgathered Iraq, anelitegroupofformerKen- For Bush,thekeylessonof prepared fortheinvasionof dent GeorgeW. Bushopenly n Octoberof2002,asPresi- - for thepresent.Adecadeago the history continuestoholdlessons brink ofnuclearwaritsdramatic crisis brought the world to the Fifty yearsaftertheCubanmissile Post, “Iwouldflunkhiminhistory.” Schlesinger toldtheWashington President Bushwashisstudent, Secretary Robert McNamara. If preemption,” statedformerDefense preemption. Itwasthereverseof nedy’s strategyin1962“wasnot ruled outapreemptivestrike.”Ken- strike, becauseJFKhadspecifically intended tojustifyapreemptive cited, clarifiedthattheywere“not who had drafted the very words Bush dore Sorensen,JFK’s speechwriter misappropriation ofthepast.Theo- quickly challengedthePresident’s forthcoming attackonIraq. maximum peril”—tojustifythe a nation’s securitytoconstitute represents asufficient challenge to only theactualfiringofweapons From Cuba, Kennedy’s aides •

this page: Alan Oxley/Getty Images; opposite: Abbie Rowe/PhotoQuest/Getty Images

photo credit tk territory inSeptember1962. States offiringonCuban page, accusestheUnited crisis. FidelCastro, opposite during theCubanmissile military equipmenttoCuba interdict thedeliveryof allowing U.S.warshipsto signs aproclamation President JohnF.Kennedy 93 94 Havana overwithdrawingthose cruisemissiles,andotherbattlefield seen Sovietdocumentsthatrecord thestrugglebetweenMoscowand Mikoyan andeditedbySvetlana Savranskaya,drawsonnever-before- Mikoyan, Kennedy, Khrushchevandthe MissilesofNovember,bySergo Another bookpublishedthis fall,The Soviet CubanMissileCrisis: Castro, naval base at Guantanamo Bay in anticipation of a U.S. invasion. and, attheheightofcrisis,positionedthoseweaponsnear theU.S. Soviets secretly brought dozens of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles to Cuba, War Minute toMidnight:Kennedy, KhrushchevandCastroontheBrinkofNuclear A recentbookbytheintrepidinvestigativereporterMichaelDobbs, One analysts andhistorianstorevisitrevisetheeventsofOctober 1962. from allthreenations,thenarrativeofconflicthasevolved, allowing mer USSRandtheU.S.alongwithnewlydeclassifieddocumentation Havana, whichbroughttogethersurvivingofficialsfromCuba, thefor remain secretandsealed.Evenso,inthedecadesinceconference accounting ofthemissilecrisis,significantpartshistoricalrecord the lessonsofcrisis,nevertheless,continues. of thecrisisforcurrentdayconflicts.Thesearchafullappreciation Sorensen andMcNamaraarenolongerheretopointouttheimplications are openly debating a preemptive strike against Iran. Sadly, Schlesinger, theUnitedStatesandIsrael sabers ofwarwererattlingoverIraq;today Incredibly, despite thecurrentglobalimportanceforacomplete , for example, has revealed that besides the ballistic missiles, the -

missile siteinCubathatsetofftheU.S.–Sovietconfrontation. of StaffCurtisLeMay. Bottom,aU-2spyplanephotoofSovietballistic Secretary RobertMcNamara.Top right,KennedywithAirForce Chief missile crisiswereSecretaryofStateDeanRusk,left,andDefense Top left,twoofPresidentKennedy’sclosestadvisersduringtheCuban Soviets wouldcounterattackin Berlinorelsewhere. on thenuclearinstallationsand otherbasesinCuba,andwhetherthe ExComm’s initialdiscussionsfocusedonamassiveU.S.military assault against Cuba, starting with an air attack against the missiles.” The Soviet shipscarryingweapons to Cuba;and3)“militaryactiondirected Castro,” and “approaching Khrushchev”; 2) a naval blockade to stop him with threebasicoptions:l)apolitical optionof“approaching strategic response.HisSecretaryofDefenseRobertMcNamara, presented executive committeeofficiallyknownasthe“ExComm”—to discuss a missiles wouldbecome“fullyoperationalwithintwoweeks.” targets over2,800milesawayintheUnitedStates.TheCIAestimated the soon revealed bases for intermediate-range missiles capable of striking ballistic missile[MRBM]sitesontheisland.Additionalphotointelligence special transport trucks—that proved the existence of medium Center spottedhardevidence—imagesoflaunchers,missiles,trailersand next day, analysts attheCIA’s NationalPhotographicInterpretation newly constructedinstallationsandcampsintheCubancountryside.The a U-2spyplanesnappedhundredsofreconnaissancephotosseries official startingpointofthemissilecrisiscameonOctober14,1962,when which wasintendedtoleadanotherU.S.invasionofCuba.Butthe Pigs, andthesubsequentcovertprogramknownas“OperationMongoose” soil, datesbacktotheApril1961CIA-ledparamilitaryassaultatBayof deterrent toCuba,andCastro’s decision todeploythemissilesonCuban The genesis of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s offer of a nuclear THE OFFICIALS confrontation that they themselves had inadvertently unleashed. confrontation thattheythemselveshadinadvertentlyunleashed. were tousingcreativediplomacystoptheforcesofafinalCold War major newdetailsonhowcommittedbothKennedyandKhrushchev came toatomicArmageddon.Butthedeclassifiedrecordhasalsorevealed nuclear weaponsystemsthattheCIAneverdetectedinCuba. On October16,Kennedygatheredaselectgroupofadvisors—an These new revelations remind us of how terrifyingly close the world These newrevelationsremindusofhowterrifyinglyclosetheworld TORY -range

