AssaeLlited Pres.

Th

en

Atto

rney G

en

era

l Ro

bert F

. Ken

ned

y and

Presid

ent Jo

hn F

. K

ennedy in

e so

mber m

ood tw

o w

eeks b

efo

re th

e m

issile c

risis.

'Mod

CO

LU

MN

IST

S

ED

ITO

RIA

LS

SEC

TIO

N B

S

UN

DA

Y, N

OV

EM

BE

R

3, 1

968

Th

e 13 Days

Of C

risis O

nly Nixon

Can W

in It B

y Robert F

. Ken

nedy

ON

TU

ES

DA

Y M

OR

NIN

G, O

ct 18, 1982, shortly after 9 o'clock, P

resi-dent K

ennedy called and asked one to com

e to the White H

ouse. He said only

that w

e w

ere

facin

g g

reat tro

ub

le.

Shortly afterw

ard, in his office, he told m

e that a tr.2

had

just fin

ished

a pho-

tegrah

h id P

lastan an

d th

at the In

telli-g

ence co

mm

un

ity h

ad b

ecom

e con

- vinced that R

ussia was placing m

issiles and atom

ic weapons in C

uba. T

hat was the beginning of the C

uban m

issile crisis—a confrontation betw

een th

e two em

it atom

ic natio

ns, th

e U.S

. an

d th

e 'U.S.S.R

., which

bro

ught th

e w

orld

to th

e abyss o

f nuclear d

estruc-

tion an

d th

e end

of M

ankin

d. F

rom

th

at mord

ent in

Presid

ent K

enned

y's

office u.ntll. Sunday m

orning, Oct. 28,

that w

as my life—

and fo

r Am

ericans

and

Rtissian

s, for th

e wh

ole w

orld

, it w

as their life, as w

ell. A

t 11

:45

that sam

e mo

rnin

g, In

the

Cab

inet R

oom

, a form

al presen

tation

was m

ade b

y th

e Cen

tral Intellig

ence

Ag

ency

to a n

um

ber o

f hig

h o

fficials of th

e Goiern

men

t. Photo

grap

hs w

ere show

n to us. Experts arrived w

ith their ch

arts and th

eir poin

ters and to

ld u

s th

at if we lo

oked

carefully

, we co

uld

see there w

as a missile base being con-

structed

in a field

near San C

ristobal, C

uba. •

I; for one, had to take their word for

it I exam

ined

the p

ictures carefu

lly

and w

hat I sa

w a

ppeare

d to

be n

o

more than ,,the clearing of a field for a

farm o

r thi basement of a house. I w

as reliev

ed to

hear later th

at this w

as the

some reaction of virtue/1,Y

everyone at

the' meeting, including P

resident Ken-

ned

y. E

ven

a

few d

ays later, w

hen

m

ore work had taken place on the site,

This is th

e first of

three install-

ments from

a manuscript dictated by

the la

te Sen

. Ken

ned

y in th

e fall o

f 1987

on

th

e basis o

f his p

ersonal

diaries an

d

recolle

ctio

ns o

f the

Cuban m

issile crisis of 1982 Form

er P

residen

tial. C

ounsel T

heo

dore

C. Sorenson, w

ho "made

a num

ber o

f m

ail correctio

ns" in

the m

anuscript fo

r the

sake of clarity

, structu

re an

d g

rimm

er," says that

the S

en.

dor in

tended

to ad

d "a discussion of

the basic ethical question involved: W

hat, if any, circu

mstan

ces or lira

tifk

ation

gives th

is governm

ent or any governm

ent the m

ora

l right to

bring

its peo

ple an

d p

ossib

ly all

peo

ple u

nd

er the shadow

of m

idges destruction?"

draft p

repared

by N

icholas K

atsen

bath

, the D

epu

ty A

ttorn

ey G

eneral

and m

yself, th

e Presid

ent issu

ed ex

ach

y th

is kin

d o

f warn

ing an

d p

oin

ted

out th

e serious co

nseq

uen

ces, that

would result from

such a step.

Mo

scow

's Pu

blic S

tance

AW

EE

K L

AT

ER

, on S

ept. 1

1,

Mosco

w d

isclaimed

publicly

any

inten

tion o

f takin

g su

ch actio

n an

d

stated th

at there w

as no n

eed fo

r nu-

clear missiles to

be tran

sferred to

any

country

outsid

e the S

oviet U

nio

n, in-

cluding, Cuba.

Durin

g th

is same p

eriod o

f time, an

im

portan

t official In

the S

oviet E

m-

bassy, return

ing from

Moscow

, brought m

e a perso

nal m

essage fro

m K

hru

-sh

ehey

to P

residen

t Ken

ned

y, stalin

g

that h

e wan

ted th

e Presid

ent to

be as-

sure

d th

at u

nder n

o c

ircum

stances

would

stulace.to

tinrface m

issiles be

sent to

Cuba.

aliaze, Assistant Secretary of D

efense, an

d, in

termitten

tly at v

arious m

eet-in

gs, V

ice Presid

ent L

yndon B

. John-

sen; A

dlai S

teven

son, A

mbassad

or

to th

e U

nite

d N

atio

ns; K

enneth

O

'Donnell, sp

ecial assistant to

the

Presid

ent, an

d D

onald

Wilso

n, w

ho

was d

eputy

dire

cto

r of th

e U

nite

d

States In

form

ation A

gen

cy.

They w

ere men of the highest intelli-

gen

ce, industilo

us, co

urag

eous an

d

dedicated to their country's well-being.

It is no reflectio

n o

n th

em th

at none

was co

nsisten

t in h

is opin

ion fro

m th

e v

ery b

egin

nin

g to

the v

ery en

d. T

hat

kin

d o

f op

en, u

nfettered

min

d w

as es-se

ntia

l. Fo

r som

e th

ere

were

on

ly

small ch

anges, p

erhap

s varieties o

f a single Idea. F

or others there were con-

tinu

ou

s ch

ang

es of o

pin

ion

cach d

er., so

me, b

ecause

of th

e p

ressu

re o

f ev

ents, ev

en ap

peared

to lo

se their

judgment and stability.

no

te to th

e Presid

ent: 'I n

ow

kn

ow

how

Tojo

felt when

he w

as planning P

earl Harb

or."

After th

e m

eeting in

the C

abin

et R

oom

, I walk

ed b

ack to

the M

ansio

n

with

the P

residen

t. It would

be M

i. cu

lt; the stak

es were h

igh—

of

the

highest and most substantial kind—

but he k

new

he w

ould

hav

e to act. T

he

U.S

. cou

ld n

ot accep

t wh

at the R

us-

sians h

ad d

one.

To

keep

the d

iscussio

ns fro

m b

eing

inhib

ited an

d b

ecause h

e did

not w

ant

to aro

use atten

tion, he d

ecided

not to

attend all the m

eetings of our comm

it-tee, T

his w

as w

ise. P

erso

nalitie

s change w

hen

the P

residen

t is presen

t, an

d freq

uen

tly ev

en stro

ng m

en m

ake

recomm

endations on the basis of what

they

believ

e the P

residen

t wish

es to

hear. He instructed our group to com

e forw

ard with recom

mendations for one

aaakse o

r possib

ly sev

eral alternativ

e

By D

avid S. B

roder W

asheteioe Pot* SUM

Writer

AF

TE

R A

LL

the stratag

ems

and *enable

, the h

ecklin

g a

nd th

e

huck

stering, th

e parad

es, the o

ratory

an

d th

e politics, th

e presid

ential elec-

tion o

f 1908 co

mes d

ow

n to

this:

Rlohard M

. Nixon is th

e one can

di-

date w

ho can

win

an electo

ral colleg

e m

ajority

. Hubert H

. Hum

phrey

and

George C

. Wallace aright- 'but probably

won't—

take enough states from him

to stalem

ate the election. Neither can w

in it fo

r him

self. T

he fin

al pre.electio

n su

rvey

of T

he

Wash

ingto

n P

ost, b

ased o

n in

terview

s an

d rep

orts fro

m staff co

rresponden

ts traveling w

ith The three candidates, as

well as rep

orts fro

m n

ewsm

en an

d

political lead

ers in all 5

0 states, sh

ow

s th

at Rep

ublican

nom

inee N

ixon an

d

his running mate, G

ov. Spiro T

. Agnew

of M

aryland, have lost some ground in

the p

ast four w

eeks b

ut still are lead

-ing in enough states to w

in the election. W

allace's share o

f the p

opular v

ote

has slu

mped

, but b

e still is fawned

to

carry th

e six D

eep S

outh

states that

hav

e constitu

ted h

is base o

f support

A fin

al statc-hrstate rep

ort o

n th

e ele

ctio

n p

rosp

ects is o

n P

ages B

4

and 5

5.

since the start o

f his cam

paig

n.

The W

allace slump has increased the

chan

ce that H

um

phrey

and h

is Dem

o-

erotic ru

nn

ing

mate, S

en. E

dm

un

d S

. M

usk

ie of M

aine, w

ill carry so

me o

f th

e majo

r North

ern in

dustrial states.

Un

like a m

on

th ag

o, th

e Dem

ocrats

are almo

st assured

ahead

of W

allace an

d G

en. C

urtis E

. Leh

lay in

the elec-

leadin

g, w

ould

add 4

3 v

otes, b

ringin

g

his total to 210. T

he n

ext v

ital arena is th

e band of B

ord

er States—

Delaw

are, Mary

land,

Virg

inia, N

orth

Caro

lina, T

ennessee,

Ken

tuck

y an

d M

issou

ri, with

70

elec-to

ral vo

tes—w

here N

ixo

n is b

elieved

to

be lead

ing ag

ainst th

e div

ided

chal-

lenge o

f Wallace an

d H

um

phrey

. Al-

most a

ny six

of th

ose

seven sta

tes

would put h

im o

ver the top.

