DOCSLIB.ORG

The End Was Near New Information About the Cuban Missile Crisis Shows Just How Close We Came to Nuclear Armageddon by Michael Dobbs

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The End Was Near New Information About the Cuban Missile Crisis Shows Just How Close We Came to Nuclear Armageddon by Michael Dobbs t was one minute before high noon on Oct. 27,1962, the air-defense tracking network. But there was little they could day that later became known as "Black Saturday" More do with this information: The ability to "read the mail" than 100,000 American troops were preparing to invade of Russian air defenses was a closely guarded Cold War Cuba to topple Fidel Castro's communist regime and secret. Pentagon records show that Defense Secretary Robert destroy dozens of Soviet intermediate- and medium-range McNamara was not informed about tbe missing U-2 until ballistic missiles thought to be aimed at targets in the 1:41 p.m., 101 minutes after Maultsby first penetrated Soviet IUnited States. American reconnai.ssance aircraft were drawing airspace. He briefed President Jobn E Kennedy by phone enemy fire. The U.S. Strategic Air Command's missiles and four minutes later. manned bombers bad been ordered to DEECON-2, one step "There's always some sonofabitch who doesn't get the word," short of nuclear war. In the Caribbean, U.S. Navy destroyers was Kennedy's frustrated response. were playing a cat-and-mouse game with Russian submarines At 2:03 p.m. came news that another U-2, piloted by Major armed with nuclear-tipped torpedoes. Rudolf Anderson Jr., was missing while on an intelligence- And then, at 11:59 a.m., a U-2 spy plane piloted by Captain gathering mission over eastern Cuba. Evidence soon emerged Charles W. Maultsby unwittingly penetrated Soviet airspace it had been shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile in a desolate region of the Chukot Peninsula opposite Alaska. near the town of Banes. Anderson was presumed dead. Flying at an altitude of 70,000 feet, the 11-year Air Force Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. called the Cuban Missile veteran was oblivious to the drama below. He bad been Crisis "the most dangerous moment in human history." Schol- on a routine mission to the North Pole, gathering radio- ars and politicians agree that for several days the world was active air samples from a Soviet nuclear test. Dazzled by tbe the closest it has ever come to nuclear Armageddon. aurora boreahs, he'd wandered off course, ending up over But the nature of the risks confronting Kennedy and the Soviet Union on the most perilous day of the Cold War. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev have been widely mis- THE END WAS NEAR NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS SHOWS JUST HOW CLOSE WE CAME TO NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON BY MICHAEL DOBBS He was completely unaware the Soviets had scrambled understood. Eor decades, the incident was taught in war MiG figbters to intercept him, and not until he heard bala- colleges and graduate schools as a case study in the art laika music over bis radio did he finally figure out where of "crisis management." A young American president went he was. "eyeball to eyeball" with a Russian chairman and forced A former member of tbe Air Force's Tbunderbirds fligbt- him to back down through a skillful blend of diplomacy demonstration team, Maultsby bad enough fuel in his and force. Accorditig to Scblesinger, Kennedy "dazzled the tank for nine hours and 40 minutes of flight. That was world" through "a combination of toughness and restraint, sufficient for a 4,000-mile round trip between Fairbanks' of will, nerve and wisdom, so brilliantly controlled, so Eielson Air Force Base and tbe Nortb Pole, but not enough matchlessly calibrated." for a 1,000-mile detour over Siberia. At 1:28 p.m. Washing- Tbanks to newly opened archives and interviews with ton time, Maultsby shut down his single Pratt & Whitney key participants in the United States, Russia and Cuha, it is J57 engine and entrusted his fate to his U-2's extraordinary now possible to separate the mytb from the reality. The real gliding capabilities. The Air Force's Alaskan Air Command risks of war in October 1962 arose not from the "eyeball-to- sent up two F-102 figbters to guide bim back across tbe eyeball" confrontation between Kennedy and Khrushchev, Bering Strait and prevent any penetration of American but from "sonofabitcb" moments exemphfied by Maultsby airspace by the Russian MiGs. Because of the heightened and his wandering U-2. alert, the F-102s were armed with nuclear-tipped air-to-air The pampered son of the Boston millionaire and the o missiles, sufficient firepower to destroy an entire fleet of scion of Russian peasants had more in cominon than they incoming Soviet bombers. imagined. Having experienced World War II, both were On the ground, SAC commanders were frantically trying horrified hy the prospect of a nuclear apocalypse. But neither to retrieve their wayward reconnaissance plane. They knew leader was fully in command of his own mihtary machine. Maultsby's location, as they had tapped into the Soviet As the crisis lurched to a climax on Black Saturday, events \ MILITARY HISTORY Photographed from a low-flying U.S. Navy patrol aircraft in November 1962, the Soviet freighter Anosov carries tarpaulin-shrouded ballistic missiles on her fore and aft decks. threatened to spin out of control. Unable to effectively A full-scale invasion of the island would follow within communicate with each other, the two leaders struggled seven days. Marine units and the Army's 1st Annored Divi- to rein in the chaotic forces of history they themselves sion would hit the beaches east and west of Havana, along a had unleashed. 