clockwise from top left: Paul Schutzer/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images; Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Time Life Pictures/Department Of Defense (DOD)/Getty Images Ralph Crane/Life Magazine/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images televised speechtotheAmericanpeopleinwhichheannounceddiscoveryofSovietnuclearmissilesCuba. In oneofthemostdramaticpublicmomentsduringCubanmissile crisis,shoppersinadepartmentstorewatchPresidentKennedy’snationally out. “You aretalkingaboutthedestruction of acountry.” some 70millionAmericanscould bekilled,PresidentKennedypointed mand, seemedtobelieveanuclear warwaswinnable.Ifthemissilesflew, famous movie,Dr. Strangelove—who had3,000missilesunder hiscom- for the unhingedmodel military officer Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s appeasement. Thecigar-chomping General—LeMayservedastherole missiles, Air Force General Curtis LeMay accused him of aMunich-style the blockadeoptiontobuytimenegotiatewithdrawal ofthe airstrikes—followed byamassiveinvasion.AsKennedyleaned toward of Cuba—morethan1,000sortieswereplannedforthefirst two daysof aides andtheJointChiefsofStafftoauthorizeaweekcarpet bombing do welivein?How, howdowestopatthatpoint?” it… Afterwe’velaunchedfiftytoahundredsorties,whatkind ofworld kind ofaworldweliveinafterwe’vestruckCuba,andwe, started concerns expressed bySecretaryMcNamara.“I don’t know quite what quences,” as Kennedy’s secret Oval Office taping system captured the doomsday scenario?“Idon’t believewehaveconsideredtheconse- Cubans, set off aspiral of superpower aggression leading to the ultimate when theactualnumberwas42,000—andmanymorethousandsof —the CIAestimated8,000Soviettroopsandtechniciansontheisland That questionplaguedthepresidentasheresistedpressurefrom top Would aU.S.attackonCubakilling thousandsofSovietpersonnel

