Thomas Jefferson's Response to the Cuban Missile Crisis

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Thomas Jefferson's Response to the Cuban Missile Crisis

In the year 1801 Thomas Jefferson reluctantly sent the infant navy to the shores of Tripoli in hopes of avoiding an attack on America by the Pasha of Tripoli. Many years later, October of 1962, America once again teetered on the brink of war, but this time with John F. Kennedy by their side, and the threat was nuclear war. Two situations very different, but also similar; two outstanding presidents who did what they thought was right in the time of crisis. Perhaps had Thomas Jefferson been in charge in the year 1962 the outcome may have been different, or would it have? John F. Kennedy responded to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 by playing a game of "nuclear chicken", had Thomas Jefferson been in charge he would have tried to negotiate with Khrushchev , then threatened war; Jefferson would not have threatened the entire globe with atomization by playing "nuclear chicken".

In October of 1962 American spy planes discovered that the Soviets were secretly installing nuclear armed missiles ninety-miles off the Florida coast, in Cuba. Secret meetings were held by John F. Kennedy to decide what to do. Kennedy flatly refused the air-force proposals for bombing strikes on the missile launching sites, but he did decide to set up a navel blockade around Cuba to prevent the ingress of more missiles. It was announced by Kennedy that any attack on the United States from Cuba would be accepted as an attack from the Soviet Union which would trigger nuclear retaliation against Russia's heartland. Khrushchev, the Soviet in charge of the mission, also announced that seizing or sinking a Russian ship on the high seas would be regarded as an act of war by the Kremlin. For six long days Americans stood breathlessly still on the brink of global atomization. On October 28, Khrushchev finally submitted to a partially face saving compromise; he would pull the missiles out of Cuba, but in return the United States agreed to end the navel blockade and not invade the island of Cuba.

In a similar situation, only many years before hand, Thomas Jefferson was confronted with an attack on America; but this time it was from the Pasha of Tripoli.

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