Finally, N

ixon has a bit of insurance in

thre

e W

este

rn sta

tes—

Nevada,

Washington and A

laska—w

here he ap-pears to

be lead

ing b

ut is n

ot g

uaran

-teed the votes.

When o

ne n

ote

s that th

ese

state

s could give him

victory even if he were

shut o

ut o

f Mic

hig

an,. M

inneso

ta,

South

Caro

lina, N

ew Y

ork

, Pen

nsy

l-v

ania, T

exas, F

lorid

a, Co

nn

ecticut,

New

Mex

ico an

d M

aine—

in all o

f w

hich he has a chance—the likelihood

of Nixon's w

inning is clear.

Six

More

GO

P G

ov

ern

ors

Q0 F

AR

AS

oth

er ra

ces a

re

eon-ceraed, ticket splitting seem

s to be th

e ord

er of th

e day

. T

he Republicans, w

ho now hold 28 of

the 53

govern

orsh

ips, are v

irtually

guaran

teed an

oth

er increase in

their

strength

this y

ear. In all, 1

3 D

emo-

cratic and

eigh

t Rep

ub

lican g

ov

erno

r-sh

ips are at stak

e Tu

esda

y. A

n expected victory In Illinois would

install R

epublican

s In th

e govern

ors'

chairs in

every

one o

f the b

ig sev

en

state

s except T

exas, w

hic

h se

em

s lik

ely to

return

ano

ther D

emo

crat. A

side fro

m Illin

ois, th

e oth

er stales ex

pected

to rep

lace Dem

ocrats w

ith

Rep

ublican

govern

ors o

n T

uesd

ay in

-clude Iow

a. Mp

,a

Th

e 13 Days

Of C

risis O

nly Nixon

Can W

in It B

y Robert F

. Ken

nedy

IAN

TC

HS

DA

.Y M

OR

NIN

G, O

ct. ld, IV

1982, shontl'y after 9 o'clock, Presi-

den

t Ken

ned

y called

and

asked

me to

com

e to the White H

ouse-He said only

that w

e w

ere

facin

g g

reat tro

ub

le.

Shortly afterw

ard, in his office, he told m

e that a. II-2 had just finished a pho• tograpialc•nriasion and that the intelli-gen

ce coM

muntty

had

beco

me co

n-

vinced that Russia w

as placing missiles

and Monne w

eapons in Cuba.

That w

as the beginning of the Cuban

missile crisis—

a confrontation between

the tw

o g

iant ato

mic n

ation

s, the U

.S.

and th

o -U

.S.S

.R., w

hich

bro

ught th

e w

orld

to th

e abyss o

f nuclear d

estruct

!ion an

d th

e end o

f man

kin

d. F

rom

th

at mo

rden

t in P

residen

t Ken

ned

y's

office u

ntil S

unday

morn

ing, O

ct. 28, th

at was ?n

y life—

and

for A

merican

s an

d R

imslen

s, for th

e whole w

orld

, it w

as their life, as well.

At 1

1:4

5 th

at som

e morn

ing, in

the

Cab

inet R

oom

, a form

al presen

tation

was m

ade b

y th

e Cen

tral Intellig

ence

Agen

cy to

a num

ber o

f hig

h o

fficials o

f the G

og

ernm

ent. P

ho

tog

raph

s were

shown to ua. E

xperts arrived with their

charts an

d th

eir poin

ters and to

ld u

s th

at if we lo

ok

ed carefu

lly, w

e cou

ld

see • there was a m

issile base being con-stru

cted in

a field near S

an Cristobal,

Cuba. I,

for one, had to take their word for

It. I exam

ined

the p

ictures carefu

lly

an

d w

hat I sa

w a

pp

eare

d to

be n

o

more th

an th

e clearing o

f a field fo

r a tarn' or the basem

ent of a house. I was

relieved

to h

ear later that th

is was th

e sam

e reaction o

f virtu

ally ev

eryone at

the 'meeting, including P

resident Ken-

ned

y. E

ven

a few d

ays later, w

hen

m

ore work had taken place on the site,

he rem

arked

that it lo

oked

like a foot-

ball field, T

he d

om

inan

t feeling at th

e meetin

g

was stu

nned

surp

rise. No o

ne h

ad ex

-

'Pla

t kind

of p

ressure d

oes

strange th

ings to

a h

um

an

being, even to brilliant, self-co

nfid

ent, m

atu

re, experi-

enced m

en. F

or so

me it

brin

gs o

ut ch

ara

cteristics a

nd

streng

ths th

at p

erha

ps

even th

ey never kn

ew th

ey had, and for others the pres-sure is too overw

helming:

This is th

e Jirsc of th

ree insta

ll-m

ents fro

m a m

anuscript dictated by th

e late S

en. K

enned

y in th

e fall o

f 1967

oft Its bans

of h

is perso

nal

diaries and

reeottectio

ns o

f the

Cuban m

issile crisis of 1982. Form

er P

residen

tial C

onnect T

heo

dore C

. Sorenson, w

ho "modo a n

um

ber o

f sm

all corrections" in the manuscript

"for the

sake o

f clarity. structure

and

gram

mar," sag

s that

the S

e*

ator intended to add "a discussion of

the W

m eth

ical qu

estion

inv

olv

ed:

Wh

at, if any

, circum

stances o

r jos. tification gives

this g

overn

men

t or

any

government the

moral right to

brin

g its

peo

ple an

d

poasibla all people under the shadow

of unclear destruction?"

draft p

repared

by

Nich

olas K

aren

bath

, the D

epu

ty A

ttorn

ey G

eneral

and m

yself, th

e Presid

ent issu

ed ex

actiy this kind of w

arning and pointed o

ut th

e se

riou

s co

nse

qu

en

ces th

at

would result from

such a step.

Mo

sco

w's P

ublic

Sta

nce

A

WE

EK

LA

TE

R, o

n S

ept. 1

1,

A M

osco

w d

isclaimed

publicly

any

inten

tion o

f takin

g su

ch actio

n an

d

stated th

at there w

as no need fo

r nu-

clear =M

iles to b

e transferred

to an

y

coun

try o

utsid

e the S

oviet U

nio

n, im

eluding C

abal. D

urin

g th

is same p

eriod o

f time, an

imp

ortan

t official in

the S

ov

iet Em

-bassy, returning from

Moscow

, brought m

e a perso

nal

messa

ge from

IC.h.m

o sh

chev

to P

residen

t Ken

ned

y, statin

g

that h

e wan

ted th

e Presid

ent to

be as-

sure

d th

at u

nd

er n

a c

ircu

msta

nces

wo

uld

surface-to

-surface m

issiles he

sent to

Cuba.

No

w, as th

e represen

tatives o

f the

CIA

exp

lained

the i7

8 p

ho

tog

raph

s th

at m

orning, T

uesd

ay, O

ct 16, w

e realised

that it h

ad all b

een lies, o

ne

gig

antic fab

ric of lien

Th

us th

e do

mi-

nan

t feeling

was o

ne o

f sho

cked

in-

credulity

. We h

ad b

een d

eceived

by

Khrtm

lichiv

, but w

e had

also fo

oled

ourselves. N

o official with the G

overn-m

ent b

ad ev

er suggested

to P

residen

t K

enn

edy

that th

e Ru

ssian b

uild

up

in

Cuba w

ould-Mclude m

issiles. W

e heard

tater, in a p

as iinortem

stu

dy, th

at re

ports h

od c

om

e fro

m

ag

en

ts with

in C

ub

a in

dic

atin

g th

e

presen

ce of m

issiles In S

eptem

ber o

f 1

95

2. M

ost o

f the rep

orts w

ere false; som

e were th

e result o

f confu

sion b

y

un

trained

ob

servers b

etween

surface-

to-air m

issiles and su

rface-tosu

rface

Nitre, A

ssistant S

ecretary o

f Defen

se, an

d, in

termitten

tly at v

ariou

s meet-

ing

s, Vice P

residen

t Ly

nd

on

B. Jo

hn

-so

n; A

dlat S

teven

son, A

mbassad

or

to th

e U

nite

d N

atio

ns; K

enneth

O

'Do

nn

ell, sp

ecia

l assista

nt to

the

Presid

ent, an

d D

on

ald W

ilson

, wh

o

was d

ep

uty

dire

cto

r of th

e U

nite

d

States In

form

ation

Ag

ency

. T

hey were m

en of the highest tntelC-

gence, in

dustrio

us, co

urag

eous an

d

ded

icated to

their co

un

try's w

ellbein

g.

It is no

reflection

on

them

that n

on

e w

as con

sistent in

his o

pin

ion

from

the

very

beg

inn

ing

to th

e very

end

. Th

at k

ind

of o

pen

, unfettered mind w

as es-se

ntia

l. Fo

r som

e th

ere

were

on

ly

small ch

ang

es, perh

aps v

arieties of a

single id

ea. For o

thers th

ere were co

n-

tinuous ch

anges o

f opin

ion each

clay;

som

e, b

ecause

of th

e p

ressu

re o

f ev

ents, ev

en ap

peared

to lo

se their

judgment and stability.

Blo

ckad

e vs. A

ir Strik

e

rG

EN

ER

AL

FR

PL

ING

in th

e t. :g

inn

ing

was th

at som

e form

of

action Was required. T

here were th

ese, alth

ough th

ey w

ere a small m

inority

, w

ho

felt the m

issiles slid n

ot alter th

e b

alance o

f po

wer an

d th

erefore n

eces-sitated

no actio

n. M

ost felt, at th

at sta

ge, th

at a

n a

ir strike a

gain

st the

missile sites co

uld

be th

e only

course.