blockade andmassivebuild-up ofaninvasionforcewithdiplomacyfora showdown, PresidentKennedy pursuedastrategycombiningthenaval us toallmeetinHell,it’s uptoyou. Knox, whobecamethefirstemissary inthemissilecrisis.“Butifyouwant according toDobbs’book. U.S. GuantanamoNavalBasewould“disappearthefirstday,” hewarned, threat of future U.S. invasions. If the Americans now attackedCuba,the on October 24. But they were meant to defend the revolution against the Westinghouse ElectricInternationalwhohappenedtobevisitingMoscow sent missilestoCuba,heprivatelytoldWilliam Knox,thepresidentof demanded thatKhrushchev“haltandeliminate”thisthreattoworld peace. nounced a“strictquarantine”againstshipscarryingweaponsto Cuba,and which cannot be accepted by this country,” the President stated. He an is a deliberatively provocative and unjustified change in the status quo sion tostationstrategicweaponsforthefirsttimeoutsideofSovietsoil Cuba, hetoldthenationandworld.“[T]hissudden,clandestinedeci- had “unmistakableevidence”ofoffensivemissilebasesontheisland times.TheU.S.now the mostdramatic18-minutespeechesinmodern During the ensuing six days of the increasingly dangerous superpower During theensuingsixdaysof increasinglydangeroussuperpower “I’m notinterestedinthedestructionofworld,”heinformed Khrushchev’s firstreactionwastoissuethreatsofhisown. Yes, hehad At 7pmonOctober22,Kennedywenttelevisiontogiveoneof 97 - 100 at allcosts.InCuba,aU-2spyplane wasshotdownbyaSovietanti-aircraftbatteryattheheight ofthemissilecrisis,furtherincreasingtensions. With theworldonbrinkofWorld War III,agroupcalledWomen StrikeforPeacedemonstratedinNewYork andurgedPresidentKennedy toavertwar USSR. InstalledduringtheEisenhoweradministration,Jupitershad strength of the Hiroshima bomb, based along Turkey’s frontier with the range “Jupiter” missiles, each with a nuclear warhead 100 times the Cuban missiles,hedemandedtheU.S.dismantleitsbatteryof15medium- Radio MoscowtoKennedy upping the ante: in return for withdrawing the question ofarmamentswoulddisappear.” would give“assurances”ofnofutureinvasionsCuba,“thentoo,the that had prompted the Soviets to position the missiles there; if the U.S. it wastheconstant“threatofarmedattackandaggression”againstCuba message fromKhrushchevtoKennedyarrivedthesamedaystatingthat guarantee by Washington as a basis to withdraw the missiles. A private suggested thattheKremlinmightconsideranon-invasionofCuba Soviet KGBagentmeetingwithABCNewscorrespondentJohnScali “eyeball” confrontationonthehighseasnevertookplace.) miles away and,onKhrushchev’s orders, already returning to Russia; this Dobbs provesinOneMinutetoMidnight,thetwoshipswerehundredsof most iconic,iferroneous,representationofthemissilecrisis.(Infact,as statement thatbecamethe Rusk told the ExComm—a fellow justblinked,”Secretary eyeball, andIthinktheother around. “We’re eyeballto ships hadstoppedorturned line, theCIAreportedthat approaching thequarantine believed tobecarryingweapons destroyers of two Soviet freighters perilous interception by U.S. awaited the first potentially 24, justasKennedyandhisaides political settlement.OnOctober The next day, however, Khrushchev broadcast apublicmessage on On October26,aglimmerofhopeforresolutionemergedwhen

the destruction But ifyou want Nikit us allto meet of theworld intereste d in up to you. a Khrushchev in hell, it’s in hell,it’s “ I’m not ” . .

could be avoided: could beavoided: an ally—Kennedyrevealedthathewasthinkingaheadtoacrisis the NATO alliancewouldbeweakened;andTurkey wouldbeinsultedas such adeal—theU.S.wouldbeseenascapitulatingtonuclearblackmail; in Turkey fortheSovietmissilesinCuba.Whenhisaidesarguedagainst non-invasion pledge and discuss the merits of swapping the U.S. missiles Kennedy convenedtheExCommtoworkoutlanguageforadealon acceptable way to dismantle the missile sites in Cuba. In Washington, convened thePolitburoandmadeitclearhewaslookingforapolitically chev redoubledtheireffortstofindasolution.InMoscow, Khrushchev rather thansurfaceandsurrender. had brokenoutandconsideredarminglaunchingthenuclearweapon, Unable tocommunicatewithMoscow, thesub’s captainbelievedthatwar Foxtrot submarine,unawarethatitcarriedanucleartippedtorpedo. on thehighseas,U.S.navalwarshipsdroppeddepthchargesaSoviet Moscow wasstruck.Finally, inadirectanddramaticmilitaryconfrontation and thatKhrushchevshouldconsiderlaunchinghismissilesbefore U.S. invasion of Cuba was eminent, that Russia would be attacked next, ther increased by a message he received from Fidel Castro arguing that a U.S. waspreparingforanattack there; Khrushchev’s anxieties were fur “provocation,” astheKremlininterpretedit,thatsetoffalarms Pole andstrayeddeepintoSovietterritoryovertheChukotPeninsula,a on amissiontogatherairsamplesofSovietnucleartestsfromtheNorth casualty oftheconflict.UnbeknownsttoKennedy, anotherU-2setout U.S. attack;thepilot,MajorRudolfAnderson,becameonemilitary Soviet andCubandefensivepositionsasCubapreparedforanexpected unit shotdownaU-2spyplanethathadtakensurveillancephotosof Later thatday, without ordersfromKhrushchev, aRussiananti-aircraft known as“BlackSaturday,” thatdramaticallyescalatedthedangerofwar. the sametimeasKhrushchev had decidedtoofferSoviet missilestoCuba. become operationalinMarch1962,perhapsnot by coincidence around As eventsseemedtospinoutofcontrol,bothKennedyandKhrush- This demandwasoneofaseriesunexpectedeventsonOctober27, -

