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Why did Khrushchev sell nuclear weapons to Castro? The US had recently placed Jupiter missiles in Turkey (300 miles from the USSR). So the Soviet leader placed these weapons in Cuba in response to the missiles in Turkey and to protect Cuba from any attack from the US.

Khrushchev told his staff that it's time time to give Americans “a little bit of their own medicine.”

Kennedy pondered Soviet motives: 

“What is the advantage of” putting ballistic missiles in Cuba he asked his advisors. “It’s just as if we suddenly began to put a major number of MRBMs in Turkey. Now that would be...dangerous, I would think.”

Bundy replied, “Well we did it, Mr. President.”

Why did Castro purchase these weapons from the Soviet Union?  As a deterrent against any future attack by the US against Cuba.  Castro and other Cuban leaders were convinced that a future attack against Cuba by the US was imminent.  The CIA had already planted explosives on two different shipments of weapons from Europe to Cuba--both ignited in Cuban harbors.  Considering the continued assassination attempts on Castro's life by the US, the Cubans had plausible reasons to be concerned.

A HUGE RISK

The placement of these missiles in Cuba was a tremendous gamble for Nikita Khrushchev.  It created several dangerous scenarios:

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· If Castro decided to use these weapons against the US in an unprovoked attack against the US, and the US discovers that they were purchased from the USSR, then it's a possible war with the Russians.

· Even if Castro was able to fire a couple of the missiles before the US responded, Cuba would most assuredly be annihilated by the US in a nuclear exchange

· If Castro chooses not to launch the missiles, and the US discovers them, Cuba may be destroyed with a nuclear attack by the US, which almost happened!

· For the US, a forceful reaction from the US may bring about an aggressive response from the USSR, which means WWIII.

· For the US, if Russian soldiers are killed in a preemptive attack against the missile installations, it would mean certain war with the Soviet Union.

While the Oval Office debates the proper American response, 19 freighters have been dispatched from the Soviet Union on their way to Cuba, and they're not carrying rice and potatoes, the ships are carrying war materials, including nuclear weapons.

OCT. 19

Joint Chiefs' suggestions:

· Strategic Airstrikes (of missile installations only)

· General Air strike (of missile installations and other Cuban sites)

· General invasion of Cuba  (using land and air forces) 

· Curtis LeMay's suggestion   "Fry ‘em!"  [with nuclear weapons]

All of these scenarios  involved one dangerous element:  If Russian soldiers are killed in an any type of attack, it risks a nuclear confrontation with the USSR with apocalyptic consequences.

Kennedy was shocked when he asked the Joint Chiefs how the Russians would respond to such an invasion and LeMay reassured that the Soviets would not respond to such an attack. Kennedy was in disbelief, especially when there were Russian soldiers in Cuba who would be killed in such a bombing.

(LeMay not only suggested using nuclear weapons against Cuba, but also wanted to take advantage of this time not only to take out Castro but to "wipe out entire Soviet Union.”)

Former CEO of Ford Motor, Secretary of State, Robert S. McNamara advises President Kennedy.

McNamara, must have been a student of history, because he came up with a response that replicated a naval maneuver that was performed  in Cuba during the the Spanish-American war in 1898. The US would surround Cuba with naval ships (called a quarantine and technically an act war)  and force the Russians to run through the naval barricade, thus forcing them to play the part of the aggressor.

· Kennedy, against the advice of the Joint Chiefs chooses to use a  Blockade

(outraged, the Joint Chiefs compared the blockade to the appeasement of Hitler at Munich!)

Kennedy and the Joint Chiefs

There was already mistrust between JFK  (and his Attorney General, brother Bobby) and the Principle Chiefs from the Bay of Pigs disaster, and they outraged at Kenny's choice to use a barricade.  They believe Kennedy, unlike Eisenhower, was not really a military man and his Secretary of State (who was also from the civilian sector) were putting American in great danger.  Kennedy, on the hand, thought that the overt aggression of the Joint Chiefs were the ones putting America in danger.  They were at odds with each other.