Listen

ing

to th

e pro

po

sals, I pissed

a

Some of the o ffieids

w

ho, With the K

ermedys,

shared the `confrorn-

Arroclaa3

ern

e

Presid

ent Jo

hn F

. th

e w

ind

s crisia

.

note to

the P

reskien

t: "I now

know

how

Thin

felt when

he w

as plan

nin

g

Pearl H

arbo

r." A

fter the m

eeting in th

e Cab

inet

Room

, I walked back to

the M

ansio

n

with

the P

residen

t. It would

be d

iffi-cu

lt; the stak

es were h

igh—

of th

e highest and m

ost substantial kind—but

he k

new

he w

ou

ld h

ave to

act. Th

e U

.S. co

uld

no

t accept w

hat th

e Ru

s-sian

s had

done.

To

keep

the d

iscussio

ns fro

m b

eing

inh

ibited

and

becau

se he d

id n

ot w

ant

to aro

use atten

tion, b

e decid

ed n

ot to

attend ail the m

eetings of our comm

it. te

e. T

his w

as w

ise. P

erso

nalitie

s ch

ange w

hen

the P

residen

t is presen

t, and

frequ

ently

even

no

vas m

en m

ake

recomm

endations on the basis of what

they

believ

e the P

residen

t wish

es to

hear. He Instructed on

e group

to came

forward w

ith recomm

endations for one co

urse o

r possib

ly sev

eral alternativ

e courses of action.

It was during the afternoon and eve-

nt/11ot that first day, Tuesday, that w

e be

gan

to d

iscuss th

e idea o

f a qu

aran-

tine or block

ade. S

ecretary men

amare,

by Wednesday, becam

e the blockades stro

ng

est adv

ocate. H

e argu

ed th

at. It w

as limited

pressu

re, wh

ich co

uld

be

increased

as the clecu

mstan

ces war-

ranted

. Fu

rther, it w

as dram

atic and

forceful pressure, w

hich would be un-

See C

RIS

IS, P

age 132, Colum

n 1

By D

avid S

. Bro

der

sienna'. Pest graft w

riter

AF

TE

R A

LL,

the stratag

ems an

d

spending, th

e heck

ling an

d th

e E

ticketerin

g, th

e parad

es, the o

ratory

an

d th

e politics, th

e presid

ential elec-

tion

of H

U co

mes d

ow

n to

this:

Rich

ard H

. Nix

on Is th

e One can

di-

date w

ho

can w

in an

electoral co

llege

majo

rity. H

ub

ert IL H

um

ph

rey an

d

George C

. Wallace m

ight—hut probably

won't—

take enough states from him

to stalem

ate the election. Neither can w

in it fo

r him

self. T

he final pre-election survey of T

he

Wash

ingto

n P

ost, b

awd o

n in

terview

s an

d rep

orts fro

m staff co

rrespo

nd

ents

travelin

g w

ith th

e three candidates, as w

ell as repo

rts from

new

smen

and

political lead

ers in all 5

0 states, sh

ow

s th

at Rep

ub

bican

no

min

ee Nix

on

and

his running m

ate, Gov. S

piro T. A

gnew

of Maryland, h

ave lest som

e ground in th

e po

st fou

r week

s bu

t still are lead-

ing in enough states to win the election.

Wallace's sh

are of th

e po

pu

lar vo

te h

as slum

ped

, bu

t he still is fav

ored

to

carry th

e six D

eep S

ou

th states th

at hav

e constitu

ted h

is base o

f support

A final m

ate-byatate report o

n the

election

pro

spects is o

n P

ages 8

4

and 5

5.

since th

e abu

t of b

is campaign.

The W

allace slump has increased the

chan

ce that H

um

ph

rey end his D

emo -

cratic ro

amin

g m

ate, Sen

. Edm

und S

. A

ftiskie O

f Main

e, will carry

som

e of

the m

ajor N

orth

ern industrial

states. U

nlik

e a mo

nth

ego

, the D

emo

crats are alm

ost assu

red ah

ead o

f Wallace

and G

ee. Curtis E

. LeM

ay in

the elec-

toral vote *base. But the sam

e diminu-

tion o

f Wallace's h

ackin

g h

as help

ed

Nix

on

's po

sition

in th

e bo

rder states

and th

us, iro

nically

, giv

en h

im ad

ded

in

suran

ce of

an

electora

l colleg

e ma-

jority. T

he W

ashin

gto

n P

ost su

rvey

sho

ws:

Nina/11s leading in

31 slates with 295

electoral v

otes, 2

5 m

ore th

an th

e 27

0

need

ed fo

r election.

Hu

mp

hrey

is leadin

g in

seven

states an

d th

e District o

f Co

lum

bia w

ith 5

7

electoral votes. W

allace Is leadin

g In

six states w

ith

53 electoral votes. S

ix states w

ith 1

23

electoral v

otes

are in th

e tossu

p categ

ory

. Hum

phrey

end N

ixon are ba

ttling

for five of them:

Coim

ectieut, New

, Mexico, N

ew Y

ork, P

ennsy

lvan

ia and T

esax lv

the six

th

wInrida. the fight Is betw

een Nixon

leadin

g, w

ould

add 4

3 v

otes, b

ringin

g

his total to 210. T

he next vital arena is th

e ban

d o

f B

ord

er Stater,--D

elaware, M

arylan

d,

Virg

inia, N

orth

Caro

lina, T

ennessee,

Ken

tuck

y an

d M

issouri, w

ith 7

0 elect

local v

otes—

where N

ixon Is b

elieved

to

be lead

ing ag

ainst th

e div

ided

chal-

leng

e of W

allace end

Hu

mp

hrey

. Al-

mo

st an

y' six

of th

ose

no

on

state

s w

ould put Min over the top.

Finally, N

ixon has a bit of insurance in

thre

e W

este

rn sta

tes—

Nevada,

Washington and A

laska—w

here he up. pears to

be lead

ing

bu

t Is no

t gu

aran-

teed W

h thene ventes. e n

ote

s that th

ese

state

s could give biro victory even if he w

ere sh

ut o

ut o

f Mich

igan

, - Min

neso

ta, S

ou

th C

arolin

a, New

Yo

rk, P

enn

syl-

van

ia, Tex

as, Flo

rida, C

on

necticu

t, N

ew M

exico

and M

aine—

in all o

f w

hich he has a chance—the likelihood

of Nixon's w

inning Is clear.

Six

Mo

re G

OP

Go

vern

ors

Q

0F

AR

AS

oth

er ra

ces a

re c

on

• cerned, ticket splitting seem

s to be the order of the d

ay.

The R

epublicans, who now

hold 26 of th

e 50

go

vern

orsh

ips, are v

irtually

guaran

teed an

oth

er increase in

their

streng

th th

is year. In

all, 13

Dem

o•

erotic an

d eig

ht R

epublican

govern

or-

ships are at stoke Tuesday.

An expected victory in Illinois w

ould In

stall Rep

ublican

s in th

e governors' chairs

in ev

ery o

ne o

f the b

ig sev

en

state

s ex

cep

t Tex

as, w

hic

h se

em

s lik

ely to

return

anoth

er Dem

ocrat.

Asid

e from

Illino

is, the o

ther states

exp

ected to

replace D

emo

crats with

R

epu

blican

go

vern

ors o

n T

uesd

ay in

-clu

de Io

wa, N

ew H

ampsh

ire and V

er-m

ont, with chances of varying degrees

for R

epu

blican

s to tak

e ov

er also in

D

elaware, Indiana, K

ansas, North C

ar-olina and W

est Virginia.

By

con

trast, the o

nly

Rep

ub

lican-

held

go

vern

orsh

ips th

at app

ear in an

y

Th

en A

ttorn

ey Gen

eral R

ob

ert P. K

enn

edy a

nd

K

enned

y in

a som

ber

mood tw

o w

eeks b

efo

re

DE

AN

AC

HE

SO

N

erseeu litA

SIL

. A

VI

brings ou

t characteristics

and stren

gths th

at perhaps

even th

ey never kn

ew th

ey had, and for others the pres-sure is too overw

helming.'

pected or anticipated that the Russians

would deploy sarfaceeo-surface ballis-

tic missiles In C

uba.

Meeting W

ith Dobry

nis

e

IT

HO

UG

HT

B

AC

K to

my

meeting

with

Sovie

t Am

bassa

dor A

nato

ly D

obrynin In my office som

e weeks be-

fore. He cam

e to tell Inc that the Rus-

sians were prepared to sign an atm

os-p

he

ric te

st b

an

trea

ty if w

e c

ou

ld

make

certa

in a

gre

em

ents o

n u

nder-

ground testing. I tied him

we w

ere deeply concerned w

ithin

the A

dm

inistra

tion a

bout th

e

am

ou

nt o

f Wittily/ e

qu

ipm

en

t be

ing

sent to C

ub

a. T

here was som

e evidence th

at, in

ad

ditio

n to

the

sulle

n-M

ale

m

issile (S

AM

) sites th

at w

ere

be

ing

erected, the R

ussians, under the guise of a

fishin

g villa

ge, w

ere

constructing a

larg

e n

ava

l ship

yard

an

d a

ba

se fo

r eubm

arin

es. T

his

was a

ll bein

g

watch

ed ca

refu

lly—th

rough a

gents

with

in C

uba w

ho w

ere

reportin

g th

e

milita

ry bu

ildu

p in

a lim

ited

bu

t fre-

qu

en

tly imp

orta

nt w

ay, th

rou

gh

the

q

ue

stion

ing

of re

fug

ee

s wh

o w

ere

screened and processed as they arrived in

Plerida and through lee flights.