left: Underwood Archives/Getty Images; right: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Alan Oxley/Getty Images Malecon, toprotectthecityfromaU.S.aerialattack.InbackgroundisHotelRiviera,whichwasprominentbuildingpre-Castro era. During theU.S.–SovietconfrontationovermissilesinCuba,anti-aircraft gunswereonprominentdisplayalongHavana’sseasidepromenade,the Jupiter missiles. missiles. Jupiter arrangement regarding‘otherarmaments…’ the communiqué stated, “would enable us to worktowardamore general invade Cuba.“Theeffectofsuchasettlementoneasingworldtensions,” as hewasdressingtoattendChurch. The newsreachedPresidentKennedy inhisbedroomattheWhiteHouse describe asoffensive,andtocrate andreturnthemtotheSovietUnion.” announcer read,“hasgivena new ordertodismantletheweaponsyou Moscow broadcastKhrushchev’s reply:“TheSovietgovernment,” the the essenceforapositiveSovietresponse. Kennedy said. He made it clear to the Russian diplomat that time was of never publiclyacknowledgethatsuchaquidproquohadbeen made, would bedonelater, “withinfourtofivemonths.” Washington would secretly swaptheTurkish missilesfortheCubanbutthatthis into Cuba,theU.S.wouldliftnavalblockadeandpledgenotto sion andguaranteedoffensiveweaponswouldneveragainbeintroduced Anatoly Dobrynin:iftheSovietsremovedmissilesunderUNsupervi- personally deliveracarefullywordedproposaltoSovietAmbassador The nextdayat5pmMoscowtime/9amWashington time,Radio Privately, RobertKennedyinformedDobryninthattheU.S.would On theeveningofOctober27Kennedysenthisbrother, Robert,to but it’s notgoingtoafterwedosomething. tion.’ .That’s thedifficulty. itsoundsgreattorejectit, Today everybody’s goingtosay:‘Well, proposi- thatwasaprettygood When theystartthesethingsand[theSoviets]grabBerlin, starts toflow, andthat’s whatisgoingtohappenNATO. all knowhowquicklyeverybody’s couragegoeswhentheblood invasion, allbecausewewouldn’t takemissilesoutofTurkey. We day orso,whichis500 sorties, andsevendays,possiblyan I’m just thinking about what we’re going to have to do in a I’m justthinkingaboutwhatwe’regoingtohavedoina ” an oblique reference to the ” anobliquereferencetothe

Stevenson, asanappeaserforrecommendingthatKennedy consider member ofKennedy’s crisismanagementteam,UNAmbassadorAdlai any rumorsofaquidproquo,anonymousaidespaintedthemost liberal a gameofnuclearbrinkmanship,andtheSovietshadblinked.Dispelling U.S. resolve.Kennedyhadgone“eyeballtoeyeball”withKhrushchevin Stewart Alsop,describedhowtheSovietshadbackeddowninfaceof dent, andaccesstohistopaides,theauthors,CharlesBartlett Cuban missilecrisis.Basedonanoff-the-recordinterviewwiththePresi- article, “InTime ofCrisis,”whichestablishedtheofficialnarrativeon mystique andmythologyaroundthefactshandlingofconflict. the crisis fully abated, the Kennedy administration set about creating a weapons systemstheSovietshadsecretlybroughttoCuba.Evenbefore Russian documentsreveal,continuedovertheremovalofothernuclear Washington andMoscowbetween MoscowandHavana,asnew lective sighofrelief;behindthescenes,weekstensionsbetween Publicly thecrisisappearedtoberesolvedandworldbreathedacol- MISSILE CRISISMYTHOLOG Turkish missiles with Dobrynin. Almost 30 years after the crisis, Theodore humously in 1969, it omitted the critical details about his discussion on the Kennedy’s memoirofthemissilecrisis,ThirteenDays,waspublishedpost - discussion aboutthemostcovert partofresolvingthecrisis.WhenRobert letter seeminglyunopened—making cleartherewouldbenodiplomatic formal understandingofthemissileswap,WhiteHousereturned the private letterthroughDobrynintoKennedyattemptingconcretize a to keepthisagreementsecret.InNovember, whenKhrushchevsenta mented unbeknownsttomanyofhistopadvisorsandthepublic. or elsewhere—arecommendationthatKennedyhadthensecretly imple- trading the Soviet missile bases in Cuba for the U.S. missile bases in Turkey On December8,1962,theSaturdayEveningPostpublishedalong At the time, the Kennedy White House went to considerable lengths At thetime,KennedyWhiteHousewenttoconsiderablelengths Y 101

