Robert F Kennedy Thirteen Days Essay

Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis is a book that goes in depth about the details of what really happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The author of this book is Robert F. Kennedy, he was the attorney general, while his brother John F. Kennedy was president. This book goes further on the Cuban Missile Crisis then what your average high school history class will study on that event. Little do people know that there is much more to the Cuban Missile Crisis than just a standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US had a problem with the Soviet Union’s decision to implement nuclear weapons in Cuba with plans to bomb the US. Kennedy goes in depth by writing about the meetings in the White House during the crisis and by including how US leaders were planning to solve the problem.

A theme evident in this book is confusion going around the White House as a result

of the Soviet Union placing missiles in Cuba. Kennedy thoroughly showed that when the US got pictures of what looked like missiles in Cuba, most people in the White House became paranoid and everyone had a different opinion on what to do next. An example of how people in the White House had different opinions on the situation is when Kennedy writes: “There were those, although they were a small minority, who felt the missiles did not alter the balance of power and therefore necessitated no action. Most felt, at that stage, that an airstrike against the missiles sites could be the only course.” This quote shows that people in the White House weren’t exactly sure on what to do. Kennedy assembled a group of advisors so they could speak of all possible solutions to this problem. The US has never been hit by a nuclear bomb before, so this could’ve been America’s first time being attacked by that magnitude. Many people felt the US should respond to the Soviet’s by attacking the Soviet’s before they attacked the US. Others believed the US should just not attack, but put a blockade to avoid a bomb.

Another theme that is evident in this book is the US being cautious. Although some members of The Executive Committee of the National Security Council wanted to send a nuclear strike, main US leaders didn’t want to respond to the Soviet threats by launching a nuclear strike. Instead, US leaders wanted to avoid conflict by setting a naval blockade to block a potenital nuclear strike. This showed that the US didn’t want to respond to conflict with more conflict, but instead wanted to do anything necessary to create peace. “I supported McNamara’s position in favor of a blockade. This was not from a deep conviction that it would be a successful course of action, but a feeling that it had more flexibility and fewer liabilities than a military attack.” This quote and in multiple times during the book, Kennedy showed how much he didn’t want to attack because he didn’t want to jeopardize all of humanity.

Another theme evident in this book was teamwork.

When the US got the news of the Soviet Missiles, they immediately needed to take some course of action. Then President, John F. Kennedy knew he couldn’t make this decision all by himself. As a result, President Kennedy set up The Executive Committee of the National Security Council. This group was made of many government officials who Kennedy felt would help make this decision. This group met during the first day of the crisis, and met almost everyday during the whole Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy writes, “This was the group that met, talked, argued, and fought together during that crucial period of time. From this group came the recommendations from which President Kennedy was ultimately to select his course of action.” Without this group, it would’ve been much harder for President Kennedy to decide on what to do. When these groups had meetings, all opinions were respected and listened to equally. This shows that no one person can do a big task by himself without help from people he

trusts.

This book was an overall interesting book because it gave in-depth details of what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The book is a must read because it provides amazing details on an important time in American history. Kennedy detailed what everyone thought in the White House when the US came close to getting hit with a nuclear strike. Overall, this book was a very nice read. The book went through specific procedures during daily meetings in the White House. The book shows how a freshly new, young President John F. Kennedy handled the situation and made his final decision of ordering a blockade. It also went through how Kennedy provided information on what was going on to the American people. Overall, this book gave me much more respect to all government officials who had a say in what to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis.