American History

On October 28, 1962, BBC reported The world has breathed a collective sigh of relief after the superpowers reached an agreement ending the immediate threat of nuclear war (1962 World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends).  The leader of Russia, Nikita Khrushchev, had finally consented to the dismantlement of Russian missiles located in Cuba.  The missiles were to be brought back to USSR.  The president of the United States, John F. Kennedy had heard of this public announcement on Moscow radio (1962 World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends).  Kennedy had stated in response that this move was, indeed, a momentous contribution to peace (1962 World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends).  The president of the United States had further made a public announcement of his promise not to invade Cuba (1962 World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends).  He also promised to lift the US naval blockade that had been imposed on Cuba through the Cuban missile crisis (1962 World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends).  However, the United States required inspectors from the United Nations to ensure that the Russian missiles in Cuba had been dismantled before the blockade could be lifted (1962 World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends).    
   
The significance of the conditions imposed on Cuba can be illustrated by the fact that the Cuban missile crisis was about to lead to the first nuclear war in world history.  Both the United States and Soviet Union were ready to engage in this war.  Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba because these weapons could not have reached the United States from Russia.  The United States, on the other hand, owned missiles that could strike the entire USSR.  For Russia, therefore, placing missiles in Cuba was a defense tactic.  But, Soviet military stationed in Cuba was also ready to attack the United States with its nuclear weapons so as to protect the island from invasion (Wiersma  Larson, 1997, 3).  After all, Fidel Castro had agreed to allow Soviet Union to secretly construct its missile installations in his country (Wiersma  Larson, 3).  As the invasion of the Bay of Pigs had been a failure in the year 1961, Castro had believed that the United States was going to strike again (Wiersma  Larson, 3).  
   
The U.S. had no idea that the Soviet Union had placed its missiles in Cuba, until American spy planes uncovered in September 1962 that Russia was constructing launch sites on the island for its surface-to-air missiles.  The United States had further observed that Russian ships coming to Cuba were growing in number (Cuban Missile Crisis).  As Kennedy feared that Russians might be sending weapons to Cuba, he had complained to the government of USSR and also warned the second superpower that America would not tolerate offensive weapons, which include surface-to-air missiles, on the island (Cuban Missile Crisis).  But, Cuba was now in the position to destroy American spy planes, U-2, with its surface-to-air missile installations (Cuban Missile Crisis).  As Kennedy had already been criticized for his policies on the island of Cuba, and elections for the United States Congress were due soon, the president decided at the time to restrict the number of flights of the American U-2 planes over the island (Cuban Missile Crisis).  He did not only desire to save American spy planes from being shot down in Cuba with this decision, but he also wanted to prevent turning Cuba into a controversial issue through the upcoming election campaign (Cuban Missile Crisis).      
   
On September 27, an agent of the CIA overheard the personal pilot of Castro telling a man in a bar that his country now possessed nuclear weapons (Cuban Missile Crisis).  American spy planes also took photographs showing that there was unusual activity in the area of San Cristobal in Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis).  However, it was not until photographs were taken to reveal that the USSR was, indeed, placing long range missiles on the island that the United States could confirm its suspicions (Cuban Missile Crisis).  This happened on October 15, 1962 (Cuban Missile Crisis).  Kennedy was not informed about the photographs until the morning of October 16.  The president decided to arrange for the EX-COMM as soon as he had heard the news.  Through the EX-COMM, twelve of the most trusted advisors to the president were required to get together with him so as to resolve the crisis (Wiersma  Larson, 3-4).    
   
Kennedy held intense discussions with his advisors for a number of days.  These debates were not revealed to the public.  The American people had not even been informed about Russian missiles in Cuba (Wiersma  Larson, 4).  Top officials of the government of the United States desired to reach a consensus about their reaction to the crisis before it could be revealed to the public.  As the president and his top advisors weighed their governments options, they could have decided to absolutely ignore the threat (Cuban Missile Crisis).  In that case, the American people may never have been informed about the crisis.  Another option was for the United States to make a deal with the Soviet Union, asking it to dismantle missiles on the island of Cuba in return, the United States could have agreed to withdraw its own missiles from Italy and Turkey.  Missiles were withdrawn from Italy and Turkey three months after the crisis.  However, the United States did not have to negotiate with the Soviet Union to agree to this.  Rather, America withdrew its missiles secretly (Cuban Missile Crisis).
   