100 at allcosts.InCuba,aU-2spyplane wasshotdownbyaSovietanti-aircraftbatteryattheheight ofthemissilecrisis,furtherincreasingtensions. With theworldonbrinkofWorld War III,agroupcalledWomen StrikeforPeacedemonstratedinNewYork andurgedPresidentKennedy toavertwar USSR. InstalledduringtheEisenhoweradministration,Jupitershad strength of the Hiroshima bomb, based along Turkey’s frontier with the range “Jupiter” missiles, each with a nuclear warhead 100 times the Cuban missiles,hedemandedtheU.S.dismantleitsbatteryof15medium- Radio MoscowtoKennedy upping the ante: in return for withdrawing the question ofarmamentswoulddisappear.” would give“assurances”ofnofutureinvasionsCuba,“thentoo,the that had prompted the Soviets to position the missiles there; if the U.S. it wastheconstant“threatofarmedattackandaggression”againstCuba message fromKhrushchevtoKennedyarrivedthesamedaystatingthat guarantee by Washington as a basis to withdraw the missiles. A private suggested thattheKremlinmightconsideranon-invasionofCuba Soviet KGBagentmeetingwithABCNewscorrespondentJohnScali “eyeball” confrontationonthehighseasnevertookplace.) miles away and,onKhrushchev’s orders, already returning to Russia; this Dobbs provesinOneMinutetoMidnight,thetwoshipswerehundredsof most iconic,iferroneous,representationofthemissilecrisis.(Infact,as statement thatbecamethe Rusk told the ExComm—a fellow justblinked,”Secretary eyeball, andIthinktheother around. “We’re eyeballto ships hadstoppedorturned line, theCIAreportedthat approaching thequarantine believed tobecarryingweapons destroyers of two Soviet freighters perilous interception by U.S. awaited the first potentially 24, justasKennedyandhisaides political settlement.OnOctober The next day, however, Khrushchev broadcast apublicmessage on On October26,aglimmerofhopeforresolutionemergedwhen

the destruction But ifyou want Nikit us allto meet of theworld intereste d in up to you. a Khrushchev in hell, it’s in hell,it’s “ I’m not ” . .

left: Underwood Archives/Getty Images; right: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Alan Oxley/Getty Images Malecon, toprotectthecityfromaU.S.aerialattack.InbackgroundisHotelRiviera,whichwasprominentbuildingpre-Castro era. During theU.S.–SovietconfrontationovermissilesinCuba,anti-aircraft gunswereonprominentdisplayalongHavana’sseasidepromenade,the as hewasdressingtoattendChurch. The newsreachedPresidentKennedy inhisbedroomattheWhiteHouse describe asoffensive,andtocrate andreturnthemtotheSovietUnion.” announcer read,“hasgivena new ordertodismantletheweaponsyou Moscow broadcastKhrushchev’s reply:“TheSovietgovernment,” the the essenceforapositiveSovietresponse. Kennedy said. He made it clear to the Russian diplomat that time was of never publiclyacknowledgethatsuchaquidproquohadbeen made, would bedonelater, “withinfourtofivemonths.” Washington would secretly swaptheTurkish missilesfortheCubanbutthatthis missiles. Jupiter arrangement regarding‘otherarmaments…’ the communiqué stated, “would enable us to worktowardamore general invade Cuba.“Theeffectofsuchasettlementoneasingworldtensions,” into Cuba,theU.S.wouldliftnavalblockadeandpledgenotto sion andguaranteedoffensiveweaponswouldneveragainbeintroduced Anatoly Dobrynin:iftheSovietsremovedmissilesunderUNsupervi- personally deliveracarefullywordedproposaltoSovietAmbassador The nextdayat5pmMoscowtime/9amWashington time,Radio Privately, RobertKennedyinformedDobryninthattheU.S.would On theeveningofOctober27Kennedysenthisbrother, Robert,to but it’s notgoingtoafterwedosomething. tion.’ .That’s thedifficulty. itsoundsgreattorejectit, Today everybody’s goingtosay:‘Well, proposi- thatwasaprettygood When theystartthesethingsand[theSoviets]grabBerlin, starts toflow, andthat’s whatisgoingtohappenNATO. all knowhowquicklyeverybody’s couragegoeswhentheblood invasion, allbecausewewouldn’t takemissilesoutofTurkey. We day orso,whichis500 sorties, andsevendays,possiblyan I’m just thinking about what we’re going to have to do in a I’m justthinkingaboutwhatwe’regoingtohavedoina ” an oblique reference to the ” anobliquereferencetothe