“If we listen to them [Joint Chiefs] and do what they tell us to do, none of us will be alive to tell them that they were wrong.” JFK

OCT 22-- President Kennedy informs the American people of a possible show-down with the Soviet Union

OCT 24

·

· Strategic Air Command declared DEFCON 2

· Defensive Condition Readiness

·

· declared by General Thomas Power, Kennedy was not consulted

· Prepared to strike targets in the Soviet Union

· Mobilization of troops along Florida coast

· Avoided putting message in code, so Soviets could decipher it

· SAC airborne fleet prepared to attack with 3,000 nuclear weapons

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, shows international delegates at the UN, the reconnaissance photos of Soviet missiles in Cuba--right after the Russian delegate denied having "offensive weapons" in Cuba---international support for the US was galvanized instantly after proof of Russian wrong doing.

OCT 26

A desperate message from Nikita Khrushchev:

at this point, Historians say that Khrushchev was staying awaken for days on end and slept in his office with his suit on--the situation was becoming desperate)

· Khrushchev (veteran of the Russian Revolution and WWII) sent Kennedy what McNamara described “as the most extraordinary diplomatic message I have ever seen.”

· Khrushchev warned that the two countries were headed unavoidably into war

“if war should indeed break out, then it would not be in our power to stop it…war ends when it has rolled through cities and villages, everywhere sowing death and destruction.”     

                                                                                                                                         Khrushchev to Kennedy

Not known until years later, but Castro sent a letter to Khrushchev urging him to strike the US with Nuclear weapons first, in the event that the US attacked Cuba!!

OCT 27--Second Letter from Khrushchev arrives

· Sounded like it was written by a committee

· Much more aggressive and incendiary

· Threatened war if blockade not removed

· Some thought a military coupe had occurred and Khrushchev was ousted

· Letter demanded American pledge not to invade Cuba and for missiles to be removed from Turkey

· Kennedy didn’t want to alienate Turkey and destroy NATO

· Kennedy decided to respond only to first letter

A U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba by a Soviet surface-to-air missile and an American pilot is killed!

Kennedy and Khrushchev are losing control of the situation!  (that's not a good thing)

Defcon 2 (the highest in US history) was declared without Kennedy being consulted and now an American pilot is killed and Khrushchev did not issue the order

Miami nearly hit with a nuclear warhead!  

“not only the most dangerous moment of the Cold War. It was the most dangerous moment in human history” 

                                                                      Arthur Schlesinger (White House Press Secretary)

After being rocked by a depth charge from the USS Randolph Soviet Commander Valentin Savitsky, believed the war had began and readied a nuclear torpedo (that had the same power as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima) and they had been given permission by Soviet leadership to use it if they came under attack. I don't believe our Navy actually knew that the Russian subs were outfitted with nuclear warheads!

· USS Randolph dropped depth charges

· One explosion rocked a Soviet submarine

· Sub lost power and all communication

“one of the duty officers fainted and fell down. Then another one followed, then the third one….They were falling like dominoes. But we were still holding on, trying to escape.  We were suffering like this for about four hours.” Then “the Americans hit us with something stronger…We thought—that’s it—the end.”

“We’re gonna blast them now!  “We will die, but we will sink them all – we will not become the shame of the fleet.”

                                                                                                 Soviet Commander Valentin Savitsky

It was required that each Soviet submarine have at 3 commanding officers on board in order the clear and confirm orders with one another.  And thankfully, for the US it paid off! 

Before Soviet Commander Valentin Savitsky was able to fire his nuclear warhead (the third commanding officer gave his approval) the second commanding officer, Vasili Arkhipov, was able to create some doubt in his comrade by asking if they knew with confidence that they had been hit with an offensive weapon, if not, they would be responsible for igniting a war between the two super-powers.  It was enough to give Savitsky pause.  Thankfully, he decided against firing the nuclear torpedo.  

Thanks Vasili!

Castro predicts attack on Cuba within 72 hours

· 42,000 Soviet soldiers and 100,000 Cuban soldiers prepare for war in Cuba with 100 tactical nuclear warheads

As preparation were made to evacuate the White House staff and their families from Washington DC, Secretary of State, Robert McNamara watched the sun go down while standing on top of the roof of the White House and wondered what would befall the US and the world if the Soviets decided to run through the blockade.

