During his presidential campaign, Kennedy had repeatedly spoken of a missile gap between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Despite being briefed by the Pentagon that the U.S. had more missiles than the Soviets, Kennedy maintained his claim that the U.S. had less. After the 1960 election, Khrushchev began to test the new president. In the summer of 1961 Khrushchev applied pressure to Berlin and eventually built a wall surrounding West Berlin. In response, the Kennedy Administration felt it necessary to reveal to Khrushchev that there was in fact no missile gap. Khrushchev had always known the U.S. had more missiles but now he knew that the Americans knew. Khrushchev also knew that Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union.

Additionally, Khrushchev felt like a man boxed in by enemies. For example, he cited the U.S. missiles in Turkey just 150 miles from the U.S.S.R. Cuba was only 90 miles off the coast of Florida but the 60 mile difference was "nothing for a missile," Khrushchev said. Most of all, however, Khrushchev feared a first-strike by the U.S. If the Soviet Union lost the arms race so badly, he worried, it would invite a first-strike nuclear attack from the U.S. Consequently, Khrushchev began looking for a way to counter the United State's lead.

In April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union or Cuba. Khrushchev promoted the KGB station chief in Cuba Alexander Alexeev to Ambassador to negotiate for Castro's approval of the plan. Castro did not openly reject the idea at first, but instead he gave it serious consideration. Believing it better to risk a great crisis than wait impotently for an invasion, Castro accepted Khrushchev's offer. In mid-July of 1962 the Soviet Union began its buildup of offensive weapons in Cuba.

For more information on reconnaissance see the Recon Room.

Still in his pajamas, President Kennedy was informed of the missiles in Cuba during his breakfast. He did not react, but it was now clear that for months the Soviets had purposely been deceiving the American president. Kennedy immediately took charge and scheduled two meetings for that morning. First, he wanted to see the photographs himself. Looking over the photos Kennedy remarked, "They look like footballs on a football field." The missiles he held in his sight had a range of 1100 miles and threatened major population centers in the U.S. including New York, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. At this point, the missiles were not yet operational, nor were they fitted with nuclear warheads, but as Marshall Carter, Deputy Director of the CIA, so accurately assessed, "They soon would be."

The second meeting of the day Kennedy scheduled for 11:45. He hand-picked a group of trusted government officials to advise him on the crisis. The assembled group was later referred to as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council or EX-COMM. In that first meeting, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara outlined three possible courses of action for the U.S. to take against Cuba and the Soviet Union.

"The political course of action." -- To engage Castro and Khrushchev on the diplomatic stage in a gamble to resolve the crisis openly -- an option which most members of EX-COMM deemed unlikely to succeed.
"A course of action that would involve declaration of open surveillance" combined with "a blockade against offensive weapons entering Cuba." "Military action directed against Cuba, starting with an air attack against the missiles," and then followed by an invasion.

EX-COMM worked from the premise that the missile warheads were not yet in Cuba and not attatched to the missiles. Therefore, the goal of any action they proposed was to stop the warheads from reaching Cuba or to prevent the missiles from becomming fully operational.

A majority of the discussion that first day revolved around option number three and how the Soviets would respond. What EX-COMM didn't know was that the Soviet's did indeed have nuclear warheads on the island. They had also installed battlefield nuclear weapons in Cuba and were prepared to fire them to halt an invasion.
In taking a stance on Cuba, Kennedy wanted to appear tough yet avoid a military confrontation. No matter what action the U.S. took, EX-COMM expected Khrushchev to retaliate.

"This government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.

...I have directed that the following initial steps be taken: First, to halt this offensive build up, a strict quarantine of all military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. Second, I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance and it's military build up. Third, it shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response on the Soviet Union."

Earlier in the day, Kennedy had sent Khrushchev a copy his speech. Upon reading it, Khrushchev became infuriated. He was angry with his military for not successfully hiding the missiles and he was angered by the American "quarantine" which, no matter what they called it, was an act of war. Khrushchev's first response was to instruct the ships on their way to Cuba not to stop. Later that night, Khrushchev sent a response to Kennedy:

"I must say frankly that the measures indicated in your statement constitute a serious threat to peace and to the security of nations... We reaffirm that the armaments which are in Cuba, regardless of the classification to which they may belong, are intended solely for defensive purposes...

