LEMAY SAYS JFK IN PRETTY BAD FIX
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 19, 1962, the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) met with President John F. Kennedy at the White House.
The President was presented with a choice of actions that he could order in response to the Soviet Union's placing of offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States.
The choices included a total air strike, a partial air strike and a naval blockade. Each of these measures posed serious risks.
General Curtis LeMay*, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, turned to President Kennedy and said...
"You're in a pretty bad fix."
After leaving the meeting, JFK said to his aide David Powers...
"These brass hats have a great advantage. If we...do what they want...none of us will be alive later to tell them...they were wrong."
JFK+50 NOTE
The Joint Chiefs advised JFK to order a total air strike. Although the President had not yet made a final decision on October 19, he would ultimately choose (to the dismay of LeMay) the naval blockade option.
*Curtis E. LeMay (1906-1990) was born in Columbus, Ohio & graduated at Ohio State University with a degree in civil engineering.
CEL designed & implemented a systematic bombing campaign on Japan in WWII & led the Berlin Airlift of 1948. He was Air Force Chief of Staff 1961-1965.
