Edited transcripts and analyses of the first two conferences can be found in blight and welch, on the brink. Kennedy, united states president, learned about the. The most useful treatments of the cuban missile crisis include, among an enormous number which could be cited, graham allison and philip zelikow, essence of decision explaining the cuban missile crisis, 2 nd edition london. Upon the discovery of russian missiles on cuba president kennedy ordered a naval blockade of the island.
Crisis lesson plan 4 web resources on the cuban missile crisis 5 road to the white house activity 7 freedom 7 space capsule a t 8. Discovery of the missiles the crisis began on october 14, 1962 when photographs taken during a reconnaissance flight over cuba by a us u2 spy plane revealed that the soviet. Myths versus reality, sheldon stern demonstrates that the president shaped the excomm discussions to conform to the least confrontational military option in the hope of avoiding conflict. U thant and the cuban missile crisis gregory sherman it was against this backdrop that the leader of the soviet union attempted to secretly introduce nuclear ballistic missiles into the western hemisphere on the island of cuba in october of 1962. Excomm who would later be classed as doves, the quarantine bought time for possibly developing some diplomatic solution. These questions and the road to the cuban missile crisis are addressed in the above episode of the documentary series on the cold war that focuses on cuba 19591962.
As during the cuban missile crisis, new military technology is disrupting traditional means of deterrence. The cuban missile crisis is not a story of victory, as it has been recalled in american popular memory. As such, it may contain some conversion errors andor missing information. In terms of the general literature on the missile crisis, it is vast. National security action memorandum 196 established the excomm to ensure effective decision making during the crisis. The executive committee of the national security council commonly referred to as simply the executive committee or excomm was a body of united states government officials that convened to advise president john f. The cuban missile crisis known as the october crisis in cuba or russian. The traditional interpretation, enshrined in the writings of theodore c. A memoir of the cuban missile crisis, which since its posthumous publication in 1969 has been the ur text for scholars, cannot be taken seriously as a historical account of the excomm meetings p.
A berlin crisis, not a cuba crisis american tanks on alert in the berlin grunewald, west germany, as the crisis over the cuban blockade looms during the cuban missile crisis. In this october 18, 1962 recording, he dictates an account of the debates among his top adviso. On october 16, president kennedy set up the excomm, the executive committee of. The presidents desk recording cuban missile crisis meeting, october 16, 1962 memo written by ted sorensen for president kennedy, dated october 18, 1962 jfks late night recording of 101862 jfks radio and television report to the american people on the soviet arms buildup in cuba, october 22, 1962 procedure 1.
Consequently, the president of the united states was constantly. He continued to call on it in the following months. Americans and soviets reexamine the cuban missile crisis. Americans and soviets reexamine the missile crisis new york, 1989. 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. For the united states, the crisis began on that day but it is early the next day that president john kennedy was informed of the missile installations. This is the closest this world has ever came to a nuclear war.
Batista was uniquely very on par with the us, fitting in with us diplomacy and influences, his. Cuban missile crisis during the cuban missile crisis, decisions made by president john f. The results of this study show if inter and intragroup conflicts within excoom made such impact on decision making outcome. The national security councils executive committee excomm, made up of. Cuba and the missile crisis journal of latin american. Kennedys memoir of the missile crisis, thirteen days.
It began on october 15, 1962, a day after a u2 spyplane discovered soviet nucleartipped missiles in cuba. These tapes were still highly classified, except for the tapes of october 16, 1962, which had been transcribed, sanitized and published in 1985. For three decades, analysis of the cuban missile cri sis was dominated by a discursive framing produced in the excomm, one in which cuba was invisible. You are expected to advise president kennedy in his actions taken during this crisis, taking into consideration all possible outcomes. When scapegoating began in moscow following the missile crisis, the intelligence services received a good portion of the blame. For most americans, at least, the socalled cuban missile crisis of october 1962. President kennedy and the executive commitee excomm of the national security council meeting in the cabinet room to discuss the cuban missile crisis, october 29. Aug 16, 2010 british archives on the cuban missile crisis 1962. An american u2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the soviet union on the island of cuba. Talk at the brink presents an image of kennedys response to the cuban missile crisis that is sharply at odds with previous scholarship, and has important implications for our understanding of decision making, deliberation, social interaction, and historical contingency. Evidence of events outside the excomm supports the contention that domestic political concerns shaped cuba decision making. Welch, on the brink americans and soviets reexamine the cuban missile crisis new york. Excomm transcribers note ln the summer of 1985 i went to the kennedy library and listened to the presidential recordings of meetings that i had attended during the cuban missile crisis.
Cuban missile crisis research paper 1670 words bartleby. Transcripts of the meetings of the excomm, mcgeorge bundy transcriber, james g. Sternsknowledge of the excomm meetings, along with his admiration of president kennedy,are evident throughout this extensively researched and detailed account of nuclear war avoided. For a full discussion of robert kennedys role in the excomm meetings, see sheldon m.