40-mile front, in an operation modeled after the ]uno 1Q44 D-Day landings in France. he countdown to Armageddon began on October 16, It is impossible to tell what would have happened had when Kennedy learned that Khrushchev had broken Kennedy accepted the advice of Air Force General Curtis This promise not to deploy "offensive weapons" in LeMay and the other joint chiefs. But several things are Cuba—a U-2, piloted by Major Richard Heyser, had flown certain. The risks of a nuclear conflagration were extraor- over the island two days earlier and taken photographs dinarily high. And the full scope of the danger was not of intermediate-range Soviet missiles near the town of understood in Washington, Moscow or Havana. None of San Cristóbal. Kennedy branded the mercurial Russian the main protagonists—Kennedy, Khrushchev or Castro— leader "an immoral gangster," but the Americati presi- had tnore than a very limited knowledge of events unfolding on a global battlefield that stretched from the Florida Straits to the Bering Sea. In sotne ways. World War III had already begun—aircraft were taking fire, missiles were being readied for launch and warships were forcing potentially hostile subtnarines to surface. As Black Sattirday dawned, Castro wrote Moscow of his conviction that an American attack on the island was "almost inevitable" and would take place in the next 24 to 72 hours. Unbeknownst to Kennedy, the Cuban leader had visited the Soviet embassy in Havana at 3 a.m. and petined an anguished telegram to Kbrushchev. If the "itnperialists" invaded Cuba, Castro declared, the Soviet Union should undertake a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States. In the meantime, he ordered his anti-aircraft defenses to begin firing on low-flying American reconnaissance planes. Castro declared that he and his comrades were "ready to die in the defense of our country" rather than submit to a Yanqui occupation. The Soviet cotnmander in Cuba, General Issa Pliyev, was also preparing for war. On his orders, a convoy of trucks carrying nuclear warheads moved out of the central storage depot at Bejucal, south of Havana, around mid- night. By early afternoon, the convoy had reached the Sagua la Grande missile site in central Cuba, tnaking it possible for the Soviets to lob eight 1-megaton missiles Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and American President John F. Kennedy at the United States. Pliyev also ordered the arming of share a light moment after a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, shorter-range tactical nuclear missiles to counter a U.S. in- Austria, in June 1961. Just over a year later, the men, both veterans of vasion of Cuba. By àawn a battery of cruise missiles tipped World War II, would bring the world to the brink of all-out nuclear war. witb 14-kiloton warheads had targeted the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay from an advance position just dent bore some responsibility for bringing about the crisis. 15 miles away. His bellicose, but ultimately ineffective, attempts to get Kennedy was blissfully unaware of the nature of the rid of Castro had provoked Khrushchev into taking dras- threat facing U.S. forces poised to invade Cuba. Oti October tic action to "save socialism" in Cuba. Kennedy imposed 23, the CIA estimated that the Soviets had between 8,000 a military quarantine on the island and demanded the and 10,000 military "advisers" in Cuba, up from an earlier Soviets withdraw their missiles. estimate of 4,000 to 5,000. We now know that the actual By October 27—tbe 12th day of the crisis—the two super- Soviet troop strength on Black Saturday was 42,822, a figure powers were on the brink of war. The CIA reported that that included heavily armed combat units. Furthermore, morning that five of the six Soviet R-12 missile sites were CSI these troops were equipped with tactical nuclear weapons ae. "fully operational." All that remained was for the warheads intended to hurl an invading force back into the sea. Mc- LU to be mated to the missiles. Time was obviously running out.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • November 01, 1962 Cable No. 341 from the Czechoslovak Embassy in Havana (Pavlíček)