The government of the United States further considered the options of invasion and blockade of the island of Cuba through its debates at the time (Cuban Missile Crisis).  It was possible to carry out conventional air-strikes against military targets and, of course, the missiles in Cuba to boot (Cuban Missile Crisis).  Nuclear weapons were also available to the United States to use against USSR andor Cuba.  Just the same, the United States government had to weigh the costs and benefits of its various options by considering not only the reactions of the American people but also those of Cuba and Russia (Cuban Missile Crisis).  Undoubtedly, Russia and Cuba could have attacked the United States with nuclear weapons if the latter had chosen to employ them.  As the decision to attack Cuba could have been highly dangerous for the United States, the top government officials meeting with President Kennedy were especially divided over the option to attack the missile installations in Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis).
   
Even though the United States military and CIA were in favor of the options to invade Cuba and carry out bombing raids, the rest of the government officials meeting with the president eventually showed preference for the option to impose a naval blockade (Cuban Missile Crisis).  As the majority of his advisors decided to opt for a blockade, Kennedy honored the decision before instructing Theodore Sorensen, a member of his advisory team, to compose a speech through which the president of the United States could explain to the rest of the world why it was necessary to choose this option to deal with the crisis (Cuban Missile Crisis).  On October 22, the president delivered the speech to announce that the United States had discovered Russian missile installations in Cuba, and his government had decided to quarantine the island (Wiersma  Larson, 4).  Kennedy further declared that the United States would regard launching of a nuclear missile from the island as an attack by Russia (Wiersma  Larson, 4).  Additionally, the president demanded removal of all offensive weapons from the island of Cuba (Wiersma  Larson, 4).
   
At the same time, Kennedy commanded the air force to get ready to attack both Soviet Union and Cuba.  As the government was still unsure of how the enemies would react, the United States army was further commanded to position more than one hundred thousand men in the state of Florida where they could wait for the order to invade the island.  War could have begun if Russian ships arriving to Cuba had refused U.S. inspection during this time.  Moreover, if Soviet ships that carried weapons to Cuba were to refuse to turn back, the United States could have started war (Cuban Missile Crisis).  Kennedy had ordered low level spy planes to fly over Cuba every two hours (Wiersma  Larson, 4).  The president had vowed to attack the missile installations in Cuba if the enemies were to shoot down any of his spy planes (Cuban Missile Crisis).  
   
The world waited anxiously (Cuban Missile Crisis).  Neither the Soviets nor the Americans could foretell the outcome of the crisis.  There were angry protests staged in various parts of Europe, including London.  Most Americans expected a nuclear war to begin.  Even so, they were supportive of their president through this time.  Kennedy learned on October 24 that Russian ships had stopped moving in the direction of Cuba after spotting U.S. ships that blockaded the island.  Khrushchev dispatched an angry letter to the president that evening, stating that Kennedy had deliberately created a crisis to win public support before the election (Cuban Missile Crisis).  On October 25, the president of the United States raised military readiness, expecting the worst (Wiersma  Larson, 4).
   
The following day, the leader of USSR issued another letter to Kennedy, proposing the removal of Russian personnel and missiles if the United States were to agree not to invade Cuba.  On October 27, an American spy plane was shot down in Cuba before the United States government received yet another letter from Khrushchev demanding of the U.S. to remove its missiles from Turkey.  In exchange, the Russians were willing to remove their missiles from the island of Cuba (Wiersma  Larson, 4).
   
Although Kennedy was reminded of his promise to bomb Cuba if any of the American spy planes were fired upon, the president refused to honor his promise at the time, as peace was of the essence (Cuban Missile Crisis).  Attorney General Robert Kennedy advised the president to ignore the second letter (Wiersma  Larson, 4).  Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet Ambassador, was contacted soon after with the decision of the U.S. government to accept the terms of the letter issued on October 26 (Wiersma  Larson, 4 Cuban Missile Crisis).  Thus, the two superpowers were able to avert nuclear war, protecting countless innocent people around the world from man-inflicted disaster.