I hope the United States Government will display wisdom and renounce the actions pursued by you, which may lead to catastrophic consequences for world peace."

In response to Kennedy's speech Castro mobilized all of Cuba's military forces. The Cuban's, however, were not surprised by Kennedy, for the U.S. had constantly threatened them. Ever since the Bay of Pigs, eighteen months earlier, the Cuban's had been living under a constant fear of invasion. The crisis of October was little different from any other month.
The public phase had begun.

On the 24th EX-COMM convened at 10:00 a.m. (EST), the exact time the blockade began. The mood was tense. Soviet ships kept coming closer and closer to the line. American ships were preparing to disable them if they did not stop. The order given to the American ships was to first communicate with the Soviet vessels; then if they did not stop, the American's were to fire across their bow, and, finally, if they still did not stop, American ships were instructed to blow off the rudder in order to stop the ships' forward progress.

Two of the major concerns during the EX-COMM meeting were the Soviet submarines accompanying the vessels and the possibility that Khrushchev had not had enough time to instruct the ship captains on what they should do. At 10:25 EX-COMM received a message that the Soviet ships were turning back. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief -- Khrushchev was not ready to expand the crisis by challenging the blockade. Upon hearing the good news, Secretary of State Dean Rusk turned to McGeorge Bundy and said, "We've been eyeball to eyeball and the other fellow just blinked." This did not mean, however, that the crisis was over.
Also on Wednesday, military alert was raised to DEFCON 2, the highest level ever in U.S. history. The notification, sent round the world from Strategic Air Command headquarters, was purposely left uncoded to let the Soviets know just how serious the Americans were. The military could, at a moments notice, launch an attack on Cuba or the Soviet Union.
That evening, the White House received a second letter from Khrushchev:

You, Mr. President, are not declaring a quarantine, but rather are advancing an ultimatum and threatening that if we do not give in to your demands you will use force.... No Mr. President, I cannot agree to this, and I think that in your own heart you recognize that I am correct. I am convinced that in my place you would act the same way.

Therefore the Soviet Government cannot instruct the captains of Soviet vessels bound for Cuba to observe the orders of the American naval forces blockading that Island.... Naturally we will not simply be bystanders with regard to piratical acts by American ships on the high seas. We will then be forced on our part to take the measures we consider necessary and adequate to protect our rights. We have everything necessary to do so.

"You and I should not now pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied a knot of war, because the harder you and I pull, the tighter the knot will become. And a time may come when this knot is tied so tight that the person who tied it is no longer capable of untying it, and then the knot will have to be cut. What that would mean I need not explain to you, because you yourself understand perfectly what dread forces our two countries possess.

I propose we, for our part, will declare that our ships bound for Cuba are not carrying any armaments. You will declare that the United States will not invade Cuba with its troops and will not support any other forces which might intend to invade Cuba. Then the necessity of the presence of our military specialists in Cuba will disappear."

Later that night, unknown to EX-COMM, Robert Kennedy again went to the Soviet Embassy to meet with Ambassador Dobrynin. When Dobrynin claimed Soviet missiles in Cuba were justified because of American missiles in Turkey, Kennedy offered to introduce the Turkish missiles into a potential settlement. Then, the Attorney General reportedly left the room to call his brother. When he returned he reported this to Dobrynin: "the president said that we are ready... to examine favorably the question of Turkey." After the meeting, Dobrynin again cabled the Kremlin.

"We must be in a position to attack quickly. We've been fired on today. We're going to send surveillance aircraft in tomorrow. Those are going to be fired on without question. You can't do this very long. You're going to lose airplanes and will be shooting up Cuba quit a bit. We're going to lose airplanes everyday. So you can't just maintain this position very long. We must be prepared to attack Cuba quickly."

General Taylor insisted that no "later than Monday morning, the 29th" the U.S. should strike Cuba. Kennedy chose not to attack, but to wait and for another plane to be shot down. Then he would order the destruction of the SAM site. Years later, McGeorge Bundy, cited the two U-2 instances as "reminders that crisis managers don't always manage everything."
The next event in that long day was a low-level reconnaissance mission flown by six F8U-1P Crusader jets. Two of the jets aborted the mission early due to mechanical problems, but the remaining four continued on their course. As the fighters passed over the San Crist�bal and Sagua la Grande missile sites, Cuban ground forces shot at the planes with anti-aircraft guns and small arms. One plane was hit by a 37mm shell but, fortunately, it returned safely. Earlier in morning, Castro lost his nerve and ordered his troops to fire at American aircraft. With each new flight the American's were gaining valuable information for an invasion Castro believed to be only 24 to 72 hours away.