The excomm is most famous for its meetings during the cuban missile crisis. Kennedy and soviet leader nikita khrushchev could have plunged both countries into thermonuclear war kessler. Pdf the cuban missile crisis and politics as usual researchgate. The cuban missile crisis an overview the world has never come closer to the brink of nuclear war than it did during the cuban missile crisis of october 1962, one of the most dramatic episodes in u. A period of increased cooperation and reduced tensions known as detente began almost immediately after the cuban missile crisis and continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s. A berlin crisis, not a cuba crisis american tanks on alert in the berlin grunewald, west germany, as the crisis over the cuban blockade looms during the cuban missile crisis 25th october 1962. Cuban crisis should be considered as the most crucial part in decision making by excomm, which included three alternatives for the course of actions that were directed to the removal of 1 keith eubrank 2000 the missile crisis in cuba, malabar, florida. The cuban missile crisis after fifty years sciencedirect. The cuban missile crisis, also known as the october crisis of 1962 spanish. Excomm meeting, cuban missile crisis, 29 october 1962. As you have access to this article, a pdf of this content is available in through the save. Cuban missile crisis, 1962 a national security archive documents reader.
Jfk, robert mcnamara, dean rusk, nikita khrushchev, fidel castro, excomm, adlai stevenson, bay of pigs. Why we should still study the cuban missile crisis united states. Kennedy immediately organized the executive committee excomm of the national security council nsc, a group of his twelve most important advisors to handle the crisis. Committee of the national security council excomm by president kennedy for your professional experience and wise judgement. Excomm meeting at the white house cabinet room during the cuban missile crisis on october 29, 1962. Using tapes of excomm meetings the ad hoc group formed to meet the crisis, stern challenges much of the received wisdom. White house tapes and minutes of the cuban missile crisis, international security 10 summer 1985, 164203. In july 1963, the united states, the soviet union, and britain approved a treaty to halt the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water. These historical documents are pdf images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified.
Simply put, cuba didnt matter in the cuban missile crisis. Aug 23, 2012 phototaken by rf101 ofgroundtoground missile baseincuba,november1962. It was comprised of experts and top government officials, serving and retired, from the military, defense, diplomatic and intelligence communities. The importance of power and knowledge written by tom thornley this pdf is autogenerated for reference only. Both sides could thus emerge from the cuban missile crisis claiming. The first included nearly all the living members of the excomm executive committee of the national security council, formed by president kennedy on 16 oct. Designed to help policymakers, students, and interested citizens draw lessons from these critical events half a century ago, this site not only provides background on the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster in october 1962 but also offers tools to understand how. The cuban missile crisis, excomm, united states, inter and intra group.
President kennedy taped many of his white house conversations. The cuban missile crisis lasted thirteen days cuban missile crisis. Due to the age and poor quality of some of the pdf images, a screen reader may not be able to process the images into word documents. For nearly half a century national security decision makers have relied on three lessons derived inappropriately from the cuban missile crisis. The cuban missile crisis it is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization. It is just over thirty years since, as historian at the jfk library, i listened for the first time to the then classified recordings of the cuban missile crisis white house meetings of the executive committee of the national security council excomm. Stern, the cuban missile crisis in american memory.
Sheldon sterns trenchant analysis, based on the most careful and. The continuing cuban missile crisis controversy, journal of diplomatic history, 18 fall 1994. Documents on the cuban missile crisis, 1962, microfiche collection. If the cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous passage of the cold war, the most dangerous moment of the cuban missile crisis was the evening of saturday, 27 october 1962, when the resolution of the crisis war or peace appeared to hang in the balance. Jfk, dean rusk, and robert mcnamara at an excomm meeting. The executive committee of the national security council excomm was a group of experts who advised president kennedy during the cuban missile crisis. Decolonizing the cuban missile crisis oxford academic journals.
The excomm quickly discussed several possible courses of action. Excomm tapes one hears kennedys concern at the harass. The traditional and revisionist interpretations reevaluated richard ned lebow for more than a quarter of a century, there have been two diametrically opposed points of view about why cuba was a crisis and why it was resolved. In contemporary times, literary and cinematic interpretations of the cuban missile crisis have still excluded a cuban perspective in their material. The episode includes original television reports, photographs and maps of the missiles in cuba, and interviews with those who were living in cuba and working in the u.
Drawing on previously undiscovered archival materials and interviews with soviet and american veterans of the crisis, michael dobbs has taken a fresh look at the history of those fateful thirteen days. After the cuban missile crisis, cold war tensions eased. Mcnamara told excomm on friday, october 26, that a soviet freighter nearing the quarantine line was probably transporting missile fuel to cuba. Tucked away in the files of the prepresidential papers at the lbj library is a fascinating little collection of handwritten notes he made during the excomm meetings of the cuban missile crisis and its aftermath. Feb 25, 2020 the cuban missile crisis was a day confrontation between the united states and the soviet union over the deployment of soviet ballistic missiles in cuba. Key pre cuban missile crisis documents and information foreign relations documents and resources of kennedy administration 19611963 vol vi foreign relations of the united states. Ten lessons from the cuban missile crisis 5 conclusion 10 about the report few events have been as studied and analyzed as the cuban missile crisis. The cuban missile crisis in american memory myths versus.
Most of these have been based upon the release of the transcripts of the deliberations of the executive committee of the national security council, known as excomm,11 which was composed of kennedys principal advisers during the crisis. The cuban missile crisis is a classic case study of how an administration can manipulate the press for. Similarly, military doctrine and civilian policy are lagging behind rapid technological change, and there are few international or bilateral agreements relating to the application and deployment of these new capabilities. The excomm for executive committee of the national security council was a special group set up by president kennedy during the height of the cuban missile crisis. A full appraisal of thants role is absent from the literature. Key documents cuban missile crisiscuban missile crisis.
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