Turkish missiles with Dobrynin. Almost 30 years after the crisis, Theodore humously in 1969, it omitted the critical details about his discussion on the Kennedy’s memoirofthemissilecrisis,ThirteenDays,waspublishedpost - discussion aboutthemostcovert partofresolvingthecrisis.WhenRobert letter seeminglyunopened—making cleartherewouldbenodiplomatic formal understandingofthemissileswap,WhiteHousereturned the private letterthroughDobrynintoKennedyattemptingconcretize a to keepthisagreementsecret.InNovember, whenKhrushchevsenta mented unbeknownsttomanyofhistopadvisorsandthepublic. or elsewhere—arecommendationthatKennedyhadthensecretly imple- trading the Soviet missile bases in Cuba for the U.S. missile bases in Turkey Stevenson, asanappeaserforrecommendingthatKennedy consider member ofKennedy’s crisismanagementteam,UNAmbassadorAdlai any rumorsofaquidproquo,anonymousaidespaintedthemost liberal a gameofnuclearbrinkmanship,andtheSovietshadblinked.Dispelling U.S. resolve.Kennedyhadgone“eyeballtoeyeball”withKhrushchevin Stewart Alsop,describedhowtheSovietshadbackeddowninfaceof dent, andaccesstohistopaides,theauthors,CharlesBartlett Cuban missilecrisis.Basedonanoff-the-recordinterviewwiththePresi- article, “InTime ofCrisis,”whichestablishedtheofficialnarrativeon mystique andmythologyaroundthefactshandlingofconflict. the crisis fully abated, the Kennedy administration set about creating a weapons systemstheSovietshadsecretlybroughttoCuba.Evenbefore Russian documentsreveal,continuedovertheremovalofothernuclear Washington andMoscowbetween MoscowandHavana,asnew lective sighofrelief;behindthescenes,weekstensionsbetween Publicly thecrisisappearedtoberesolvedandworldbreathedacol- MISSILE CRISISMYTHOLOG At the time, the Kennedy White House went to considerable lengths At thetime,KennedyWhiteHousewenttoconsiderablelengths On December8,1962,theSaturdayEveningPostpublishedalong Y 101

102 pushed thePresidenttoconsider thealternativeof“gettingsomewordto officials werefocusingonattacking Cuba,SecretaryofStateRuskhad the RussianmissilesoutofCuba—without thembeingfired. revealed thePresident’s commitmenttoleavenostoneunturned toget of Brazil by George Washington University historian James Hershberg, secret communiquésandcablesdiscoveredintheforeignministry archives certed efforttobringthecrisisanend.Thishiddenhistory, recordedin the fieryCubanleaderthroughathird-countryintermediary inacon- was thatKennedyactuallymadeanapproachtoCastro,reaching outto nel totheUN,mostenduringsecretofmissilecrisis diplomacy publicly tosuchadeal. inferred, wouldprovideKennedywiththeneededpoliticalcover toagree U.S. towithdrawthemissilesinTurkey. AUNproposal,themessage crisis, callingontheSovietstowithdrawmissilesinCuba,and 27. Ifneeded,UThantwastoundertakehisownUNinitiativeendthe Thant throughanemissaryinNewYork lateintheeveningofOctober he describedatopsecretpresidentialmessagehadtransmittedtoU tration officialsin1987,SorensenreadaletterfromDeanRuskwhich accept thetrade.AtaFloridaconferenceofsurvivingKennedyadminis- United NationsSecretaryGeneralUThant,incaseKhrushchevdidnot so committedtoresolvingthecrisisthatheestablishedaback-channel 25 yearsforformermembersoftheExCommtorevealthatKennedywas confirmation ofthebasicfactssecretmissileswap.Andmorethan It took almost 30 years after the missile crisis for historians to obtain THE CAS legend thathasbuiltuparoundthecrisis. one. Thatcommitmenthasbeenovershadowedbythe“ballsofsteel” deploy diplomatsinsteadofsoldiers,toavoidafinalwarratherthanrisk exercise nerveandwisdom,butitwasdevotedtohiscommitment calibrated, norwasitalessonintheuseofforceandresolve.Kennedydid of brinkmanship, nor was U.S. strategy was so not controlled a and model management skillshadforcedtheRussiansto“blink”andretreat. wisdom, sobrilliantlycontrolled,matchlesslycalibrated...”Hiscrisis asserted a“combinationoftoughnessandrestraint,will,nerve Jr. wroteinhis1966hagiographicbiography, AThousandDays.Kennedy president had “dazzled the world” in handling the crisis, Arthur Schlesinger brinkmanship andforcefulresolvetobecomemissilecrisisfolklore.The the ExComm.” known toonlysixmembersof was stillasecretatthetime, in viewofthefactthattrade “seen fitto revisethataccount rensen admittedthathehad book had been based. But So RFK’s diaries”onwhichthe “portrayed asanexplicitdealin that themissiletradehadbeen nedy wasassassinated,conceded manuscript afterRobertKen- Sorensen, whocompletedthe At the very first ExComm meeting on October 16, when most senior At theveryfirstExCommmeeting onOctober16,whenmostsenior But in addition tohisnegotiations with Khrushchevandsecret chan- But asthefactshaveemergedoveryears,itisclearthatcrisis Such secrecyenabledtheearlydepictionofKennedy’s successful TRO ‘APPRO ACH’ - not to pass this it ourbusiness “ we must make M Having come way again. c so close to George Bundy ge, the edge, ”