    Digital Archive digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org International History Declassified November 01, 1962 Cable no. 341 from the Czechoslovak Embassy in Havana (Pavlíček) Citation: “Cable no. 341 from the Czechoslovak Embassy in Havana (Pavlíček),” November 01, 1962, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, National Archive, Archive of the CC CPCz, (Prague); File: “Antonín Novotný, Kuba,” Box 122. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/115229 Summary: Pavlicek relays to Prague the results of the meeting between Cuban foreign minister Raul Roa and UN Secretary General U Thant. Thant expressed sympathy for the Cuban people and acknowledged the right for Cuba to submit their considerations for the resolution to the crisis. The Cuban requests included lifting the American blockade, fulfilling Castro's 5 Points, and no UN inspection of the missile bases. Besides the meeting with the Secretary General, Pavlicek also recounts the meeting of a Latin American delegation including representatives from Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay and Mexico. All nations but Mexico refused to give in to U.S. pressures, and stood in support of Cuba. Pavlicek then moves on to cover the possible subjects of Castro's speech on 1 November, including the Cuban detention of anticommunist groups in country and the results of the negotiations with U Thant. In the meantime, the Cuban government is concerned with curtailing the actions of anti-Soviet groups ... Credits: This document was made possible with support from the Leon Levy Foundation. Original Language: Czech Contents: English Translation Telegram from Havana File # 11.337 St Arrived: 1.11.62 19:35 Processed: 2.11.62 01:00 Office of the President, G, Ku Dispatched: 2.11.62 06:45 NEWSFLASH! [Cuban Foreign Minister Raúl] Roa informed me of the results of the talks with [UN Secretary- General] U Thant.
    [Show full text]
  • E Struggle Against Communism Lasted Longer Than All of America's Other Wars Put Together
    e struggle against Communism lasted longer than all of America's other wars put together. 1 «04 APP 40640111114- AO' • m scorting a u-95 - Bear" bomber down the Atlantic Coast was a fairly ommon Cold War mission and illustrates how close the Soviet Union and the US often came to a direct confrontation. Come say the Cold War began even It7 before the end of World War II, but Soviet leader Joseph Stalin officially initiated it when he attacked his wartime Allies in a speech in February 1946. Thp next month at Westminster College, Fulton, Mo., Winston S. Churchill, former British Prime Minister, made his "Iron Curtain" speech, noting that all the eastern European capitals were now in Soviet hands. The US Army Air Forces r had demobilized much of its World War II strength even as Moscow provoked Communist Party take-overs in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in 1947 and 1948. Emboldened, the USSR began a blockade of the Western- controlled sectors of Berlin in spring 1948, intending to drive out the Allies. The newly independent US Air Force countered with a massive airlift of food and supplies into Berlin. C-54 Skymasters like the one at left earned their fame handling this mission. The Soviet Union conceded failure in May 1949, and a C-54 crew made the Berlin Airlift's last flight on September 30, 1949. In the following decades, conflicts flared between the USSR and satellite countries. In this 1968 photo, Czechs carry a comrade wounded in Prague during the Soviet invasion to crush Alexander Dubcek's attempt at reform.
    [Show full text]
  • DM - Cuba 3/4/15 11:19 AM Page V
    DM - Cuba 3/4/15 11:19 AM Page v Table of Contents Preface . .ix How to Use This Book . .xiii Research Topics for Defining Moments: The Cuban Missile Crisis . .xv NARRATIVE OVERVIEW Prologue . .3 Chapter 1: The Cold War . .7 Chapter 2: The United States and Cuba . .23 Chapter 3: The Discovery of Soviet Missiles in Cuba . .37 Chapter 4: The World Reaches the Brink of Nuclear War . .53 Chapter 5: The Cold War Comes to an End . .69 Chapter 6: Legacy of the Cuban Missile Crisis . .89 BIOGRAPHIES Rudolf Anderson Jr. (1927-1962) . .105 American Pilot Who Was the Only Combat Casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis Fidel Castro (1926-) . .110 Premier of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis Anatoly Dobrynin (1919-2010) . .116 Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. during the Cuban Missile Crisis v DM - Cuba 3/4/15 11:19 AM Page vi Defining Moments: The Cuban Missile Crisis Alexander Feklisov (1914-2007) . .120 Russian Spy Who Proposed a Deal to Resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) . .125 President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) . .131 U.S. Attorney General and Leader of ExComm Nikita Khrushchev (1891-1971) . .137 Soviet Premier Who Placed Nuclear Missiles in Cuba John McCone (1902-1991) . .144 Director of the CIA during the Cuban Missile Crisis Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009) . .148 U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Cuban Missile Crisis Ted Sorensen (1928-2010) . .153 Special Counsel and Speechwriter for President Kennedy PRIMARY SOURCES The Soviet Union Vows to Defend Cuba .