Am

ba

ssad

or D

ola

rynin

told

me

I should not be concerned, for he w

as in-structed by S

oviet Chairm

an Nikita S

. K

hrushchev to assure President K

en-n

ed

y tha

t the

re w

ou

ld b

e n

a g

rou

nd

-to-ground m

issiles or offensive weap-

ons placed in Cuba. F

urther, be said, I co

uld

assu

re th

e P

resid

ent th

at th

is m

ilitary buildup was not of any signife

canee and that Khrushchev w

ould do n

oth

ing

to d

isrup

t the

rela

tion

ship

of

our tw

o co

untrie

s durin

g th

is perio

d

prio

r to th

e e

lectio

n. C

ha

irma

n

Khrushchev, he said, H

eed President

Kennedy a

nd d

id n

ot w

ish to

em

ber.

ram

I told

him

we w

ere

watc

hin

g th

e

bu

ildu

p ca

refu

lly find

tha

t he

shrie

k/ know

It would be of the gravest conse-

quence if the Soviet U

nion placed mis-

siles in Cuba. T

hat w

ould never hap• pen, he assured m

e, and left. I reported the conversation to P

resi-dent K

ennedy, Secretary of S

tate Dean

Rusk and S

ecretary of Defense R

obert

McN

amara, relayed m

y ow

n ske

pticism

and suggested that it m

ight be advisa-ble to Issue a statem

ent making It une-

quivocally Meer that the U

nited States

wo

uld

no

t tole

rate

the

intro

du

ction

of

offensive surfaceto-surface missiles, or

offe

nsive

weapons o

f an

y kin

d, in

to

Cuba. T

hat same afternoon, S

ept 4, from a

stud

y, tha

t rep

orts h

ad

com

e fre

es

ag

en

ts w

ithin

Cu

ba

ind

ica

ting

the

pre

sence

of m

issiles in

Septe

mber o

f 1

96

2. M

ost o

f the

rep

orts w

ere

false

; so

me

we

re th

e re

sult o

f con

fusio

n b

y untrained observers betw

een surface-to

-air m

issiles a

nd

surfa

ce4

o.su

rface

Several reports, how

ever, turned out to be accurate—

one from a form

er ent-plo

Ye a

t the H

ilton H

ote

l In H

ava

na,

who believed a m

issile installation was

being constructed near San C

ristobal, and another from

someone w

ho over-h

ea

rd P

rem

ier F

ide

l Ca

stro

's p

ilot

talkin

g in

a b

oa

stful a

nd

into

xicate

d

way o

ne e

venin

g a

bout th

e n

ucle

ar

mis

sile

s th

at w

ere

go

ing

to b

e fu

r. nished C

ube by Russia.

But before these reports w

ere given substance, they had to be checked and rechecked. T

hey were not even consid-

ered substantial enough to pass on to th

e P

resid

ent o

r oth

er h

igh o

fficials

with

in th

e G

ove

rnm

en

t. In re

trosp

ect,

this w

as p

erh

aps a

mista

ke. B

ut th

e

sam

e P

ostm

orte

m stu

dy a

lso sta

ted

that th

ere

was n

o a

dio

s the U

nite

d

Sta

tes co

uld

have

take

n b

efo

re th

e

time w

e a

ctu

ally

did

act, o

n th

e

gro

un

ds th

at e

ven

the

films a

vaila

ble

on O

ct. Id w

ould

not h

ave

been su

b-

stan

tial e

no

ug

h to

con

vince

the

go

v-ernm

ents and peoples of the world of

the

pre

sen

ce o

f offe

nsive

missile

s In

Cuba. C

ertainly, unsubstantiated refu-gee reports w

ould not have been suffi-cient.

The Im

portant fact, of course, is that th

e m

issiles w

ere

un

cove

red

an

d th

e

information w

as made available to the

Governm

ent an

d the people before the

missiles becam

e operative and in time

for th

e U

ntie

d S

tate

s to act.

Men

Un

der'P

resnu

e

rS

AM

E G

RO

UP

that m

et th

at

fTrst m

orning in the Cabinet R

oom

met a

lmost co

ntin

uously th

rough th

e

next 12 days and almost daily for som

e six w

eeks th

ere

afte

r. Oth

ers in

the

group, which w

as later to be called the "lexC

ernm" (the E

xecutive Com

mittee

of th

e N

atio

nal S

ecu

rity Council), In

-cluded S

ecretary of State D

ean Rusk;

Secre

tary

of D

efe

nse R

obert M

c-

Nam

ara

; Dire

ctor o

f the C

entra

l Inte

e

lig-mace A

gency John IvIeCone; S

ecre-ta

ry of th

e T

rea

sury D

ou

gla

s Dillo

n;

Pre

sident K

ennedy's a

dvise

r on n

a-

tional s

ecurity

affa

irs, M

cG

eorg

e

Bundy; P

residential Counsel T

heodore C

. Sorensen; U

nder Secretary of S

tate G

eorge Ball; D

eputy Under S

ecretary of S

tate U. A

lexis Johnson: Gen. M

ax-w

ell T

aylo

r, chairm

an o

f the J

oin

t C

hiefs of Staff; E

dward M

artin, Assist-

ant Secretary of S

tate fee Latin Am

er-ica

; orig

inally, C

harle

s Bohle

n, w

ho,

after the first day, left to become A

m-

bassador to France and w

as succeeded by Llew

ellyn Thom

pson as the adviser en

Russian affairs; R

oswell G

epatric, D

ep

uty S

ecre

tary o

f De

fen

se; P

atti

Som

e of th

e off idols w

ho, w

ith th

e Ken

nedys,

shared th

e `confron

. C

ation betw

een th

e tw

o giant atom

ic nations, the U

.S. wad

the U

.S.S

.R., w

hich

brou

ght th

e world to

the abyss of n

uclear

clestrzetion an

d th

e end of m

ankin

d.'

RO

ILE

RT

Mr.N

AM

AIL

I

TH

RO

DO

RR

SO

RE

NS

EN

JO

HN

1)IcCO

NE

Wallace

is leading in sir sta

tes w

ith

53 electoral votes. S

ix state

s with

12

8 e

lecto

ral vo

tes

are

in the tossup categori- Hum

phrey and N

ixon are battling for five of them:

Connecticu

t, New

Mexico

, New

York,

Pennsylvania and T

exas. Ie. the sixth state, F

lorida, the Heat is betw

een Nixon

and Wallace_

Marked L

oss fo

r Wallace

SIN

CE

T

HE

mb

eca

inp

aig

n su

rvey

10 published on October 5, correspond-

ents report the following m

ajor tren

ds

: •

A

ma

rke

d lo

ss o

f support by

Wallace in states outside the S

outh, par-ticu

larly a

mong b

lue-co

llar w

orke

rs. M

uch

of th

e sh

ift is attrib

ute

d to

the

Intensive propaganda campaign against

Walla

ce co

nducte

d b

y trade u

nio

ns

among their m

embers and fam

ilies. •

A so

lidifyin

g o

f sup

po

rt for H

urn

• phrey am

ong traditional Dem

ocratic vot-ing groups, including N

egroes, Mexican-

Antericene and Jew

s, as the traditional and icleolegic-al divisions no evident at last A

ugust's national convention have began to recede into m

emory.

• A

weakening of support for N

ixon in

the a

reas

of

liberal Republicanism

, w

hich supported Gov. N

elson A. R

ock-efe

ller fo

r the n

om

inatio

n a

nd w

here

criticism

of th

e style

of N

ixon

's an

d

Agnew

's campaign hes been m

ast prey. gent.

All o

f these

seals h

ave

been m

ore

m

arked in the northeast quadrant of the country than elsew

here, and, together, th

ey e

xpla

in th

e ra

ther d

ram

atic im

-p

rove

me

nt in

the

pro

spe

cts for th

e

Hum

phrey-Muskie ticket in such states

as Massachusetts, M

ichigan, Connecticut,

New

York and perhaps P

ennsylvania. B

ut the survey also shows N

ixon ap. peers to be

sla

yin

g in front—

and gen. o

rally m

ain

tain

ing

his m

arg

in—

in th

e

Midw

estern and Western states. M

ost im

portant, correspondents report little evidence that H

umphrey boa m

ade a breakthrough in the suburban areas and sm

alle

r cities th

at co

ntro

l such

state

s as C

alifornia, Illinois and Ohio. T

here, the law

-andorder issue and general dis-sa

tisfactio

n w

ith th

e so

cial, fisca

l and

foreign policies of the Johnson A

dmits

istration, which H

umphrey sym

bolises, present an alm

ost insuperable barrier to his victory.

Whatever H

umphrey m

ay have gained from

the last-minute presidential deci-

sion to halt bombing of N

orth Vietnam

, correspondents say, is outw

eighed b

y the abiding teneifore-change sentim

ent th

at N

ixon h

as e

xplo

ited in

his ca

m-

paign. T

he

difficu

lty of th

e ta

sk of d

en

ying

N

ixon a

n e

lecto

ral m

ajo

rity is show

n

by th

is an

alysis of his support: H

is bard

.core

strength

, inclu

din

g

California, Illinois, 'Indians, W

isconsid a

nd

15

sma

ller sta

tes in

the

Mid

we

st and W

est, totals 167 electoral votes. O

hio and New

Jersey, the

other two

major states w

here he is believed to be

de

gre

e o

f da

ng

er

are

M

ontana, New

M

exico and Arizona.

Un

de

r the

be

st circum

stan

ces, R

e-

publicans could come out of the elec-

tion with 35 of the 50 governors. A

rea-sonable guess is that they m

ay have 32, in

stead o

f their p

rese

nt 2

6. •

In c

on

trast to

go

ve

rno

rs' ra

ce

s,

which traditioiaLly stand on their ow

n, there have been m

any years where m

e Lio

nel 'tre

nds h

ave

c

au

se

d

sweeping

-changes in•the Senate. T

his does not se

em

to b

e o

ne o

f them

. • T

he Republicans cam

e into the cam

-paign w

ith' high hopes, mainly because

they had 25 Dem

ocratic e.t.a

to aim

at a

nd

on

ly 11

of th

eir o

wn

to d

efe

nd

. W

hile they had little hope of overturn-le

g th

e D

em

ocra

ts' 68-9

7 m

atu

rity, they hoped to m

ove their strength into th

e u

pp

er 4

00

in p

rep

ara

tion

for a

m

ajo

r cam

paig

n In

1070.