television speechannouncingthediscoveryofSovietmissilesinCuba. Washington, D.C.,in1962justanhourbeforePresidentKennedy’s Soviet ambassadorAnatolyDobryninarrivesattheStateDepartmentin “discuss with Castro alone RPT alone” a way out of the missile crisis. He “discuss withCastroaloneRPT alone”awayoutofthemissilecrisis.He Ambassador LincolnGordon in Rio,Ruskstatedthatitwastimeto get anyplace,”but“timeisrunning outforus.” concentrate onthemissilesnow,” Kennedydetermined. “Itprobablywon’t right tocovertlycontinueitseffortsoverthrow Castro. “We oughtto of CIAdirectorJohnMcConewhoinsistedonsafeguardingthe agency’s the clandestineback-channelcommunication.Heoverruled objections standing interestinbeingamediatortoimproveU.S. Brazil hadmaintainedstrongtiestoCubaaftertherevolution, and along- Department recommended.HeadedbythepopulistpresidentJoão Goulart, representative inCuba,probablytheBrazilianambassador,” theState ships turnbackthatifhekicksoutSovswecanlivew. him.” official capturedtheessenceofthisapproach:“GetwordtoCastroonce support otherstryingtodoso.”AhandwrittennotescribbledbyanNSC out, that wewould not ourselves undertake to overthrow the regime or give some assurances, regardless of whether we intended to carry them the overthrowofhisregime,ifnotitsphysicaldestruction.” paths bywhichtheCubancrisiscanbeexpectedtodevelopwillresultin ploited intheinterestsofSovietUnionandthatanypossible to theWest. TheU.S.wouldpointoutthat“Cubawasmerelybeingex- the missilesalongwithSovietsbyopeningdoortoCuba’s return the optionof“approachingCastro.”TheideawastocoaxCastroeject atopsecretreportthatrevisited sponse, theStateDepartmentproduced look againat“alternativecoursesofaction”totheuseforce.Inre- presidential addresstothenation,PresidentorderedExComm the messagetoCastrohasmuchinit.”ButafterhisdramaticOctober22 prevent thismissilebasefrombecomingoperational.” the Cubanpeople,mustnowbreakclearlywithSovietUnion,[and] betrayal…. The time has now come when he must take the interests of being victimizedhere…theSovietsarepreparingCubafordestructionor ada’s ambassadorasanemissarytopassthismessageFidel:“Cubais at theendofEisenhoweradministration,RusksuggestedusingCan- Castro.” SinceWashington hadsevereddiplomaticrelationswithHavana In atopsecret/eyesonlycable fromtheSecretaryofStatetoU.S. At theExCommmeetingonOctober26,PresidentKennedyapproved Such an approach “would be made to Castro through a Latin American The StateDepartmentreportaddedthatWashington would“haveto Kennedy’s initialresponsewastosimplysuggestthat“[I]don’t think –Cuban relations.