    [Show full text]
  • Annotated Timeline,” JFK the Last Speech, Mascot Books, 2018, Pp 97-112
    Selected Timeline: Kennedy, Frost, and the Amherst College Class of 1964i The focus is on the years 1960-1963 Draft last updated: 13 February 2018 1874 26 Mar Robert Frost was born to William Prescott Frost, Jr., and Isabelle Moodie in San Francisco, CA. 1917 29 May John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was born to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald in Brookline, MA. 1959 Jan Castro’s revolutionary forces seized power in Cuba, President Batista fled. 26 Mar Press conference prior to Frost’s 85th birthday gala. In response to a question regarding the alleged decline of New England, Frost responded, “The next President of the United States will be from Boston. Does that sound as if New England is decaying? … He’s a Puritan named Kennedy. The only Puritans left these days are the Roman Catholics. There. I guess I wear my politics on my sleeve.” April JFK letter to Frost: “I just want to send you a note to let you know how gratifying it was to be remembered by you on the occasion of your 85th birthday. 1960 1 May Gary Powers’ U2 spy plane was shot down over USSR. Feb Sit-ins by African-Americans at segregated lunch counters began and spread to 65 cities in 12 southern states. 7 May USSR established diplomatic relations with Cuba. 13 Sept An Act of Congress, Public Law P.L. 86-747, 74 Stat. 883, awarded Frost a Congressional Gold Medal, “In recognition of his poetry, which has enriched the culture of the United States and the philosophy of the world.” There apparently was no public award ceremony until JFK took the initiative in March 1962.
    [Show full text]
  • Major Rudolf Anderson Jr., US Air Force Cold War / Cuban Missile Crisis
    Major Rudolf Anderson Jr., US Air Force Cold War / Cuban Missile Crisis Major Anderson was the first recipient of the Air Force Cross medal, our Nation’s and the Air Force's second-highest award and decoration for valor. He was our only U.S. fatality by enemy fire during the Cuban Missile Crisis when his aircraft was shot down over Cuba in 1962. Rudolf Anderson, Jr was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1927. Three years after graduation from Clemson University he entered the US Air Force as a pilot. He began his operational career flying RF-86 Sabres and earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses for reconnaissance missions over Korea. After the war in Korea he served with the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea. He then returned home to the US in 1955 to train and qualify in flying the U-2 (Dragon Lady) high altitude reconnaissance aircraft. After qualifying on the U-2 "he became the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing's top U-2 pilot with over one thousand hours, making him a vital part of the United States' reconnaissance operation over Cuba in October of 1962." On Saturday, October 27, 1962 Major Anderson took off in which would be his sixth mission over Cuba in a U-2F Dragon, from a forward operating location at McCoy Air Force Base in Orlando, Florida. A few hours into his mission, he was shot down by one of two Soviet-supplied S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missiles launched toward his aircraft high over Banes, Cuba.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuban Missile Crisis Operations
    Cuban Missile Crisis Edward T. Russell DATES: October 13-November 15, 1962 LOCATION: Cuba OVERSEAS BASE USED : Guantanamo Naval Air Station, Cuba AIR FORCE ORGANIZATIONS : MAJOR COMMANDS: WINGS: Strategic Air Command 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Tactical Air Command 62d Troop Carrier Military Air Transport Service 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Continental Air Defense Command 1501 st Air Transport Wing (Heavy) Air Force Reserve 4080th Strategic AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT: C-124, C-133, C-135, RB-47, RF-101, U-2 Operations Early in 1962, the Premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita S . Khrushchev, could not match the United States in nuclear weapons or strategic delivery systems nor push the western nations out of Berlin. In the east, the Chinese constantly ha- rassed him concerning Soviet weakness. In his frustration and frantic search for an opportunity to alter the strategic imbal- ance, he turned to Cuba . In 1959, Fidel Castro had over- thrown the dictator, Fulgencio Batista, and assumed power. Initially promising free elections, he soon instituted a socialist dictatorship . Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled their is- land, many coming to the United States . From his rhetoric and actions, Castro proved he was a Communist. Conse- quently, in late 1960, the President of the United States, Dwight D . Eisenhower, authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to plan an invasion of Cuba using Cuban exiles as troops . Ultimately, Eisenhower hoped that in conjunction with the invasion, the Cuban people would overthrow Castro and install a moderate, pro-U.S . government. Eisenhower's second term ended before the plan could be implemented . The new 33 SHORT OF WAR president, John F.