Rep

ub

lican G

ain in

Sen

ate e

rsHE

WA

SH

ING

TO

N P

OS

T su

rvey

T in

dica

tes th

e like

ly Re

pu

blica

n

ga

in w

ill be

la th

e ra

ng

e o

f fou

r to six

seats. B

ut e

ven th

at m

uch

of a

shift,

alo

ng w

ith re

pla

cem

ent o

f a re

tiring

Dem

ocra

t in A

labam

a a

nd a

retirin

g

Republica

n in

Kaunas b

y more

con-

servative mem

bers of their own P

arty, w

ill tend to

reduce

the a

lmost a

uto

-m

atic liberal majorities the S

enate has

know

n sin

ce M

a

Am

ong the conservative Republicans

given goad to excellent chances of re-pla

cing D

em

ocra

ts are

form

er S

en.

Barry G

old

wate

r of A

rizona, fo

rmer

Go

v. He

nry B

ellm

on

of

Oklahom

a. M

ayor Elm

er E. R

asmuson of A

nchor-age a

nd R

ep. E

dw

ard

3

. Gurn

ey o

f F

lorida. Moderate R

epublicans among

the

po

ssible

win

ne

rs inclu

de

Willia

m

D.

itue

keisb

an

a

of In

dia

na

, Re

p.

Charles M

cC. M

athias of Maryland, A

t-to

rne

y Ge

ne

ral W

illiam

B. S

axb

a o

f O

hio

, Staa

nteia Rep. R

obert R

p. R

ob

e P

ackw

oo

d o

f O

regon and Rep. R

ichard Schw

eiker of P

en

nsylvania.

Not all of these, of course, are likely

to come through. M

eantime, tw

o liberal D

ern

ocra

ls--Go

v. Ha

rold

Hu

gh

es o

f Iow

a and former S

tate Controller A

lan C

ran

ston

of C

alifo

rnia

, are

give

n re

al

chances to take over Republican sears.

Oth

er sta

tes w

here

Renate

seats

could shift parties Include Mahe, M

is-sour', N

ew H

ampshire, S

outh Daktoa

and Utah.

Guessin

g th

e o

utco

me o

f the 3

85

See POLITIC

S. Page B

e, Colum

n 4

I e;

15 TR

UC

KS U

ND

ER

.1_EA

MO

USLA

GE

NE

TT

ING

eeete

l ST

AT

ION

TR

UC

KS U

ND

ER

C

AM

OU

FLA

GE

T

ING

14,11%1551LE SH

ELTER

-vI 1T

EN

TS

'MISSIL

E

OR

132 San

dse, N

ov. a,1

948

TE

R W

ASH

ING

TO

N PO

ST

Th

e Evidence: a"tTceheripahnotoA A

merican

knot! itnhdeicmenie estim

ate thet

misswilietsh

r are L

inn! m

inutes Troents. photos such ead th

ese irL

rovidedanv gielzsoasf sLirellacate-tsoh-sipusri an shalt wa y syitz

their bein

g fired 80 million

Am

ericans w

ould be dead."

dense D

epart- F

idel Castro's C

uba with

military cargoes su

ch as ,iet bom

ber fuselages.

You

Are in

a Pretty B

ad

ad F

ix 5 Mr. P

resident' C

RISIS, F

rom P

age B

1

dersto

od

yet, m

ost im

po

rtantly

, still leav

e no in

contro

l of events.

Later h

e reinfo

rced h

is positio

n b

y

repen

ting th

at a surp

rise air strike

again

st the m

issile bases alo

ne—

a su

rgical air. strik

e, as it came to

be

called—

was m

ilitarily Im

practical in

th

e view

of th

e Join

t Chiefs o

f Staff;

that an

y su

ch m

ilitary actio

n w

ou

ld

have to

Inclu

de all m

ilitary in

stalla-tions in C

uba, eventually leading to an in

vasio

n. P

erhap

s we w

ou

ld co

me to

th

at, he arg

ued

. "Bu

t let's no

t start w

ith th

at cou

rse." T

hose w

ho arg

ued

for th

e military

strik

e p

oin

ted

ou

t that a

blo

ck

ad

e

would

not in

fact remove th

e missiles

and

wo

uld

no

t even

. stop

the w

ork

fro

m g

oin

g ah

ead o

n th

e missile sites

themselves. T

he missiles w

ere already in

Cuba, an

d all w

e would

be d

oin

g

with a blockade w

ould be "closing the door after the horse had left the barn."

Their m

ost fo

rceful arg

um

ent w

as th

at o

ur in

stalla

tion o

f a b

lockade

around C

uba in

vited

the R

ussian

s to

do the same to B

erlin. If we dem

anded th

e remo

val o

f missiles fro

m C

ub

a as th

e p rice for lifting our blockade, they w

ould demand the rem

oval of missiles

surro

un

din

g th

e So

viet - U

nio

n as th

e reciprocal act.

An

d so

we arg

ued

, and

so w

e disa-

greed

—all d

edicated

, intellig

ent m

en,

disag

reeing an

d fig

htin

g ab

out th

e fit-.

and h

e wa

s strongly

in fav

or o

f an air

attack. H

e said th

at the P

residen

t of

the United S

tates had the responsiblity fo

r the secu

rity o

f the p

eop

le of th

e U

nited

States an

d o

f the w

ho

le free w

orld

, that it w

as his o

blig

ation to

tak

e the o

nly

action w

hich

cou

ld p

ro.

teat that secu

rity an

d th

at that m

eant

destro

yin

g th

e missiles.

With

som

e tre

pid

atio

n, I a

rgu

ed

th

at, wh

atever v

alidity

the m

ilitary

and political arguments w

ere for an at-ta

ck in

pre

fere

nce to

a b

lockade,

Am

erica's traditions and history would

net p

ermit su

ch a co

urse o

f action.

Wh

atever m

ilitary reaso

ns h

e and

eth-

ers could marshal, they w

ere neverthe-less. in

the last an

alysis, ad

vocatin

g a

surp

rise attack b

y a v

ery larg

e natio

n

again

st a very

small o

ne. T

his, I said

, could not be undertaken by the U

nited S

tate

s if we w

ere

to m

ain

tain

our

moral position at hom

e and around the globe.

We sp

ent m

ore tim

e on th

is moral

questio

n d

urin

g th

e first fiv

e d

ays

than

on an

y o

ther sin

gle m

atter. At

various times, it w

as proposed that we

send a letter to

Khru

shch

ev 2

4 h

ours

before the bombardm

ent was to begin,

that w

e send a letter to

Castro

, that

leaflets and p

amphlets listin

g th

e tar-gets b

e dro

pped

over C

uba b

efore th

e attack

—all th

ese ideas an

d m

ore w

ere ab

and

on

ed fo

r military

or o

ther rea-

son

s. We stru

gg

led an

d fo

ug

ht w

ith

one another and with row

ennsriennes

They m

et late Wednesday afternoon

in th

e Presid

ent's o

ffice in th

e Wh

ite H

ouse. Grom

yko began the conversa-tio

n b

y sa

yin

g th

e U

nite

d S

tate

s sh

ould

stop th

reatenin

g C

uba. A

ll C

ub

a wan

ted w

as peacefu

l com

dst

ence, he said; she was not interested in

exp

ortin

g h

er system

to o

ther L

atin

Am

erican countries. Cuba, like the S

o-viet U

nio

n, w

anted

only

peace. P

re-m

ier Khru

shch

ev h

ad in

structed

hin

t, G

rom

yk

o said

, to tell P

residen

t Ken

-ned

y th

at the o

nly

assistance b

eing

furn

ished

Cu

ba w

as for ag

ricultu

re an

d lan

d d

evelo

pm

ent, so

the p

eop

le co

uld

feed th

emselv

es, plu

s a small

amount o

f defen

sive arm

s. In v

iew o

f all the publicity in the A

merican press,

he said

, he w

anted

to em

ph

asize that

the Soviet U

nion would never becom

e involved in the furnishing of offensive w

eapons to Cuba.

Presid

ent K

enn

edy

Listen

ed,

es tate !sh

ed, b

ut also w

ith some adm

iration for the boldness of G

romektes position.

Firm

ly, but with great restraint consid-

ering

the p

rov

ocatio

n, h

e told

!ere-anyko that it w

as not the United S

tates w

hich was ferm

enting discord, but the S

oviet Union, T

he U.S

.S,11.'s supplying

of arm

s to C

uba w

as hav

ing a P

re*

found e

ffect o

n th

e p

eople

of th

e

'Lim

ited S

tates and w

as a source

- of

great concern

to h

im. B

ecause o

f the

perso

nal assu

rances h

e had

received

'. fro

m K

hru

shch

ev, h

e had

been

taldn

g

.e. —

.ea, ...el *

Inn

th

at n

n A

rtion nas

that p

ositio

n h

ad b

een m

ade clear to

the S

oviet Union in m

eetings between

the Attorney G

eneral and Am

bassador D

obrynin and In his own public state-

ment,. T

o avoid any misunderstanding,

he read aloud his statement .of S

ept, 4, w

hich

po

inted

ou

t the serio

us co

nse-

qu

ences th

at wo

uld

arise if the S

ov

iet U

nio

n p

laced m

issiles or o

ffensiv

e w

eapons within C

uba. G

rom

yko assu

red h

im

this w

ould n

ever b

e do

se, that th

e Un

ited S

tates sh

ould

not b

e concern

ed. A

lter touch

-in

g b

riefly o

n so

me o

ther m

atters, he

said goodby. I cam

e by shortly after Grom

yko left the W

hite House. T

he President of the

United

States, it can

be said

, was d

is-pleased w

ith the spokesman of the S

o-viet U

nio

n.

