Mind-Sets and Missiles: A First Hand Account of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Kenneth Michael Absher

Author:Kenneth Michael Absher [Absher, Kenneth Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Communism; Post-Communism & Socialism, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Fascism & Totalitarianism, Political Ideologies, Political Science, World, History, Russian & Former Soviet Union
ISBN: 9781787209749
Google: MzxODwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 11244638
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Crisis Management.

On the evening of Monday, October 15, 1962, Bundy was briefed on the discovery of the missiles by Ray Cline, the CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. Bundy decided not to brief the President until the following morning. He thought that a hastily-called meeting that same evening could give away the secret of the missile discovery. In any event, nothing could be done until the following morning. He thought that the best course for the President was for him to get a good night’s sleep after a strenuous campaign weekend.{100}

On Tuesday morning, October 16, 1962, President Kennedy was briefed on the discovery. The President established an EXCOM of the NSC, by NSC Memorandum 195 (which he actually signed on October 22, 1962). The EXCOM met secretly beginning on October 16 to advise him on how to respond to the crisis.{101}

The following were members of the EXCOM: Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maxwell Taylor, President’s Special Counsel Theodore Sorensen, Under Secretary of State George Ball, DCI John McCone, and Soviet specialist from the State Department Llewellyn Thompson. In addition, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, John McCloy, Robert Lovett, and others were consulted. The President tape recorded the meetings without the participants’ knowledge, and transcripts are now available.{102}

Others who participated in the EXCOM either as experts or in place of their superiors were Latin America Assistant Secretary of State Edwin M. Martin, Deputy Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs U. Alexis Johnson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul H. Nitze, Deputy Director of the CIA General Marshall Carter, Kenneth O’Donnell, Adlai Stevenson, and U.S. Information Agency Deputy Director Donald Wilson. Dean Rusk recommended that Dean Acheson become a member of the EXCOM because of his quick grasp of complex issues. The President approved.{103}

Although a member of the EXCOM, Vice President Johnson was not present for EXCOM meetings during the first week of the crisis. He returned to Washington from a campaign trip to Hawaii on October 21 and was briefed that day by McCone and Lundahl on the discovery of the missiles.{104}

According to General Taylor, after being briefed at the October 16 White House meeting on the discovery of the missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy “gave no evidence of shock or trepidation resulting from the threat to the nation implicit in the discovery of the missile sites but rather a deep but controlled anger at the duplicity of the Soviet officials who had tried to deceive him.” According to Lundahl, the President said he wanted the whole island covered, he didn’t care how many missions it took. “I want the photography interpreted and the findings from the readouts as soon as possible.”{105}

At a follow-up meeting in Secretary McNamara’s office, McNamara was told that the maximum number of U-2 missions that could be flown daily with existing assets would be six, flying from early morning to late in the evening.

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