"THE EXISTENCE OF MISSILE BASES IS NEGOTIABLE"

ADLAI STEVENSON ASKS JFK TO SPEAK TO KHRUSHCHEV ABOUT SOVIET MISSILES IN CUBA

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 17, 1962, President John F. Kennedy received a letter from United Nations Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson asking the President to speak to Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the U.S.S.R. about the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

In the letter, Mr. Stevenson wrote...

"(It) should (be) made...clear that the existence of the nuclear missile bases is negotiable."

Excomm* met at the U.S. State Department at 8:30 a.m. although President Kennedy was not present.

*Excomm (Executive Committee of the National Security Council) included regular members of the NSC & additional presidential advisers.  Meetings after Oct 17 62 were held in the Cabinet Room in the West Wing of The White House.

SOURCE

"Crisis In Cuba:  Day 2," JFK+50, October 17, 2014, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

Excomm Meeting

October 29 1962

Cabinet Room

The White House

Photo by Cecil Stoughton

"I'M PREPARED TO WAIT FOR MY ANSWER UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER"

ADLAI WON'T LET SOVIET AMBASSADOR OFF THE HOOK


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 25, 1962,  Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson questioned Soviet ambassador Valerian Zorin on his denial that the USSR had put nuclear missile sites in Cuba.

Stevenson began his remarks by asking...

"Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed and is placing, medium and intermediate range missiles and sites in Cuba?"

Zorin was waiting to hear the translation of Stevenson's question in his earpiece, when Stevenson added...

"Yes or no---don't wait for the translation--yes or no?"

Zorin, taken aback by Stevenson's tactic, replied...

"I am not in an American courtroom, sir, and I do not wish to answer a question put to me in the manner in which a prosecutor does."

Stevenson responded...

"You are in the courtroom of world opinion right now, and you can answer yes or no. You have denied that they exist, and I want to know if I have understood you correctly."

Zorin countered...

"Continue with your statement. You will receive your answer in due course. Do not worry."

To which Stevenson responded...

"I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over if that's your decision." 

SOURCES

"'Let Us Begin Anew':  An Oral History of the Kennedy Presidency, by Gerald S. and Deborah H. Strober, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1993.

"One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro On The Brink of Nuclear War" by Michael Dobbs, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2008.

Adlai E. Stevenson

June 23, 1961

Library of Congress Photo

US ATTACK ON CUBA WOULD RESULT IN SOVIET REPRISALS

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2474

NUCLEAR MISSILE BASES IN CUBA ARE NEGOTIABLE?

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy received a letter from UN Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson fifty-five years ago today, October 17, 1962,  asking him to speak to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev about the presence of nuclear missile bases in Cuba.

Mr. Stevenson wrote...

"(It) should (be) made...clear that the existence of the nuclear missile bases is negotiable.  Because a (U.S.) attack would very likely result in Soviet reprisals...it is important that we have as much of the world with us as possible.  To start...a nuclear war is bound to be divisive at best and the judgments of history seldom coincide with the tempers of the moment."

According to James M. Lindsay on "The Water's Edge,"  EXCOM met at 8:30 a.m. in the State Department on October 17, 1962. While the President did not attend this meeting, most of the participants believed Premier Khrushchev had put the missiles in Cuba to put pressure on our position in West Berlin. 

JFK directed CIA Director John McCone, who attended the EXCOM meeting, to go to Gettysburg to brief former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

According to the JFK Library, United States military units began to move to bases in the Southeast after new photographs showed additional missile sites, along with 16 to 32 missiles, in Cuba.

The President observed the National Day of Prayer at St. Matthews Cathedral, had lunch with Crown Prince Hasan of Libya & made a political trip to Connecticut.

SOURCES

"The Kennedys:  A Chronological History," by Harvey Rachlin, World Almanac, New York, 1986.

"Thirteen Days in October:  Day 2, October 17", John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, www.microsites.jfklibrary.org/

"TWE Remembers: JFK Solicits Ike's Advisers, Cuban Missile Crisis Day 2," www.blogs.cfr.org 

STEVENSON-KENNEDY TICKET NOT TO BE

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2042

JFK LOST VP BID 60 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Sixty years ago today, August 17, 1956, John Fitzgerald Kennedy lost his first and only political contest, a bid to win the Democratic Party's nomination for Vice-President.

In an unprecedented move, Presidential nominee Adlai E. Stevenson decided to turn the selection of his running-mate over to the delegates of the convention. Although JFK's father counseled him otherwise, Senator Kennedy put his name into contention.

Having come close to victory in the balloting, Senator Estes Kefauver* of Tennessee narrowly defeated Senator to become the party's nominee for Vice-President of the United States.

At one point JFK had a lead of 648 to 551.5, but the Tennessee delegation asked the chair for recognition.  Senator Albert Gore, Sr. announced he was dropping out of the race in deference to his colleague Senator Kefauver.  From that point on, Kefauver soon overtook JFK's lead.

Jack Kennedy gave a gracious concession speech after the balloting in which he asked the convention to make Kefauver's nomination unanimous.

The main concern Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. had with his son's presence on the ticket was the likely prospect that President Dwight D. Eisenhower would win election in a landslide and Stevenson-Kennedy would be considered a loser.

As it turned out, the defeat proved to be advantageous for Senator Kennedy as the Election of 1956 turned out just as Joe Kennedy had predicted.  JFK's stock in the Democratic ranks grew rapidly after the general election and he would win his party's presidential nomination four years later.

*Estes Kefauver (1903-1963) was born in Madisonville, TN & graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1924.  EK graduated from Yale Law School in 1927.  After practicing law in Chattanooga, he was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served from 1939 to 1949.

In 1948, EK was elected to the US Senate where he would serve until his death. In 1950, he headed a Senate committee investigating organized crime.  The hearings of the Kefauver Committee were televised nationally which helped EK to become a national figure.

After his death of a heart attack, President Kennedy appointed Nancy Kefauver to head the Art Embassies Program.  It was JFK's last appointment.

JFK+50 NOTE

My father, uncle & myself visited with Senator Kefauver during our trip to Washington, D.C. in July 1962.  My dad & uncle did most of the talking....I was only 14 years old....but I did manage to say that I would very much like to meet President Kennedy.  I don't remember if Senator Kefauver responded to my statement, but I sure to remember his expression which was not one of great joy.  I didn't know then that JFK & Kefauver, although members of the same political party, had been adversaries.

JFK nominates Adlai Stevenson

1956 Democratic National Convention

Chicago, Illinois

August 16, 1956

UPI Photo

Senator Estes Kefauver

Tennessee (D)

THE MAN FROM LIBERTYVILLE

DEMOCRATS NOMINATED STEVENSON AGAIN 60 YEARS AGO

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Sixty years ago today, August 16, 1956, Governor Adlai E. Stevenson* of Illinois was nominated a second time by the Democratic National Convention for the office of President of the United States.

Stevenson won the nomination by a wide margin over contenders Governor Averill Harriman of New York and Senators Stuart Symington of New York and Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas.  Prior to the balloting, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts gave the nominating speech for Stevenson.

In an unprecedented move, Stevenson turned the selection of his Vice-Presidential running mate to the Convention.  Senator Kennedy was narrowly defeated by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.  The Stevenson-Kefauver ticket went down to defeat in the general election as the popular President Dwight D. Eisenhower won in a landslide.  Stevenson carried only Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Although Stevenson did not endorse JFK for President before the Convention of 1960, he did campaign for him in the general election.  Governor Stevenson was awarded the Ambassadorship of the United Nations in return.  He served in that position until his death.

*Adlai Ewing Stevenson (1900-1965) was born in Los Angeles, CA & grew up in Bloomington, IL.  His grandfather was VP under President Cleveland and his father was Secretary of State of Illinois.

AES served in the US Navy in WWI & attended Princeton University.  He earned his law degree at Northwestern University.  AES served as counsel for the AAA from 1933-1935 & special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy.  

AES was governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953.  He purchased a 70 acre estate in Libertyville, IL in 1935.

SOURCE

"Adlai E. Stevenson, 1900-1965," The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, www.gwu.edu/

Adlai E. Stevenson

www.archives@northwestern.edu

MISSILE CRISIS DAY 10

JFK+50:  Volume 5, No. 1754

SOVIET UN AMBASSADOR MUM ON MISSILES 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On the tenth day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, fifty-three years ago, October 25, 1962, Soviet ambassador to the United Nations Valerian Zorin refused to answer United States UN ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson's question....

"Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed and is placing, medium and intermediate range missiles and sites in Cuba?"

Zorin was waiting to hear the translation of Stevenson's question from English to Russian in his earpiece, when Stevenson said...

"Yes or no---don't wait for the translation--yes or no?"

Zorin, seemingly taken aback by Stevenson's tactic, replied in Russian...