From

Agreem

ent to D

iscord

BY

TH

UR

SD

AY

NIG

HT

, there was

a majo

rity o

pin

ion In

our g

roup

for a b

lock

ade. O

ur co

mm

ittee wen

t fro

m th

e S

tate

Depale

ment to

the

White H

ouse around 9:15 that nlgtrL In

order to avoid the suspicion that would

hav

e ensu

ed fro

m th

e presen

ce of a

long tine of limousines, w

e all went in

my car—

John McC

one, Maxw

ell Tay-

lor, the driver end myself all crow

ded to

geth

er in

the fro

nt se

at, a

nd six

o

thers sltU

ng

in b

ack.

We explained our recom

mendations

to th

e Presid

ent. A

t the b

egin

elue, th

e m

eeting

seemed

to p

roceed

In an or-

derly

A

nd

satisfactory way. H

owever,

susp

icion

, he retu

rned

to h

is regu

lar sch

edu

le and

his cam

paig

n sp

eakin

g

engagements.

The tex

t morn

ing, at o

ur m

eeting at

the S

tate

Departm

ent, th

ere

were

sh

arp d

isagreem

ents ag

ain. T

he strain

an

d ,th

e hours w

ithout sleep

were b

e-g

inn

ing

to tak

e their ten

. Ho

wev

er, ev

en m

any

years later, th

ose h

um

an

wealm

esses—im

patience, fits of anger—are u

nd

erstand

able.

Each

one o

f us w

as bein

g ask

ed to

m

ake a recomm

endation which w

ould affect th

e futu

re of all m

ank

ind

, a lee. o

itun

end

ation

-wh

ich, if w

ron

g an

d if

accepted

, could

mean

the d

estructio

n

of th

e hum

an race. T

hat k

ind o

f pres-

sure d

oes stran

ge th

ings C

o a h

um

an

being, even to brilliant, self-confident. m

ature, ex

perien

ced m

en. F

or so

me It

brin

gs o

ut c

hara

cte

ristic

s a

nd

streng

ths th

at perh

aps even

they never k

new

they

had

, an

d fo

r oth

ers th

e

pressure is too overwhelm

ing, F

inally, we agreed on e procedure by

which

we felt w

e could

giv

e som

e in-

telligent recomm

endations to the Pres-

irked. We spilt into groups to w

rite up our resp

ective reco

mm

endatio

ns. In

the early afternoon, w

e exchanged pap• ers, each group dissected and criticized th

e oth

er, and

then

the p

apers w

ere retu

rned

to th

e orig

inal g

roup to

de-

velop further answers. G

radually from

all this cam

e the o

utlin

e of d

efinitiv

e plans.

Ru

sk F

requ

ently A

bsen

t

DU

RIN

G A

LL

these d

eliberatio

ns,

we ail sp

oke as eq

uals. T

here w

as no ran

k an

d, in

fact, we d

id n

ot ev

en

have a chairman. D

ean Rusk—

who, as

Secretary

of S

tate, mig

ht h

ave as-

sum

ed th

at po

sition

—h

ad o

ther d

uties

durin

g th

is perio

d o

f time an

d fee.

quently could not attend our meetings.

As a resu

lt, the co

nv

ersation

s were

co

mp

lete

ly u

nin

hib

ited

en

d m

ere

-etricted. It w

as a tremendously advan-

tageo

us p

roced

ure th

at does n

ot fre-

quen

tly o

ccur w

ithin

use E

xecu

tive

Branch of the G

overnment, w

here rank is often so im

portant. W

e met all d

ay F

riday

and

Frid

ay

nig

ht. T

hen a

gain

early

Satu

rday

morning w

e were back at the S

tate De-

partm

en

t. I talk

ed

to th

e P

resid

en

t sev

eral times o

n F

riday

. He w

as ho

p•

ing to

be ab

le to m

eet with

us early

' '

"

Th

e E

vid

en

ce:

at Cleertp

ho

tog

raph

y ]Saving a'tedniaatea

‘ asth

aR

tithin

areft

i4mgindulsteess'O

l Jr h

igh

overhead

such as sand

from

praslo

wija

si angles,

of s

ar

i weld as sh

ips th

eir w

aytos

the

ir be

ing

fired

- 80

millio

n A

me

rica

ns

wo

uld

be

de

ad

." Dee

fen

ra D

ep

art.

Fid

el Castro

's Cu

ba w

ith m

ilitary carg

oes

such as

iets bopsmbaer fuselages.

`You

Are in

a Pretty B

ad F

ix, Mr. P

residen

t' C

RIS

IS, F

rom

Pa

ge

El

declin

ed

yet, m

ost im

po

rtan

tly, s

till le

ave u

s in

co

ntro

l of e

ven

ts.

La

ter lie

rein

forc

ed

his

po

sitio

n b

y

rep

ortin

g th

at a

su

rpris

e a

ir strik

e

ag

ain

st

the

mis

sile

ba

se

s a

lon

e—

a

su

rgic

al a

ir, strik

e, a

s It c

am

e d

o b

e

ca

lled

—w

as

milita

rily lin

ntw

elc

al in

th

e v

iew

of th

e J

oin

t Ch

iefs

of Sta

ff; th

at a

ny

su

ch

milita

ry a

ctio

n w

ou

ld

have to

inclu

de a

ll milita

ry In

sta

lla

he

ns

in C

ub

a, e

ve

ntu

ally

lea

din

g to

an

in

va

sio

n. P

erh

ap

s w

e w

ou

ld c

om

e to

th

at, h

e a

rgu

ed

. Bu

t let's

no

t sta

rt w

ith th

at c

ou

rse."

Th

ose w

ho

arg

ued

for th

e m

ilitary

s

trike

po

inte

d o

ut th

at a

blo

ck

ad

e

wo

uld

no

t In fa

rt rem

ov

e th

e m

iss

iles

an

d w

ou

ld n

ot e

ven

• sto

p th

e w

ork

fro

m g

oin

g a

he

ad

on

the

mis

sile

site

s

them

selv

es. T

he m

issile

s w

ere

alre

ad

y

in C

ub

a, a

nd

all w

e w

ou

ld h

e d

oin

g

with

a b

lockad

e w

ou

ld b

e "c

losin

g th

e

do

or a

tter th

e h

ors

e h

ad

left th

e b

are

." T

he

ir mo

st fo

rce

ful a

rgu

me

nt w

as

th

at o

ur in

sta

llatio

n o

f a b

loc

ka

de

aro

un

d C

ub

a in

vite

d th

e R

ussia

ns to

d

o th

e s

am

e to

Be

rlin. If w

e d

em

an

de

d

eh

e re

mo

val o

f mis

sile

s fro

m C

ub

a a

s

the

pric

e fo

r lifting

ou

r blo

ck

ad

e, th

ey

w

ou

ld d

em

an

d th

e re

mo

va

l of m

iss

iles

su

rrou

nd

ing

the S

ovie

t Un

ion

as th

e

rec

ipro

ca

l ac

t. A

nd

so

we a

rgu

ed

, an

d s

o w

e d

isa-

gre

ed

—all d

ed

icate

d, in

tellig

en

t men

, d

isa

gre

ein

g a

nd

figh

ting

ab

ou

t the

fie

lure

of th

eir c

ou

ntry

, an

d o

f ma

nk

ind

. M

ean

wh

ile, tim

e w

as s

low

ly ru

nn

ing

tu

t. A

n e

xa

min

atio

n o

f ph

oto

gra

ph

y

taken

on

Wed

nesd

ay, th

e 1

7th

of

Octo

ber, s

ho

wed

severa

l oth

er in

sta

lla-

tion

s, w

ith e

t least le

an

d p

ossib

ly 3

2

missiles o

f over

10

00

.mlle

ran

ge

. Ou

r m

ilitary

exp

erts

ad

vis

ed

that th

ese

mis

sile

s c

ou

ld h

e in

op

era

tion

with

in a

w

eek.

Th

e n

ext d

ay, T

hu

rsd

ay, e

stim

ate

s

by o

ur in

tellig

en

ce c

om

mu

nity

pla

ced

in

Go

bs

mis

sile

s w

ith a

n a

tom

icw

ar-

he

ad

po

ten

tlai o

f ab

ou

t on

e.h

alf th

e

cu

rren

t ICB

M c

ap

ac

ity o

f the

en

tire

So

vie

t Un

ion

. Th

e p

ho

tog

rap

hy

ha

vin

g

Ind

ica

ted

tha

t the

ma

ilea

we

re b

ein

g

dire

cte

d a

t ce

rtain

Am

eric

an

citie

s,

the e

stim

ate

was th

at w

ithin

a fe

w

min

ute

s o

f their b

ein

g fire

d tO

millio

n

an

d h

e w

as stron

gly 111 favo

r of a

n a

ir

atta

ck

. He

sa

id th

at th

e P

res

ide

nt o

f th

e U

nite

d S

tates had

the resp

orn

alblity

for th

e s

ecu

rity o

f the p

eo

ple

of th

e

Un

ited

Sta

tes a

nd

of th

e w

ho

le fre

e

wo

rld, th

at it w

as h

is o

blig

atio

n to

take th

e o

nly

ac

tion

wh

ich

co

uld

pro

-te

at th

at s

ec

urity

an

d th

at th

at m

ea

nt

de

stro

yin

g th

e m

iss

iles

.

With

so

me

trep

ida

tion

, I arg

ue

d

tha

t, wh

ate

ve

r va

lidity

the

milita

ry

an

d p

olitic

al a

rgu

men

ts w

ere

for a

n a

t. ta

ck in

pre

fere

nce to

a b

lockad

e,

Am

eric

a's

trad

ition

s a

nd

his

tory

wo

uld

n

ot p

erm

it su

ch

a c

ou

rse

of a

ctio

n.