AFP/Getty Images Brazilian back-channel message had been eclipsed by events. Brazilian back-channelmessage hadbeeneclipsedbyevents. without evenconsultinghim. The urgencyandrelevanceofKennedy’s furious atNikitaKhrushchev fornegotiatingadealtoendthecrisis withdrawing themissiles;Castro hadheardthenewsonradioandwas on October29,however, theSovietshadalreadyannouncedthey were requiring utmostsecrecy, withperhapsvitalbearingonpeace.” message asan“extremelyimportantandsensitivediplomaticinitiative… minister atamidnightmeetingonOctober27.Gordondescribed the onto plain paper; Ambassador Gordon then passed it to Brazil’s foreign search, U.S.embassyofficerstranslateditintoPortugueseand typedit tions withtheU.S.andrestofLatinAmerica: 106 have thismessagetransmittedtoCastroasifitwasaBrazilianinitiative: instructed GordontomeetwithBrazil’s foreignministerandaskhimto President KennedyestablishedanavalquarantinelinearoundCubatobuytimefordiplomaticsolutionthecrisis. A UnitedStatesnavalaircrafttrackedaSovietfreighterallegedlycarryingmilitaryequipmenttoCubaattheheightofCubanmissilecrisisin1962. By thetimeBrazil’s emissaryGeneralAlbinoSilvaarrivedinHavana To disguisetheorigins ofthismessage,accordingtoHershberg’s re- Cuba andtheOAScountries,includingU.S.,couldflow. needed. From suchactions many changes in the relations between Soviet militarypersonnel,onwhichhelpcancertainlybegivenif nuclear capabilitybeingestablishedinCubaandsendinghome American system.Ofcoursethisnowmeansgivinguptheoffensive countries. ThisviewwillbesharedbyothermembersoftheInter- attitude toward the internal affairsof other Latin American U.S.—the military-politicaltiestotheUSSRandaggressive that onlytwoissueswerenonnegotiablebetweenCastroandthe The Brazilian intermediary would then offer the carrot of better rela- and thewell-beingofCubanpeopleingreatjeopardy. Western Hemispherehasplaced the future of the Castro regime for offensive nuclear missiles capable of striking most of the Castro might recall that President Kennedy has said publicly Castro mightrecallthatPresidentKennedyhassaidpublicly The action of the Soviet Union in using Cuban soil as sites The actionoftheSovietUnioninusingCubansoilassites director oftheNationalSecurityArchive’s CubaDocumentationProject. Peter Kornbluhisco-authorof The CubanMissileCrisis, our businessnottopassthisway again.”v security advisor, McGeorgeBundyobservedyearslater, “wemustmakeit global security. “Having come so close to the edge,” as Kennedy’s national Maintaining secrecyaroundthemissilecrisisis,quitesimply, athreatto will thehistoricalrecordbecompleteandthatappreciation possible. mentation declassified,intheUnitedStatesandMoscow Havana, But onlywhenallarchiveshavebeenopened,andeverylastpage ofdocu- crisis deservesafullunderstanding,bypolicymakersandcitizens alike. in thedarkshadowofbomb. ted toextricatingtheU.S.,USSR,andCubafromdanger ofwar the resolutepresidenthasgivenwaytoresolutionpresident, commit- horror ofnuclearwar. Asthehistorical recordhasexpanded,theimageof both sidesgotsomethingtheirleadersneededtosavefaceandevadethe the extensive efforts to search for, and find, a diplomatic solution in which atomic annihilation.Butmorecommitmentthanluckwasinvolvedin result inthedestructionofnations.” warfare. Whentheyaffectdecisionsrelating to nuclear forces, they can ment, miscalculation,” he noted.“Sucherrorsarecostly in conventional of themissilecrisisisrepletewithexamplesmisinformation,misjudg- project wasneededtoeliminateweaponsofmassdestruction.“Therecord as successfulcrisismanagementinthenuclearage—thereforeaglobal the main lesson of the Cuba conflict was that there could be no such thing role intheavoidanceofnuclearwarbyahair’s breadth.’’ ForMcNamara, 40th anniversary conference in Havana, “luck also played a significant aged,’’ former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara observed at the “I nowconcludethathoweverastutelythecrisismayhavebeenman- THE MEANIGOFMISSILE CRISIS Of all the international crises in modern times,theCubanmissile Of alltheinternationalcrisesinmodern To besure,50yearsagotheworldcamecloserthaneverbeforeto 1962 andthe

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