A Pretty Good Spot

Fourth, at 11:03 a.m. a second letter from Khrushchev arrived over a White House ticker. This letter, formally written, was much more demanding. Some members of EX-COMM speculated that hard-liners had pressured Khrushchev to take a more aggressive position. The letter was also publicly broadcast in order to reduce communication delays but the broadcast also raised the stakes. The two countries no longer had the luxury of private negotiations. Khrushchev wrote:

"You are disturbed over Cuba. You say that this disturbs you because it is ninety miles by sea from the coast of the United States of America. But. . . you have placed destructive missile weapons, which you call offensive, in Turkey, literally next to us. . .

I therefore make this proposal: We are willing to remove from Cuba the means which you regard as offensive...Your representatives will make a declaration to the effect that the United States...will remove its analogous means from Turkey. . . . And after that, persons entrusted by the United Nations Security Council could inspect on the spot the fulfillment of the pledges made. . . "

This letter sent EX-COMM reeling. Khrushchev's previous proposal had not mentioned Turkey. Why did it do so now? Unknown to the entire committee was Robert Kennedy's discussion with Ambassador Dobrynin the night before. Neither of the Kennedy's had informed the committee about the meeting because of one reason: leaks. Too much information on the crisis had already been leaked to the press. Kennedy feared having someone go public with the Turkey proposal because it could potentially ruin his career. If the U.S. buckled under pressure and removed its missiles from Turkey, a NATO ally, the whole alliance could falter. A political enemy would have a field day holding Kennedy responsible for the Turkey proposal. One can sense the President's caution in suggesting the idea of a Turkey-for-Cuba missile trade in this transcript of an EX-COMM meeting.

JFK: He's (Khrushchev) got us in a pretty good spot here, because most people will regard this (the new letter) as not an unreasonable proposal, I'll just tell you that. In fact, in many ways--

Bundy (interrupts): But what most people, Mr. President?

JFK: I think you're going to find it very difficult to explain why we are going to take hostile military action in Cuba against these sites--what we've been thinking about--the thing that he's saying is, 'If you'll get yours out of Turkey, we'll get ours out of Cuba.'...We can't very well invade Cuba with all it's toll when we could have gotten the missiles out by making a deal on the same missiles in Turkey. If that's part of the record I don't see how we'll have a very good war.

Kennedy was frustrated even more by the fact that he had wanted to remove the old, unreliable Jupiter missiles months before the crisis. Furthermore, Cuban missiles were not on par with Turkish missiles. The strategic value of the missiles in Cuba was immensely larger than the strategic value of the missiles in Turkey. Now Khrushchev wanted to make a public display of having the Jupiters removed.
The President was stuck. Dreading conflict, he couldn't demand more of Khrushchev. Fearing political pressure at home, he couldn't give in on the question of Jupiter missiles in Turkey. Then, Robert Kennedy had an inspiration: why not ignore the second letter and respond only to the first? A long-shot, but it might work suggested Soviet specialist Llewellyn Thompson. To Kennedy, it seemed the only viable option left. Consequently, the President had Robert Kennedy and Theodore Sorenson draft a response. In forty-five minutes they returned to the meeting. The committee then edited the proposal and approved it.