    [Show full text]
  • Fifty Years Ago This Month, the Cuban Missile Crisis Veered Perilously Close to Nuclear War
    Fifty years ago this month, the Cuban Missile Crisis veered perilously close to nuclear war. A U-2 flies an ISR mission over the Caribbean. The spyplanes were used to obtain proof that the Soviets were installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. USAF photo AIR FORCE Magazine / October 2012 32 HIGH NOON By John T. Correll n the 1960 presidential election campaign, Democratic The United States had been embarrassed the previous year by candidate John F. Kennedy raised the alarm about a “missile the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, but US efforts to over- gap” in which he said the United States trailed dangerously throw Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba continued. Lately, Castro’s Ibehind the Soviet Union. allegiance to Soviet leadership had weakened as he drifted Kennedy’s claims were later revealed to be in error. There toward the Chinese, who espoused a more aggressive brand of indeed was a missile gap, but it was in favor of the United States, Communism. Khrushchev needed a dramatic demonstration of which had four or five times as many ICBMs as the Soviets did. his commitment to Cuba. The US Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile was newly Walking alongside Khrushchev on the beach was Defense operational, whereas the Soviet Union did not yet have any SLBMs. Minister Rodion Malinovsky, who pointed toward the opposite Kennedy knew this all along. At the direction of President Dwight shore of the Black Sea, where the Americans were deploying D. Eisenhower, the Democratic candidates had been briefed by intermediate-range Jupiter missiles in Turkey.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962
    The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 President Kennedy Addresses the Nation at the Height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. In a TV address on October 22, 1962, President John Kennedy (1917-63) notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. Following this news, many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war. However, disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s (1894-1971) offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. Discovering the Missiles After seizing power in the Caribbean island nation of Cuba in 1959, leftist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro (1926-2016) aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Under Castro, Cuba grew dependent on the Soviets for military and economic aid. During this time, the U.S. and the Soviets (and their respective allies) were engaged in the Cold War (1945-91), an ongoing series of largely political and economic clashes. Did you know? The actor Kevin Costner (1955-) starred in a movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis titled "Thirteen Days." Released in 2000, the movie's tagline was "You'll never believe how close we came." The two superpowers plunged into one of their biggest Cold War confrontations after the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane making a high-altitude pass over Cuba on October 14, 1962, photographed a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis HILLSTROM
    CubanMissileCoverR6:DM 3/18/15 6:45 AM Page 1 Defining Moments DM Defining Moments The cuban missile Crisis HILLSTROM mnigraphics’ Defining Moments series was created for the express purpose of meeting the Ogrowing appetite for authoritative, useful resources on the nation’s history. This series, which focuses on pivotal events that transformed the United States’ political, cultural, and The Cuban social landscape, will be of enduring value to anyone interested in learning more about Defining Moments America’s past—and in understanding how these events continue to reverberate today. The Cuban Missile Crisis—like all volumes in the Defining Moments series—is arranged in three distinct sections. The Narrative Overview section provides a detailed, factual account Missile Crisis of this “defining moment” in American history, from its earliest inception to its legacy today. The Biographies section includes valuable biographical background on leading figures involved in the era, concluding with a list of sources for further information on the individual. The Primary Sources section collects a broad range of essential and enlightening documents on the topic, from official documents to letters, memoirs, and more. Other valuable features include a glossary of important people, places, and terms; a chronol- ogy of events; a complete bibliography; an annotated list of selected sources for future study; The Cuban missile Crisis The Cuban and a subject index. Students using Defining Moments: The Cuban Missile Crisis will find information on a wide range of topics suitable for historical research and writing reports: • Throughout the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a standoff over the divided city of Berlin, Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuba 3/4/15 11:19 AM Page V