Wh

ate

ve

r milita

ry re

as

on

s h

e a

nd

otla

• era

co

uld

mars

hal, th

ey w

ore

neverth

e-

less, in

the la

st a

naly

sis

, ad

vo

catin

g a

s

urp

rise

atta

ck

by

a v

ery

larg

e n

atio

n

ag

ain

st a

very

sm

all o

ne. T

his

, I mid

, co

uld

no

t be u

nd

erta

ken

by th

e U

nite

d

Sta

tes if w

e w

ere

to m

ain

tain

ou

r m

ora

l po

sitio

n a

t ho

me a

nd

aro

un

d th

e

glo

be.

We s

pen

t mo

re tim

e o

n th

is m

ora

l q

uestio

n d

urin

g th

e firs

t five d

ays

than

on

an

y o

ther s

ing

le m

atte

r. At

va

riou

s tim

es

, it wa

s p

rop

os

ed

tha

t we

sen

d a

lette

r to Ith

rush

ch

ey IA

ho

urs

-b

efo

re th

e b

om

bard

men

t was to

beg

in,

that w

e s

eed

a le

tter to

Castro

, that

leafle

ts a

nd

pa

mp

hle

ts lis

ting

the ta

r. g

ets

be d

rop

ped

over C

ub

a b

efo

re th

e

atta

ck—

all th

ese id

eas a

dd

mo

re w

ere

a

ba

nd

on

ed

for m

ilitary

or o

the

r res

. s

on

s. W

e s

trug

gle

d a

nd

fou

gh

t with

o

ne

an

oth

er and

with

ou

r con

sciences,

for it w

as

a q

ue

stio

n th

at d

ee

ply

trote

b

led

us a

ll.

Gro

niy

ko

's R

eassu

ran

ce

TN

TH

E M

IDS

T o

f all th

ese d

iscu

s-

-I. aim

s, A

nd

rei G

rom

yko

cam

e to

see

the

Pre

sid

en

t. It wa

s a

n a

pp

oin

tme

nt

ma

de

kin

g b

efo

re th

e m

issile

s w

ere

me

co

ve

red

, an

d th

e P

res

ide

nt fe

lt it w

ou

ld b

e a

wk

wa

rd to

ca

nc

el IL

He

de

-b

ate

d w

heth

er h

e s

ho

uld

co

nfro

nt th

e

So

vie

t Fo

reig

n M

inis

ter w

ith o

ur

kn

ow

led

ge

of th

e m

iss

iles

' pre

se

nc

e

an

d fin

ally

decid

ed

that, a

s h

e b

ad

no

t Y

et d

ete

rmin

ed

a fin

al c

ou

rse o

f actio

n

an

d th

e d

isc

los

ure

of o

ur k

no

wle

dg

e

mig

ht g

ive th

e R

ussia

ns th

e in

itiativ

e,

he

wo

uld

sim

ply

liste

n to

Gro

my

ko

.

Th

ey

me

t late

We

dn

es

da

y a

ftern

oo

n

in th

e P

res

ide

nt's

offic

e in

the

Wh

ite

Ho

use. G

eam

yko

beg

an

the c

on

veria

-

lion

by

sa

yin

g th

e lIn

ited

Sta

tes

sh

ou

ld s

top

thre

ate

nin

g C

ub

a. A

ll C

ub

a w

an

ted

w

as p

eacefu

l co

exis

t- e

nc

e, h

e s

aid

; sh

e w

as

no

t inte

res

ted

in

exp

ortin

g h

er s

yste

m to

oth

er L

atin

A

me

rica

n c

ou

ntrie

s. C

ub

a, lik

e th

e S

o.

Vie

t Un

ion

, wa

nte

d o

nly

pe

ac

e. P

re-

en

ter K

hru

sh

eh

ev

ha

d le

strn

cte

d h

im,

Gro

my

ko

sa

id, to

tell P

res

ide

nt K

en

. n

atty

tha

t the

on

ly a

ss

ista

nc

e b

ein

g

furn

ish

ed

Cu

ba

wa

s fa

r ag

ricu

lture

an

d la

nd

develo

pm

en

t, so th

e p

eo

ple

co

uld

feed

them

selv

es, p

lus a

sm

all

am

ou

nt o

f defe

nsiv

e a

rms. in

vie

w o

f all th

e p

ub

licity

1n

the A

meric

an

pre

ss,

he

sa

id, h

e w

an

ted

to e

mp

ha

size

tha

t th

e S

ov

iet U

nio

n w

ou

ld n

ev

er b

ec

om

e

inv

olv

ed

in th

e fu

rnis

hin

g o

f offe

ns

ive

w

eapo

ns to

Cu

ba.

Pre

sid

en

t Ke

nn

ed

y lis

ten

ed

, as

ton

-is

hed

, bu

t als

o w

ith s

om

e a

dm

iratio

n

for th

e b

old

ne

ss

of G

rom

ylo

es

po

sitio

n.

Firm

ly, b

ut w

ith g

rea

t res

train

t co

ns

id-

erin

g th

e p

rov

oc

atio

n, h

e to

ld G

ro-

myko

that It w

as n

ot th

e U

nite

d S

tate

s

wh

ich

was to

rmen

ting

dis

co

rd, b

ut th

e - S

ovie

t Un

ion

. Th

e U

.S.S

.R.'s

su

pp

lyin

g

of a

rms to

Cu

ba w

as h

avin

g a

pro

-fo

un

d e

ffec

t on

the

pe

op

le o

f the

U

nite

d S

tate

s a

nd

wa

s a

so

urc

e- o

f

gre

at c

on

ce

rn to

him

. Be

ca

us

e o

f the

p

ers

on

al a

ss

ura

nc

es

he

ha

d re

ce

lad

: fro

m K

hre

sh

elie

v, h

e h

ad

be

en

tak

ing

th

e p

ub

lic p

os

ition

tha

t no

ac

tion

wa

s

req

uire

d a

gain

st C

ub

a, a

nd

yet th

e tit.

tuitio

n w

as b

eco

min

g s

tead

ily n

iers

d

ang

erou

s. .

_ G

rom

yk

o re

pe

ate

d th

at

rhe

ob

jectiv

e o

f the T

J.S

.S.R

. was to

"giv

e -.-

bre

ad

to C

ub

a in

ord

er to

pre

ven

t hu

n-

ge

r in th

at c

ou

ntry

." As

far a

s a

rms

w

ere

co

nc

ern

ed

, the

So

vie

t Un

ion

ha

d

sim

ply

sen

t so

me s

pecia

lists

to tra

in

Cu

ban

s to

bu

nd

le c

erta

in k

ind

s o

f' ar.

ma

rne

nt, w

hic

h w

ere

on

ly 'd

efe

ns

ive

" H

e th

an

sa

id h

e w

ish

ed

to e

me

ha

site

th

e w

ord

"defe

nsiv

e" a

nd

that n

on

e o

f th

es

e w

ea

po

ns

co

uld

ev

er E

as taiiillta

a

thre

at to

the U

nite

d S

tate

s.

Th

e P

resid

en

t rep

lied

th

at th

ec

a

sh

ou

ld b

e n

o m

isu

eid

ers

tan

din

g o

f the

p

ositio

n o

f the U

nite

d S

tate

seete

at

that p

ositio

n h

ad

been mad

e c

lear to

th

e S

ov

iet U

nio

n In

me

etin

gs

be

twe

en

th

e A

ttorn

ey

Ge

ne

ral a

ne

Am

ba

ss

ad

or

Do

bry

nin

an

d in

his

ow

n p

ub

lic s

tate

-m

en

ts. T

o a

vo

id a

ny

mis

un

de

rsta

nd

ing

, b

e re

ad

alo

ud

his

sta

tem

en

t of S

ep

t. 4,

wh

ich

po

inte

d o

ut th

e s

erio

us c

on

se-

qu

en

ces th

at w

ou

ld a

rise it th

e S

ovie

t U

nio

n p

ieced

mis

sile

s o

r offe

nsiv

e

we

ap

on

s w

ithin

Cu

be

G

rom

yko

assu

red

him

this

wo

uld

n

ever b

e d

on

e, th

at th

e U

nite

d S

tate

s

sh

ou

ld n

ot b

e c

on

cern

ed

. Alte

r tou

ch

-in

g b

riefly

en

so

me

oth

er m

atte

rs, h

e

sa

id g

oo

db

y.

I ca

me

by

sh

ortly

afte

r Gro

rred

ro le

ft th

e W

hite

Ho

use. T

he P

resid

en

t of th

e

Un

ited

Sta

tes

, It ca

n b

e s

aid

. wa

s d

is-

ple

as

ed

with

the

sp

ok

es

ma

n o

f the

So

-v

iet U

nio

n.

Fro

m A

gre

em

en

t to D

isc

ord

'ply

TH

UR

SD

AY

NIG

HT

, there

was

a m

ajo

rity o

pin

ion

in o

ur g

rou

p

for a

blo

ckad

e. O

ur c

om

mitte

e w

en

t fro

m th

e S

tate

Dep

artm

en

t to th

e

Wh

ite H

ou

se

aro

un

d 9

11

3 th

at n

igh

t. In

otte

r do

av

oid

the

su

sp

kto

n th

at w

ou

ld

ha

ve

en

su

ed

from

the

pre

se

nc

e o

f a

lon

g lin

e o

f limo

usin

es, w

e a

ll wen

t in

an

y c

ar—

Jo

hn

Mc-C

on

e, M

axw

ell T

ay-

lor, th

e d

rive

r an

d m

ys

elf a

ll cro

wd

ed

to

geth

er in

the fro

nt s

eat, a

nd

de

oth

ers

sitting in b

ack

We

ex

pla

ine

d o

ur re

co

mm

en

da

tion

s

to th

e P

resid

en

t. At th

e b

eg

inn

ing

. the

me

etin

g s

ee

me

d to

pro

ce

ed

in a

n o

r-d

erly

an

d s

ertis

fac

tory

wa

y. H

ow

ev

er,

Es p

eo

ple

'talk

ed

, as th

e P

resid

en

t ra

ised

pro

bin

g q

uestio

ns, m

ind

s a

nd

o

pin

ion

s b

eg

an

to

ch

an

ge a

gain

, an

d

no

t on

ly o

n s

mall p

oin

ts. F

or s

om

e, it

was fro

m, o

ne e

xtre

me to

an

oth

er—

su

pp

ortin

g e

n a

ir atta

ck

at th

e b

eg

in-

nin

g o

f the

me

etin

ga

nd

by

the

time

W

e le

ft the

Wh

ite H

ou

se

, su

pp

ortin

g

no

action at a

ll, T

he

Pre

sid

en

t, no

t at a

ll sa

tisfie

d,

res

it us

ba

ck

to o

ur d

elib

era

tion

s. B

e-

ca

us

e a

ny

oth

er s

tep

wo

uld

aro

us

e

su

sp

icio

n, h

e re

turn

ed

to h

is re

gu

lar

sch

ed

ule

an

d h

is c

am

paig

n s

peakin

g

eng

agem

ents.

