JFK RETURNS TO CAPITAL TO BREAK DEADLOCK AMONG ADVISERS
According to Michael Dobbs, by October 20th there were actually more than 40,000 Soviet troops in Cuba. Dobbs says that the inaccurate report was based on the number of Soviet ships estimated to have arrived in Cuba .During the afternoon JFK, who was campaigning in the Midwest, was called back to Washington by RFK, to break a deadlock among his advisers.
Pierre Salinger, JFK's press secretary, announced to the press...
"The president has a cold and is returning to Washington."
The deadlock concerned the choice between launching an air strike on Cuba or employing a naval blockade. The air strike was proposed by McGeorge Bundy, and supported by John McCone, and Douglas Dillon. The blockade proposal was supported by McNamara, Dean Rusk, Adlai Stevenson, and Ted Sorensen.
Michael Dobbs writes that each proposal had its downside...
The air strikes "might not be 100 per cent effective and could provoke Khrushchev into firing the remaining missiles or taking action elsewhere" while a naval blockade "might give the Soviets the opportunity to prevaricate while they hurriedly completed work on the missile sites."
When JFK entered the Oval Sitting Room where his advisers were gathered, the President said...
"Gentlemen, today we're going to earn our pay. You should all hope that your plan isn't the one that will be accepted."
*Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009) was born in San Francisco, CA and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1937 and Harvard Business School in 1939.
Bob served in WWII and was president of Ford Motor Company in 1960. He served as Defense Secretary from 1961 to 1968.
SOURCE
"One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War," by Michael Dobbs, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2008.
JFK and McNamara
June 19, 1962
Photo by Cecil Stougton
NARA/JFK Library Image
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 20, 1962, the fifth day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK's Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara* reported that, according to CIA reports, the Soviets had deployed "6000 to 8000" troops to Cuba.
According to Michael Dobbs, by October 20th there were actually more than 40,000 Soviet troops in Cuba. Dobbs says that the inaccurate report was based on the number of Soviet ships estimated to have arrived in Cuba .During the afternoon JFK, who was campaigning in the Midwest, was called back to Washington by RFK, to break a deadlock among his advisers.
Pierre Salinger, JFK's press secretary, announced to the press...
"The president has a cold and is returning to Washington."
The deadlock concerned the choice between launching an air strike on Cuba or employing a naval blockade. The air strike was proposed by McGeorge Bundy, and supported by John McCone, and Douglas Dillon. The blockade proposal was supported by McNamara, Dean Rusk, Adlai Stevenson, and Ted Sorensen.
Michael Dobbs writes that each proposal had its downside...
The air strikes "might not be 100 per cent effective and could provoke Khrushchev into firing the remaining missiles or taking action elsewhere" while a naval blockade "might give the Soviets the opportunity to prevaricate while they hurriedly completed work on the missile sites."
When JFK entered the Oval Sitting Room where his advisers were gathered, the President said...
"Gentlemen, today we're going to earn our pay. You should all hope that your plan isn't the one that will be accepted."
*Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009) was born in San Francisco, CA and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1937 and Harvard Business School in 1939.
Bob served in WWII and was president of Ford Motor Company in 1960. He served as Defense Secretary from 1961 to 1968.
SOURCE
"One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War," by Michael Dobbs, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2008.
JFK and McNamara
June 19, 1962
Photo by Cecil Stougton
NARA/JFK Library Image