"I am not in an American courtroom, sir, and I do not wish to answer a question put to me in the manner in which a prosecutor does."

Stevenson countered...

"You are in the courtroom of world opinion right now, and you can answer yes or no. You have denied that they exist, and I want to know if I have understood you correctly."

Zorin replied...

"Continue with your statement. You will receive your answer in due course. Do not worry."

Ambassador Stevenson, obviously frustrated by Zorin's lack of candor, said...

"I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that's your decision."

The United States then presented the photographic evidence to prove to the world the Soviet Union had indeed installed nuclear weapons in Cuba.

President John F. Kennedy, concerned about Stevenson's ability to stand-up to Zorin, was watching on television as he sat in his rocking chair in the Oval Office.

When it was over, JFK turned to his aides and said...

"Terrific. I never knew Adlai had it in him."

In an oral history, Joseph Sisco** says that JFK placed a phone call to Adlai as the meeting was about to begin.  Joe relates that he personally had to go to Zorin, the president of the Security Council, to get the meeting delayed.

He added...

"The president was really calling the shots in the Security Council right from the White House as he watched on the television and talked on an open line."

As to Stevenson's performance, Mr. Sisco says that while Adlai had a  prepared speech, his phrase 'until hell freezes over' was "totally ad libbed...there was nothing like that in the text."


*Valerian Zorin (1902-1986) joined the Communist party in 1922 and graduated from the Communist Institute of Education in 1935.  He was ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1947-1955. VZ, who won 3 'Orders of Lenin', was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and UN ambassador from 1956-1965.  He was ambassador to France from 1965-1971.  

**Joseph J. Sisco (1919-2004) was raised in Chicago and graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, IL in 1941.  He was in the army in WWII and earned a Masters and Doctoral degree at the University of Chicago in 1947 and 1950.
In 1950, Sisco became a CIA officer and in 1951 joined the State Dept.  He was Henry Kissinger's chief deputy during the period of shuttle diplomacy in the 1970s.


SOURCES

"'Let Us Begin Anew':  An Oral History of the Kennedy Presidency, by Gerald S. and Deborah H. Strober, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1993.

"One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro On The Brink of Nuclear War" by Michael Dobbs, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2008.

Adlai E. Stevenson

June 23, 1961

Library of Congress Photo

UN Security Council

October 25, 1962

PD-USGOV photo

UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER

"I'M PREPARED TO WAIT FOR MY ANSWER UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER"

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 25, 1962, fifty-two years ago today, United States ambassador to the United Nations Adlai E. Stevenson questioned Soviet ambassador Valerian Zorin* on his denial that the USSR had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba.

Mr. Stevenson, seated 4 chairs from Zorin, began his remarks by asking...

"Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed and is placing, medium and intermediate range missiles and sites in Cuba?"

Zorin was waiting to hear the translation of Stevenson's question in his earpiece, when Stevenson said...

"Yes or no---don't wait for the translation--yes or no?"

Adlai E. Stevenson

June 23, 1961

Library of Congress Photo

Zorin, seemingly taken aback by Stevenson's tactic, replied in Russian...

"I am not in an American courtroom, sir, and I do not wish to answer a question put to me in the manner in which a prosecutor does."

Stevenson countered...

"You are in the courtroom of world opinion right now, and you can answer yes or no. You have denied that they exist, and I want to know if I have understood you correctly."

Zorin replied...

"Continue with your statement. You will receive your answer in due course. Do not worry."

Ambassador Stevenson, obviously frustrated by Zorin's lack of candor, said...

"I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that's your decision."

The United States then presented the photographic evidence to prove to the world the Soviet Union had indeed installed nuclear weapons in Cuba.

UN Security Council

October 25, 1962

PD-USGOV photo

President John F. Kennedy, concerned about Stevenson's ability to stand-up to Zorin, was watching on television as he sat in his rocking chair in the Oval Office.

When it was over, JFK turned to his aides and said...

"Terrific. I never knew Adlai had it in him."

In an oral history, Joseph Sisco** says that JFK placed a phone call to Adlai as the meeting was about to begin.  Joe relates that he personally had to go to Zorin, the president of the Security Council, to get the meeting delayed.

He added...

"The president was really calling the shots in the Security Council right from the White House as he watched on the television and talked on an open line."

As to Stevenson's performance, Mr. Sisco says that while Adlai had a  prepared speech, his phrase 'until hell freezes over' was "totally ad libbed...there was nothing like that in the text."