“I thought it was the last Saturday I’d ever see.” ---Robert McNamara

· 250,000 American soldiers were mobilized to invade Cuba

· A new Cuban government was ready to be installed

· 2,000 bombing sorties were readied

· Invasion seemed inevitable

Oct 28

As the Soviet Freighters neared the parameter of the American naval quarantine, JFK sent his younger brother, Robert,  on a covert mission to meet with Russian Ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin.  It was a last minute effort to avoid a near catastrophe. 

During the meeting Robert Kennedy, threatened that the, “US will attack unless it received immediate commitment that Soviet Union was removing its bases from Cuba.”  Noticing they were at a stale mate, the Russian ambassador prepared to leave, and Robert Kennedy offered one last enticement, the (obsolete) Jupiter missiles located in Turkey would be dismantled, IF the Soviets removed the missiles from Cuba.  IT WORKED. Anatoly Dobrynin sent the message to the Kremlin, and the next day, the freighter carrying nuclear war materials turned back.

· US agreed not to invade Cuba, will remove missiles from Turkey

The Russian Version  of meeting between Bobby Kennedy and Anatoly Dobrynin

Nikita Krushchev's 1971 memoirs which were deemed by the New York Times Editorial Board as "authentic" suggested that Robert Kennedy’s message was much more desperate.  According Kruschchev, Robber Kennedy told Anatoly Dobrynin that:

“Even though the President himself is very much against starting a war over Cuba, an irreversible chain of events could occur against his will,” he warned. “….If the situation continues much longer, the President is not sure that the military will not overthrow him and seize power.  The American army could get out of control.”

The implications of this revelation are sobering and it's up to the critical thinking scholar to make a determination on the veracity of the story by the former Premier of the Communist Party.

Aftermath---JFK:

John F. Kennedy seemed to be shaken from the near confrontation of the Cuban Missile Crisis, one historian claimed that at the height of the crisis, Bobby said that the two men stared at each other from opposite sides of the table and the president appeared to be in anguish, as his "face drained of color" and his eyes seemed to turn "grey" as he "buried his fist on the side of his cheek."

After the incident, President Kennedy gave a commencement speech at American University that he intended for Soviet officials.  He complemented the Russian people and compared them to Americans and called for a "“reevaluation of attitudes.”  He expounded in his speech that, "Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air." 

Kennedy went on to urge the following policy changes:

· Ban on nuclear testing between the two countries

· Proposed a joint Russian and U.S. venture to the moon

· $250 million is surplus wheat be given to the USSR from the US to stave off the effects of a famine

· A “Hotline” installed be installed in the White House with a direct connection to the Kremlin, so leaders of the two countries could speak to each other in person, in the event of another crisis.

Unfortunately, Kennedy would be killed by Lee Harvey Oswald within six months and he would never live to see many of his proposed modifications between the two nations implemented. 

As a matter of fact, after Kennedy was killed two things immediately accelerated:    1) The Cold War   and  2) The War in Vietnam.    He was blamed by some for being too soft on the Russians.

An entire cottage industry has been written regarding the assassination of JFK.  He definitely earned a lot of enemies along the way, including the CIA, the American Mafia, the Joint Chiefs, and many factions in the South.  Before the fateful Dallas trip, three other trips were scheduled, and all were cancelled due to death threats.  

Aftermath---Nikita Khrushchev: 

Khrushchev's name was expunged from many Soviet history books and records.  He was blamed for being too lenient with the Americans.  His memoirs were so controversial, they had to be smuggled out of the Soviet Union in order to published in 1971.  Khrushchev was living alone in a remote cabin in the Russian wildernesses when he wrote them.  Upon his death, he was not even given a state funeral and many of his progressive projects and policies were dismantled.

New York Times Moscow Correspondent Harry Schwartz said of Khrushchev, "Mr. Khrushchev opened the doors and windows of a petrified structure. He let in fresh air and fresh ideas, producing changes which time already has shown are irreversible and fundamental."

13 days that shook the world.  Paperweight given to Sec. of State, Robert McNamara from  President  Kennedy