The Secret Deal

After the meeting adjourned, Kennedy called six men into the Oval Office -- McNamara, Robert Kennedy, Bundy, Rusk, Thompson, and Sorensen for further consultation. The President informed them of the Attorney General's meeting with Ambassador Dobrynin on the previous evening and asked for more suggestions on how to use this precious channel of communication. The group agreed to have the Attorney General meet with Dobrynin again to orally reinforce the proposal. Secretary Rusk also suggested that Robert Kennedy propose a secret deal on the Jupiter missiles in Turkey.
At 7:45 that evening, Dobrynin came to the Justice Department to meet with the Attorney General. Kennedy handed him a copy of the reply to Khrushchev's letter and then informed him of the secret deal. He gave assurances that the U.S. would quietly remove the Jupiters a few months after the crisis but warned they could not be part of a public deal. Robert Kennedy also imposed an ultimatum to Dobrynin. "If you do not remove those bases, we would remove them." He concluded by saying a Soviet commitment was needed by tomorrow. Immediately after the meeting Dobrynin cabled Khrushchev to tell him of the proposal and that the Attorney General had imposed a deadline for a response. The Soviets just didn't know what that deadline was.
Meanwhile, at the request of Secretary Rusk, John Scali met once again with Aleksandar Fomin. Rusk wanted Scali to find out why Khrushchev had suddenly introduced the Jupiter missiles into the deal. When Scali met Fomin in an empty ballroom at the Statler Hotel, he exploded. Why, Scali demanded, had Khrushchev performed a "flip-flop?" In response, Fomin muttered something about "poor communications." Scali, not satisfied with the answer, then accused Khrushchev of performing a "stinking double-cross." The ABC News corespondent, in the heat of the moment, then gave a warning he had no right in making: "American invasion of Cuba is only hours away," said Scali. Fomin was deeply impressed by the statement. After the two parted ways he hurried back to the Soviet embassy to report the latest news to Khrushchev, while Scali wrote a memorandum summing up the encounter for EX-COMM.
At 8:05 p.m. Kennedy released his response to Khrushchev's latest proposal. It was given to the press to avoid any communications delays.

"As I read your letter, the key elements of your proposals--which seem generally acceptable as I understand them--are as follows:

You would agree to remove these weapon systems from Cuba under appropriate United Nations observation and supervision; and undertake, with suitable safe-guards, to halt the further introduction of such weapon systems into Cuba.
We, on our part, would agree--upon the establishment of adequate arrangements through the United Nations, to ensure the carrying out and continuation of these commitments (a) to remove promptly the quarantine measures now in effect and (b) to give assurances against the invasion of Cuba."

In case Khrushchev did not accept the terms of the agreement, Kennedy and Rusk drew up a contingency plan for publicly announcing a Turkey-for-Cuba missile trade. Late in the evening the two secretly contacted Andrew Cordier, a former U.N. undersecretary and friend of Rusk, in New York. Rusk dictated a statement to Cordier that called for an open missile trade. If he received the correct signal from Washington, Cordier was suppose to deliver the statement to Secretary General U Thant, who would in turn make it public.

McGeorge Bundy later likened the evening of the 27th to a tight chess match. "The U.S. had made its move" he said. It was now up to Khrushchev to make his. Until then, the U.S. could only hope and wait. "We had not abandoned hope," Robert Kennedy said, "but what hope there was now rested with Khrushchev... It was a hope, not an expectation. The expectation was a military confrontation by Tuesday (October 30) and possibly tomorrow."

Esteemed Mr. President:

I have received your message of October 27, 1962. I express my satisfaction and gratitude for the sense of proportion and understanding of the responsibility borne by you at present for the preservation of peace throughout the world...

In order to complete with greater speed the liquidation of the conflict... the Soviet Government... in addition to previously issued instructions on the cessation of further work at building sites for the weapons, has issued a new order on the dismantling of the weapons which you describe as "offensive," and their crating.

The message, received at 9:00 a.m. (EST), effectively ended the crisis. The reaction among the EX-COMM members was mixed. Most were relieved, but others, especially the Joint Chiefs dubbed the announcement a ploy by Khrushchev to buy more time. General Curtis LeMay suggested that the United States "go in and make a strike on Monday anyway." Kennedy, on the other hand, knew the response was genuine. Almost immediately he drafted a response, which was broadcast over the Voice of America:

I welcome Chairman Khrushchev's statesmanlike decision to stop building bases in Cuba, dismantling offensive weapons and returning them to the Soviet Union. . . I think that you and I, with our heavy responsibilities for the maintenance of peace, were aware that developments were approaching a point where events could have become unmanageable. So I welcome this message and consider it an important contribution to peace.

