Analysis Of Robert Kennedy's Thirteen Days

Robert Kennedy’s memoir, Thirteen Days, details the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis through his own eyes. How he himself perceived the action around him and his brother, John F. Kennedy, reacted as well. The Cuban Missile crisis was, to put it mildly, a huge effect on life in the United States. It was during these thirteen days that many people feared the world would come to an end through nuclear warfare. The Soviets were building missiles in Cuba and the United States was trying very hard to diffuse the situation. The plans that President John F, Kennedy set in motion in order to prevent this nuclear war showed us what kind of president he was. It is through these plans that we can see just what ideas play an important part in decision

It was on this day that President Kennedy as well as Robert Kennedy were first notified that the Soviet Union was building missiles on Cuba (Kennedy, 20). After being notified a group was created that eventually became known as Ex Comm, a group full of, according to Robert Kennedy “men of highest intelligence,” It was within this group that discussions took place on how to handle this crisis. Two main ideas arose about how to handle Cuba. The first was to form a blockade around Cuba, the second was for a military attack. Though many seemed in favor of a strong military reaction President Kennedy instead chose to create a blockade. This response was met with some criticism from Congressional leadership, however he stood fast with his decision. This was because President Kennedy understood that a direct attack would force the Soviets to retaliate which would cause many American, and Russian lives. President Kennedy understood the ramifications on both sides of the conflict, and did not want any bloodshed. President Kennedy based his “initial” (Kennedy, 43) first step on this idea. He looked at both sides, American and Russian, and made a decision, a decision that kept us from the start of a nuclear

Every decision the President made was in an effort to not humiliate or disgrace the Soviet Union or its own president, so that things would not escalate into war. It was because President Kennedy put himself in Soviet shoes so to speak, that he was reluctant to attack the missile site, to board Russian ships, to choose a quarantine and blockade over military attacks. John Kennedy understood that the Soviet Union wanted war as much as America did. When Russia agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba he did not claim any sort of victory for himself and even kept his staff from taking any interviews that would claim that America gained victory over Russia (Kennedy,98), because it was never his goal to humiliate, only to reach a peaceful agreement, which he and the Russian president