JFK SAYS A STUDY ON OUR STRATEGIC POSITION IS UNDERWAY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On the morning of February 8, 1961, President John F. Kennedy held his third news conference at the State Department auditorium here in the Nation's Capital.
The President was asked...
"What are your feelings...about the missile gap*? Does it exist, and how and where does it exist?"
President Kennedy responded...
"We have the realization that the United States will not strike first, and, therefore, we have to consider what will be available to the United States if an attack took place upon us, not only in missiles, but also in other arms of our arsenal..."
JFK continued...
"So I think in answer to your question, the study has not been completed. It has not come...across my desk. There will be a study of how the budget...should be changed in view of our strategic position, but that...will not be completed...for some days."
*Missile Gap is a term credited to JFK in his 1958 Senate campaign to describe the perceived advantage the USSR had in development of ICBMS (Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles).
A news article published in 1959 estimated that by 1963 the Soviets would have 1500 ICBMS to only 130 for the United States.
JFK+50 NOTE
According to the CIA, breakthroughs in technology & innovative use of aerial & satellite photography provided "a more accurate assessment of Soviet missile capacity, allowing policy makers to shift gears."
JFK, who had been leaked (inaccurate) information in 1958, admitted as POTUS in 1962 that a missile gap had "scarcely ever existed."
SOURCES
"The President's News Conference of February 8, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States," January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
"What was the Missile Gap?," Freedom of Information Act, www.cia.gov/