At 11:00 a.m. Ambassador Dobrynin arrived at the Justice Department to extend Khrushchev's best wishes the Attorney General and the President. EX-COMM also ordered a halt to all reconnaissance flights on the 28th. In the afternoon Dean Rusk held a press conference and cautioned against gloating over the Soviet decision. "If there is a debate, a rivalry, a contest going on in the Kremlin over how to play this situation," Rusk warned, "we don't want...to strengthen the hands of those in Moscow who wanted to play this another way." The Secretary of State also pointed out that because of inspection issues and the IL-28 bomber question the crisis was still not settled.
In Cuba, Castro was furious. Khrushchev had not had time to inform his ally of the decision, so Castro learned about the agreement over the radio. Hours later, and still immensely angry, Castro countered the agreement by saying a true solution would have included five more points: (1) an end to the economic blockade against Cuba; (2) an end to all subversive activities carried out from the United States against Cuba; (3) a halt to all attacks on Cuba carried out from the U.S. military bases on the island of Puerto Rico; (4) the cessation of aerial and naval reconnaissance flights in Cuban airspace and waters; (5) and the return of Guantanamo naval base to Cuba.

A Public Withdrawal

"You accuse me of pulling out our missiles. What do you mean, that we should have started a war over them?"

Premier Khrushchev to the Soviet Presidium

Crisis tensions eased on Sunday, October 28, but the ordeal was not yet over. The two superpowers still had to hammer out the terms of a formal agreement. During the course of the final negotiations Castro, who felt betrayed by Khrushchev, tried to halt the removal and inspection of the missiles. Eventually, with the help of the U.N., Castro backed down and the two sides reached an agreement. A U.N. inspection team was assigned to monitor the removal of the missiles and the demolition of the missile bases in Cuba. Then, the Soviet Navy shipped the missiles back to the U.S.S.R. The missiles were sent back on the decks of the ships so that American reconnaissance planes could count the missiles and make sure that all had been removed.
One stumbling block of the agreement was the removal of IL-28 "Beagle" medium-range bombers. Aware of the larger problem at hand, EX-COMM had decided to let this minor issue slide during previous negotiations. In Khrushchev's letter of the 28th, however, he stated the Soviets would remove all "weapons which you describe as offensive." With that statement, the U.S. was able to successfully argue for the removal of the bombers. Beginning on November 20, the planes were finally dismantled and returned the U.S.S.R. The next day, November 21, Kennedy formally ended the quarantine and lowered Strategic Command's Defense Condition from DEFCON 2 to DEFCON 4.

Conclusion

"Having come so close to the edge, we must make it our business not to pass this way again."

National Security Advisor, McGeorge Bundy

Looking back on the crisis, Robert McNamara claims the world was one step away from nuclear war. That step he said, was the President ordering the invasion of Cuba. What the military didn't know then was that they had grossly underestimated Soviet and Cuban force strength. Military intelligence calculated 10,000 Soviet troops on the island plus an additional 100,000 Cubans. We now know that the actual numbers were much higher. The Soviets had 43,000 combat-ready soldiers and Castro had mobilized 270,000 Cubans to fight. Plans for the American invasion called for a first day air strike consisting of 1080 sorties and an amphibious landing of 180,000 troops. Those troops would have been surprised by the strength of the resistance the found on the island. Had Kennedy gone ahead with the invasion, casualties on both sides would have been much higher.
Furthermore, EX-COMM was also unaware of the tactical nuclear weapons stationed along Cuba's shore. Khrushchev had also given a standing order to his generals that if he couldn't be reached in the event of an invasion, they had the authority to launch the battlefield nuclear weapons. If Kennedy had invaded, the outnumbered Soviets would have used their nuclear weapons and then Kennedy would have had no choice but to retaliate with American nuclear devices. The response would likely have been an attack on Soviet soil.
Perhaps the scariest part of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the lack of a reliable form of communication between Washington and Moscow. It could take up to seven hours to transmit a message from one capitol to the other. Imagine this: Khrushchev agrees to pull out his missiles, writes a letter, but it is delayed in transit. In the time it takes for the letter to reach Washington, Kennedy orders the invasion because Khrushchev took too long to reply. Once an invasion had started, it would be nearly impossible for the United States to pull out. As a result of the crisis, a hot line was established between the Kremlin and the White House so that the two world leaders could communicate directly. Neither side wanted to risk starting another nuclear war over poor communications.
Nine months after the crisis ended, Kennedy and Khrushchev signed an agreement to ban nuclear testing in the atmosphere. This marked the beginning of what seemed to be a new willingness to cooperate and communicate. However, on November 22nd, 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Eleven months later Premier Khrushchev was removed from office by communist hard liners. One can't help but wonder what would have happened if these two men had stayed in power. Perhaps the same two people who brought us so close to nuclear war, now changed by that experience, could have brought us far from it.