Abstract
President John F. Kennedy has been variously praised and blamed for his handling of, the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. For most, it was his great triumph: seven days of wide-ranging deliberations and careful planning; and six days of the shrewd use of cautious threats, limited force,and wise diplomacy to achieve victory.1 For critics, however, it was an unnecessary crisis, or dangerously mishandled, or both: Kennedy should either have acceded to the Soviet missiles in Cuba, or at least tried private diplomacy before moving to the quarantine. Removal of the missiles was not worth the risk of nuclear war.2 Many assessments focus on Kennedy's rebponse to the Soviet demand on Saturday, October 27, that the United States withdraw its missiles from Turkey. Publicly, he seemed to reject the Soviet proposal.3 But did he? Some defenders
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
