The Cuban Missile Crisis (U.S. strategies of response)

An Excomm meeting where the heads of state discussed possible strategies to remove nuclear missiles from Cuba

By John Pusz

The Crisis • Although the Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for only 14 days it was the most

stressful and uncertain times of the entire Cold War.

• In secret the Soviet government had begun construction of missile sites on the island of Cuba along with sending Mig fighter jets and IL-28 bombers to Cuban air bases

• These aircraft and missiles had the capacity to deliver nuclear missiles deep with into the United States, and could hold the Western hemisphere hostage under Communist control

• During surveillance of Cuba using U-2 planes U.S. intelligence identified the areas where missile sites where being constructed. President Kennedy furious that the Russians would send nuclear missiles to Cuba under Fidel Castro's control sent a secret message to the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev inquiring about the missiles.

• Not wanting to raise a panic the president entrusted the highly sensitive information about the missiles to only his most trusted advisors

The Crisis continued • When Khrushchev answered Kennedy's message he blatantly denied that any

missile construction was going on in Cuba

• This further worried Kennedy because the U.S. government had physical proof that silos where being built and the blatant denial by Khrushchev could be used as a political decoy until construction had been complete

• President Kennedy quickly called a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm) an organization made up of some of his most trusted advisors and closest confidants to decide on the best course of action would be to get offensive weaponry out of Cuba

Key Members ExComm • President John F Kennedy

• Attorney General Robert F Kennedy

• Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara

• Secretary of State Dean Rusk

• McGeorge Bundy (Special Assistant to the President for National Security)

• General Maxwell Taylor (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Throughout the course of the two week crisis each member

of the council would express a distinct opinion on what the best course

of action in Cuba would be

President John F Kennedy

• 35th President of the United States

• Leader of the ExComm meetings

• Was a skeptic of military solutions to political problems and throughout the meeting tried to avert military intervention in Cuba at all costs.

• Though only political negotiation with the Soviet Union could prevent the “final failure” of nuclear war

Attorney General Robert Kennedy

• 64th Attorney General of the United States

• President Kennedy’s brother and closest confidant during the meetings

• Throughout the meetings was a staunch supporter of massive air sorties against the Cuba followed by a massive invasion

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara • 8th United States Secretary of Defense

• One of the most articulate and outspoken members of ExComm

• Was a supporter of a navel blockade to keep Soviet ships away from Cuba and was also in favor of removing Jupiter missiles from Turkey in order to ease tensions between the Soviet Union and NATO

• Was against any military action against the Soviet or Cubans

Secretary of State Dean Rusk

• 54th United States Secretary of State

• Throughout the ExComm meetings Rusk supplied invaluable information on diplomatic policy and Soviet analysis

• Rusk was a supporter the navel blockade, denounced air strikes and the seizure of ships that had turned away from Cuba

• Was an advocate however of 24 hour armed air surveillance of Cuba to monitor missile construction no matter what the political cost

McGeorge Bundy

• Special Assistant to the President for National Security

• Supported a blockade of Cuba yet also supported air strikes of Soviet facilities in Cuba

• Was against removing missiles from Turkey because he felt it would divide NATO and weaken the European from on Communism

General Maxwell Taylor

• 5th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

• Represented the opinion of most top military leaders during the crisis

• Supported air strikes and a full scale invasion of Cuba

• He even suggested using a nuclear missile in Cuba to safeguard American military supremacy in the Caribbean

• Exemplified the ideals and policies President Kennedy was most suspicious of

U.S. Response to Missile Construction in Cuba

• After assembling all the ExComm members the committee began to discuss possible options that would end the nuclear threat to the United States by removing Soviet missiles from Cuba

• Although ExComm was sure that the missile sites where not yet complete they were still a looming threat. This threat accompanied by the already nuclear capable bombers the Soviets sent to Cuba made it extremely important the conflict would end quickly

• The ExComm quickly discussed three courses of military action:

1. An air attack on the missiles

2. A full military invasion

3. The naval blockade of Cuba, which was redefined as a more restrictive quarantine

Air attacks

• The possibility of performing massive air attacks on Soviet missile bases, air fields and SAM sites was and enticing idea to many ExComm members

• Many of the members including the National Security specialists, Joint Chiefs of Staff and Robert Kennedy felt taking out Soviet installation would be a quick and effective solution to their problem.