    DM - Cuba 3/4/15 11:19 AM Page v Table of Contents Preface . .ix How to Use This Book . .xiii Research Topics for Defining Moments: The Cuban Missile Crisis . .xv NARRATIVE OVERVIEW Prologue . .3 Chapter 1: The Cold War . .7 Chapter 2: The United States and Cuba . .23 Chapter 3: The Discovery of Soviet Missiles in Cuba . .37 Chapter 4: The World Reaches the Brink of Nuclear War . .53 Chapter 5: The Cold War Comes to an End . .69 Chapter 6: Legacy of the Cuban Missile Crisis . .89 BIOGRAPHIES Rudolf Anderson Jr. (1927-1962) . .105 American Pilot Who Was the Only Combat Casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis Fidel Castro (1926-) . .110 Premier of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis Anatoly Dobrynin (1919-2010) . .116 Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. during the Cuban Missile Crisis v DM - Cuba 3/4/15 11:19 AM Page vi Defining Moments: The Cuban Missile Crisis Alexander Feklisov (1914-2007) . .120 Russian Spy Who Proposed a Deal to Resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) . .125 President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) . .131 U.S. Attorney General and Leader of ExComm Nikita Khrushchev (1891-1971) . .137 Soviet Premier Who Placed Nuclear Missiles in Cuba John McCone (1902-1991) . .144 Director of the CIA during the Cuban Missile Crisis Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009) . .148 U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Cuban Missile Crisis Ted Sorensen (1928-2010) . .153 Special Counsel and Speechwriter for President Kennedy PRIMARY SOURCES The Soviet Union Vows to Defend Cuba .
    [Show full text]
  • James Giglio on One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy
    Aleksandr Fursenko, Timothy Naftali. One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. xi + 420 $27.50, cloth, ISBN 978-0-393-04070-8. Reviewed by James N. Giglio Published on H-Diplo (March, 1998) The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 has the frst to incorporate sources from the Russian been a veritable cottage industry for scholars.[1] archives, including the Presidium materials on Moreover, considerable primary materials contin‐ Cuba, the KGB's records of its Washington, D.C. ue to become available, most recently State and and Havana bureaus, and the military intelligence Defense department documents published in The files. Whether this represents full disclosure re‐ Foreign Relations of the United States, which ap‐ mains unclear. The study also incorporates per‐ peared about one year prior to the publication of sonal interviews of former Soviet officials. This the study under consideration, and The Kennedy collaborative effort involves Timothy Naftali, a Tapes edited by Ernest R. May and Philip D. Ze‐ teacher of history at Yale University where he is a likow, which came out too late for One Hell of a fellow at International Security Studies, and Alek‐ Gamble. With the publication of the May-Zelikow sandr Fursenko, chairman of the History Depart‐ study, one now has access to all of the taped delib‐ ment of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Billed erations of the Executive Committee of the Na‐ as an international study, it also includes materi‐ tional Security Council (ExComm), increasing our als from the archives of France and the Czech Re‐ understanding of how Kennedy and his associates public.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Put the "Cuba" in the Cuban Missile Crisis Gregory J
    Western Oregon University Digital Commons@WOU Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) Department of History 2012 Who Put the "Cuba" in the Cuban Missile Crisis Gregory J. K. Garcia Western Oregon University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Garcia, Gregory J. K., "Who Put the "Cuba" in the Cuban Missile Crisis" (2012). Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History). 249. https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his/249 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at Digital Commons@WOU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@WOU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Who put the “Cuba” in the Cuban Missile Crisis? By: Gregory J.K. Garcia, Jr. June 10, 2012 History 499 Instructor: Dr. Bau-Hwa Hsieh Primary Reader: Dr. John Rector Secondary Reader: Dr. Kimberly Jensen © Gregory J.K. Garcia Jr., 2012 1 The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear annihilation. In this crisis, Cold War tensions heightened to almost world war status as the United States confronted its nemesis the Soviet Union to negotiate the fate of Cuba which was now armed with missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads to targets thousands of miles away. In this international struggle, the actions and intentions of Fidel Castro have been dramatically overshadowed by those of United States’ President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. In United States’ historiography, the importance of Cuba in the Cuban Missile Crisis has been marginalized by the threat of Soviet made military hardware in the Western Hemisphere.
    [Show full text]