*Valerian Zorin (1902-1986) joined the Communist party in 1922 and graduated from the Communist Institute of Education in 1935.  He was ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1947-1955. VZ, who won 3 'Orders of Lenin', was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and UN ambassador from 1956-1965.  He was ambassador to France from 1965-1971.  

**Joseph J. Sisco (1919-2004) was raised in Chicago and graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, IL in 1941.  He was in the army in WWII and earned a Masters and Doctoral degree at the University of Chicago in 1947 and 1950.
In 1950, Sisco became a CIA officer and in 1951 joined the State Dept.  He was Henry Kissinger's chief deputy during the period of shuttle diplomacy in the 1970s.


SOURCES

"'Let Us Begin Anew':  An Oral History of the Kennedy Presidency, by Gerald S. and Deborah H. Strober, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1993.

"One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro On The Brink of Nuclear War" by Michael Dobbs, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2008.

STEVENSON TRUMPS ZORIN ON SOVIET MISSILES IN CUBA

October 25, 1962


STEVENSON TRUMPS ZORIN ON SOVIET MISSILES IN CUBA

UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson
              October 25, 1962


New York City (JFK+50) United States ambassador to the United Nations Adlai E. Stevenson questioned Soviet ambassador Valerian Zorin today on his repeated denial that the USSR has placed nuclear missile sites in Cuba.


Mr. Stevenson, seated 4 chairs from Zorin, began his remarks by asking "one simple question":


"Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed, & is placing, medium & intermediate range missiles & sites in Cuba?"


Zorin was waiting to hear the translation of Stevenson's question in the Russian language in his earpiece.


The normally patient Stevenson, however, was in no mood for delay.  He said:


"Yes or no---don't wait for the translation--yes or no?"


Zorin, taken aback by Stevenson's tactic, replied:


"I am not in an American courtroom, sir, & I do not wish to answer a question put to me in the manner in which a prosecutor does."

     UN Ambassador Valerian Zorin


Stevenson, not to be denied, answered:


"You are in the courtroom of world opinion right now, & you can answer yes or no. You have denied that they exist, & I want to know if I have understood you correctly."


Zorin said:


"Continue with your statement. You will receive your answer in due course. Do not worry."


To which Stevenson replied:


"I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that's your decision."*


Stevenson then produced, for Zorin & all the world to see, the photographic evidence of Soviet missile sites in Cuba.

      Photos of Soviet Missiles in Cuba
       Displayed at the United Nations
                     October 25, 1962


*President Kennedy, concerned about Stevenson's ability to "stand-up" to Zorin, was watching the confrontation on TV. 


When it was over, JFK turned to his aides & said: "Terrific. I never knew Adlai had it in him."**


**Source: "One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev & Castro On The Brink of Nuclear War" by Michael Dobbs, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2008.


Adlai Ewing Stevenson II


Adlai E. Stevenson II was born in Los Angeles, California in 1900 but grew up in Bloomington, Illinois where his Great Grandfather, Jesse Fell, founded the local newspaper & was an early supporter of Abraham Lincoln.


Stevenson's Grandfather, Adlai E. Stevenson, served as Vice-President of the United States in Grover Cleveland's 2nd term.


Stevenson attended Princeton University & received a law degree from Northwestern.


He was elected Governor of Illinois in 1948 & served from 1949 to 1953.


In 1952 & again in 1956, Stevenson was the Democratic nominee for President of the United States but lost both times to the ever popular Dwight D. Eisenhower.


In 1956, Senator John F. Kennedy gave the nominating speech for Stevenson at the Democratic National Convention.

On July 15, 1960, Stevenson introduced JFK as the Democratic nominee who, in turn, said: "I am grateful that I can rely...on one of the most articulate statesmen of our time, Adlai Stevenson."


From 1960 to 1965, Stevenson served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations.


Upon his death on July 14, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson said:


"He was an American & he served America well.  But what he saw, & what he spoke, & what he worked for is the shared desire of all humanity."


JFK+50s Favorite Adlai Stevenson Quotes

"A wise man does not try to hurry history.  Many wars have been avoided by patience & many have been precipitated by reckless haste."


"If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us.  The free mind is not a barking dog to be tethered on a 10 foot chain."


"In matters of national security, emotion is no substitute for intelligence, nor rigidity for prudence."


"Every age needs men who will redeem the time by living with a vision of the things that are to be."

          Adlai & President Kennedy
                       Enjoy Sailing