"GENTLEMEN, TODAY WE'RE GOING TO EARN OUR PAY"

JFK'S CHOICES IN CUBA:  AIR STRIKE OR NAVAL BLOCKADE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 20, 1962, the fifth day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara reported CIA estimates reveal "6000 to 8000" Soviet troops now in Cuba.

In the afternoon, President John F. Kennedy returned to The White House from campaigning in the midwest to break a deadlock among his advisers.  The question was should the United States launch an airstrike on Soviet bases in Cuba or set up a naval blockade around the island?

When the President entered the room, he 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."

JFK+50 NOTE

According to Michael Dobbs, the actual number of Soviet troops in Cuba in October 1962 was more than 40,000.  The reason for the low ball CIA estimate was that it was roughly based on the number of ships having arrived in Cuba from the USSR.

SOURCE

"McNamara Reports Up To 8000 Soviet Troops In Cuba," JFK+50, October 20, 2015, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

President John F. Kennedy & Secretary Robert S. McNamara

White House Cabinet Room

June 19 1961

Photo by Cecil Stoughton

JFK Library

"THE PRESIDENT HAS A COLD"

JFK RETURNS TO CAPITAL WITH ADVISERS DEADLOCKED ON CUBA

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 20, 1962, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara* reported to President John F. Kennedy that there were 6000 to 8000 Soviet troops in Cuba.

This number, provided by the CIA, was woefully inaccurate.   According to Michael Dobbs, there were actually 40,000 Russian soldiers in Cuba.

To make matters worse, the President's advisers were deadlocked on what action to counsel JFK to take in response to Soviet nuclear missile sites in Cuba.

Things were going so badly on the 20th of October, President Kennedy had to make a sudden return to Washington from the campaign trail.  The public was not permitted to know the real reason for his change in schedule. 

Press Secretary Pierre Salinger said to the Press...

"The president has a cold..." 

 

 *Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009) was born in San Francisco & attended UC Berkely & Harvard Business School.  RSM served in WWII & was president of Ford Motor Company (1960).  He was Secretary of Defense under JFK & LBJ.

 

SOURCE

"One Minute to Midnight:  Kennedy, Khrushchev & Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War," by Michael Dobbs, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2008. 

 

 

 

JFK & Bob McNamara

Cabinet Room, The White House

Photo by Cecil Stoughton (1962)

NARA/JFK Library Image 

  

"WE STOOD EYEBALL TO EYEBALL..."

SOVIET SHIPS STOP OR REVERSE DIRECTION AT BLOCKADE LINE


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 24, 1962, the Executive Committee of the National Security Council met at 10 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House.

The meeting began with CIA Director John McCone reporting that 22 Soviet ships were heading for the Quarantine Line 500 miles east of Cuba.


Later, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara relayed information that two Soviet ships, Kimovsk & Yuri Gagarin, were approaching the line with a Soviet submarine in between.

McCone broke the news that 6 Soviet ships had "either stopped or reversed direction." 

Secretary of State Dean Rusk said...

"We stood eyeball to eyeball and the other fellow just blinked."*

 SOURCES

Michael Dobbs, One Minute to Midnight, 2008.

James M. Lindsay, TWE Remembers, 10/24/2012.

Navy P-2H Neptune

Flying Over a Soviet Freighter

US Navy Photo, 1962

                       

                            

IT REMAINS THE POLICY OF THE U.S. TO DEFEAT AGGRESSION

WHITE HOUSE ISSUES STATEMENT ON VIETNAM MISSION 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 2, 1963, the White House issued a statement following the return of Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara and General Maxwell Taylor from their special mission to South Vietnam.

The statement began...

"Secretary McNamara and General Taylor reported to the President this morning and to the National Security Council this afternoon.  Their report included a number of classified findings and recommendations which will be the subject of further review and action."

The McNamara-Taylor Report included the following  recommendations which were approved by the President...

1. We will adhere to our policy of working with the people and Government of South Vietnam to deny this country to communism.

2. The military program in SV has made progress and is sound in principle.

3. Major US assistance...is needed only until the insurgency has been suppressed or until the national security forces of the Government of South Vietnam are capable of suppressing it.^

4. The political situation in SV remains deeply serious.

5. It remains the policy of the United States...to support the efforts...to defeat aggression and to build a peaceful and free society.

^The McNamara-Taylor Report said that 1000 US military advisers "COULD be withdrawn" from South Vietnam by the end of the year 1963, and that "the major part of the U.S. military task can be completed by 1965."

JFK and Bob McNamara

June 19, 1962

 Photo by Cecil Stoughton

JFK Library Image

McNAMARA SAYS 8000 SOVIET TROOPS IN CUBA

Saturday, October 20, 1962

McNAMARA SAYS  8000 SOVIET TROOPS IN CUBA

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara* said today that CIA analysts estimate that the USSR has deployed "six thousand to eight thousand" troops to Cuba.**


*Robert S. "Bob" McNamara (1916-2009) was born in San Francisco, California & graduated from UC Berkeley in 1937 & Harvard Business School in 1939.  He served in the US Army in WWII & became president of Ford Motor Company in 1960.  He served as Defense Secretary from 1961 to 1968.

**According to Michael Dobbs by Oct 20 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.

                   JFK & McNamara
                      Cabinet Room
                    The White House
                      June 19, 1962
            Photo by Cecil Stougton
           NARA/JFK Library Image

This afternoon President Kennedy,who was scheduled to be campaigning in the Midwest, was called back to Washington by the Attorney General who told him that he was needed to break a deadlock among his advisers.***

***Press Secretary Pierre Salinger announced JFK was returning to the White House because "(he)...has a cold..."

The deadlock appears to be between a decision to launch an air strike on Cuba or set up a naval blockade.

The air strike was proposed by National Security assistant to the President, McGeorge Bundy & is being supported by John McCone, CIA director & Douglas Dillon, Secretary of Treasury.

The blockade proposal is being advocated by McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Adlai Stevenson, UN Secretary & JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen.****

****When JFK entered the Oval Sitting Room on the 2nd floor of the mansion where his advisers had gathered, he 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."