• However many of the senior members of the council including the president feared that air strikes on Cuba would justify Soviet seizures of Berlin and attacks on other European countries that belonged to NATO including Turkey

• Because Western control of Berlin had great physiological importance and because President Kennedy did not want an escalation that could result in full scale war the Air Strike option was put on the back burner yet was revisited many times throughout the ExComm meetings

A Full Military Invasion • Only a few months earlier a U.S. supported invasion of Cuba by native

refugees had resulted in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Now the U.S. was faced with the possibility of a full scale invasion of Cuba

• Because the entire country and the world had no idea about the events that were taking place in Cuba a full scale mobilization of the army which would have ignited a large public buzz did not sit well with President Kennedy

• Still many of his advisors pushed for an invasion as a way to make sure a problem like the Cuban Missile Crisis would never happen again

• President Kennedy who saw the crisis as a political issues and who was skeptical of military solutions to political problems was openly against an invasion. He felt it would bring many of the same problems that the U.S. would have faced if he ordered air strikes

• In the upcoming days however after revealing the secret information about Cuban missiles to the public Kennedy order a large mobilization of troops and air craft into Florida military bases “Just in Case”

The Naval Blockade of Cuba• A navel blockade of Cuba cutting them off from needed goods and halting the

shipping of warheads to the island was the option that ExComm adopted

• The president favored this option because it had the best chance to end the conflict peacefully and still assert American authority in the Caribbean and the Western Hemisphere.

• On October 22nd 1962 President Kennedy addressed the country and informed them of the nuclear missiles which where currently being installed in Cuba. He also instituted the blockade of Cuba except for ships that were carrying essential goods such medicine and food

Crisis Rhetoric and Soviet response

• President Kennedy called the blockade of Cuba a restricted quarantine so as not to ignite further tension. This tweaked rhetoric did not stave off animosity as the Soviet premier vowed that no Soviet ship would turn around and that missile construction would continue

• This tense time was without a doubt the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis and perhaps the entire Cold War with both super powers locked in a staring contest waiting for the other to blink

Quarantine Effectiveness • As tensions increased President Kennedy gave the order for all navel

commanders to have direst executive approval before firing on a Soviet ship approaching the quarantine line

• As the first Soviet ship approached the quarantine line was without a doubt one of the 10 most important events in World History.

• If the ship proceeded and was fired upon it could spark another World war that could end in a complete nuclear fallout

• If the ship turned around it would mean that the Soviets would be willing to compromise and a peaceful solution might be insight .

• Right as the ship came into visual contact with the American battleship enforcing the quarantine it began to turn around. The Soviets where willing to negotiate

Negotiations • The negotiation process of the Cuban Missile Crisis was in essence a chess

game that would decide the balance of power in the world

• The Soviets where willing to remove all missiles from Cuba in exchange for an American pledge not to invade Cuba and the removal of NATO missiles from Turkey which where in similar proximity to the Soviet Union as the missiles in Cuba where to the U.S.

• The U.S. however wanted all offensive weapons including aircraft removed from Cuban under the inspection of U.N. technicians in exchange for a pledge not to invade Cuba. Further the U.S. was not willing to publicly “swap” missiles in Turkey for ones in Cuba as they felt it would break their agreement with their NATO allies

• The outcome of these negotiations where that Soviet missiles where removed from Cuba under U.N. supervision while America made a quiet and unofficial pact with the Soviets to remove their Jupiter missiles from Turkey (they would compensate Turkey with submarine launched Polaris missiles)

U.S. Leadership• While most of his advisors had told him to either “bomb Cuba back into the

stone age” or launch a full scale invasion on the island President John F Kennedy stood fast. He saw the problem of the Soviet missiles in Cuba as a political issue and took steps to ensure the American publics safety while also finding a peaceful solution to the crisis. Through JFK’s leadership America was shepherded through one of its darkest times in history only to come out unharmed and perhaps closer to negotiating a lasting peace with the Soviet Union and other communist countries