Th

e n

ext m

orn

mg

, at o

ur m

eetin

g at

I he S

tate

Dep

artm

en

t, there

w

ere sh

arp

dis

ag

reem

en

ts a

gain

. Th

e s

train

a

nd

sh

e h

ou

rs w

itho

ut s

lee

p w

ere

be

-g

inn

ing

to ta

ke th

eir to

ll. Ho

wever,

even

ma

ny

ye

ars

late

r, these h

um

an

w

eaknesses—

imp

atience, fits o

f eager—

are

un

ders

tan

dab

le.

Ea

ch

on

e o

f us

wa

s b

ein

g a

sk

ed

to

make a

reco

mm

en

datio

n w

hic

h w

ou

ld

affe

ct th

e fu

ture

of e

n m

an

kin

d, a

mc

-o

nu

nen

datio

n w

hic

h. if w

ron

g a

nd

if accep

ted

, co

uld

mean

the d

estru

ctio

n

of th

e Is

su

es

rac

e. T

ha

t kin

d o

f pre

S-

Silre

do

es

stra

ng

e th

ing

s to

a h

um

an

b

ein

g, e

ve

n to

brillia

nt, s

elf-c

on

fide

nt,

matu

re, e

xp

erie

nced

men

. Far lo

am

it b

ring

s o

ut c

hara

cte

ristic

s a

nd

Ilalted. Pre. I...W

aistless'

Ad

lai H

. Ste

ven

so

n . . . "A

ltho

ug

h

I disag

reed

stro

ng

ly w

elt h

is re

c-

om

me

nd

atio

ns

, I tho

ug

h: h

e w

as

co

urag

eou

s to m

ake them

. .

stre

ng

ths th

at p

erh

ap

s e

ven

they n

ever

kn

ew

the

y h

ad

, an

d fo

r oth

ers

the

p

ressu

re is

too

overw

helm

ing

. F

ina

lly, w

e a

gre

ed

on

a p

roc

ed

ure

by

w

hic

h w

e fe

lt we

co

uld

giv

e s

om

e in

-te

lligen

t reco

mm

en

datio

ns to

the P

res-id

ent. W

e s

plit in

to g

rou

ps to

write

up

O

ut re

sp

ectiv

e te

co

rnm

en

datio

ns. In

She e

arly

afte

rno

on

, we e

xch

an

ged

pap

-ers

, each

gro

up

dis

secte

d e

nd

critic

ised

th

e o

the

r, an

d th

en

the

pa

pe

rs w

ere

re

turn

ed

to th

e o

rigin

al g

rou

p to

de•

se

tup

furth

er a

ns

we

rs.. G

rad

ua

lly fro

m

alt th

is c

am

e th

e o

utlin

e o

f de

finitiv

e

plan

s.

Ru

sk F

requ

ently A

bsen

t

DU

RIN

G

AL

L th

ese d

elib

era

tion

s,

we a

ll sp

oke a

s e

qu

als

. Th

ere was

Ala ra

nk a

nd

, in fa

ct, w

e d

id n

ot e

ven

h

av

e a

ch

airm

an

. De

an

Ru

sk

—w

ho

, as

S

ecre

tary

of S

tate

, mig

ht h

ave a

s.

mate

d th

at p

ositio

n—

had

oth

er /Judea

du

ring

this

pe

riod

of tim

e a

nd

fre-

qu

en

tly c

ou

ld n

ot a

tten

d o

ur m

eetin

gs.

As

a re

su

lt, the

Co

nv

ers

atio

ns

we

re

co

mp

lete

ly u

nin

hib

ited

en

d u

nre

-stric

ted

. It was a

trem

en

do

usly

ad

van

. ta

geo

us p

roced

ure

that d

oes n

ot ire

. em

eriti), We

nt' w

ithin

dm

Ex

ec

utiv

e

Bra

nch

of th

e G

overn

men

t, wh

ere

ran

k

is o

ften

so

imp

orta

nt.

We

me

t all c

lay

Frid

ay

an

d F

rida

y

nig

ht T

han

ag

ain

early

Satu

rday

mo

rnin

g w

e w

ere

bo

ck a

t the S

tate

De-

pertin

en

t. I talk

ed

to th

e P

resid

en

t eevera

l times o

n F

riday. H

e w

as h

op

-in

g to

be a

ble

to m

eet w

ith u

s e

arly

en

ou

gh

to d

ecid

e o

n a

co

urs

e o

f actio

n

an

d th

en

bro

ad

cast it to

the N

atio

n

Su

nd

ay

nig

ht. S

atu

rda

y m

orn

ing

at 1

0

o'c

lock I c

alle

d h

im a

t the B

lacksto

ne

Ho

tel In

Ch

icag

o a

nd

told

him

we w

ere

re

ad

y to

meet w

ith h

im. H

e c

an

ce

led

h

is trip

an

d re

turn

ed

to W

as

hin

gto

n.

As h

e w

as re

turn

ing

to W

ash

ing

ton

, o

ur A

rme

d F

orc

es

ac

ros

s th

e w

orld

w

ere

pu

t on

ale

rt. Te

lep

ho

nin

g fro

m

See F

acin

g P

ag

e

ingINN

VM

MIM

TSM

NIM

iniiiiinittESI

Only N

ixon C

an Win It

PO

LIT

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m P

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The G

eorg

eto

wn U

niv

ers

ity Shop's selection

of g

love

s was n

eve

r finer. W

e h

ave

rece

ived

seve

ral sh

ipm

en

ts rece

ntly fro

m E

ng

lan

d a

nd

w

e h

ave

glo

ves in

from

the

be

st ma

kers in

A

merica

.

Th

ey con

sist of

fine capeskin, and suedes in M

e,

grey a

nd b

lack, lin

ed a

nd u

nlin

ed. S

am

e with

cashm

ere linings. Some w

ith fur. A

ll beautifully made an

d serviceable.

$8.0

0 to

$15.0

0

Wo

ole

n g

love

s w

ith le

ath

er palm

s for driving and casual w

ear $6.

Als

o le

t Wo

men

aim

s.: A

l-go

er L

ea

the

r Glo

ve

: $9

.50

to fit

Es:rin

se. 1

91

5

head p

ote

ntia

l of a

bout o

ne-h

alf th

e

curre

nt IC

BM

capacity o

f the e

ntire

S

oviet Union. T

he photography having indicated that the m

issiles were being

dire

cted

at ce

rtain

Am

erica

n citie

s, th

e e

stimate

was th

at w

ithin

a fe

w

min

ute

s of th

eir b

ein

g fire

d 8

0 m

illion

A

mericans w

ould be dead.

LeM

ay U

rged. A

ttack

HE

ME

MB

ER

S of the Joint C

hiefs of T

Sta

ff were

unanim

ous in

callin

g

Imm

ediate military action. T

hey force-fu

lly p

rese

nte

d th

eir v

iew

tha

t the

blockade w

ould not be effective. Gen.

Curtis LeM

ay, Air F

orce chief of staff, arg

ued stro

ngly w

ith th

e P

resid

ent

tha

t a m

ilitary a

ttack w

as e

ssen

tial.

When the P

resident questioned what

the response of the Russians m

ight be, G

en. LeMay assured him

there would

be no reaction. P

resid

ent K

ennedy w

as ske

ptica

l. "T

hey n

o m

ore

than w

e ca

n le

t these

things go by w

ithout doing something.

They ca

n't, a

fter a

ll their sta

tem

ents,

pe

rmit vs to

take

out th

eir m

issiles,

kill a lot of Russians and then do aoth-

ing. If th

ey d

on't ta

ke a

ction in

Cuba,

they ce

rtain

ly will in

Berlin

." T

he President w

ent on to say that he re

cog

nize

d th

e va

lidity o

f the

arg

u-

me

nts m

ad

e b

y the

Join

t Ch

iefs a

nd

th

e like

lihood, if w

e d

id n

oth

ing, th

at

the R

ussia

ns w

ould

move

on B

erlin

and in other areas of the w

orld, feeling th

e U

nite

d S

tate

s wa

s completely im

-potent T

hen It would be too late to do

an

ythin

g in

Cu

ba

, for b

y tha

t time

all

the

ir missile

s wo

uld

be

op

era

tion

al.

Gen. D

avid M. S

houp, comm

andant of the M

arine Corps, sum

med up ever.

one's fe

elin

gs: "Y

ou a

re in

a p

retty

bad fix, Mr. P

resident." The P

resident a

nsw

ere

d q

uickly, "Y

ou

are

in it w

ith

me." E

veryone laughed a

nd, w

ith n

o

final decision, the meeting adjourned.

La

ter, S

ecre

tary

McN

am

ara

, al-

though h

e to

ld th

e P

resid

ent h

e d

is-agre

ed w

ith th

e Jo

int C

hie

fs and fa

-vo

red

a b

locka

de

rath

er th

an

an

at-

tack, informed him

that the necessary pla

nes, m

en a

nd a

mm

unitio

n w

ere

bein

g d

eplo

yed a

nd th

at w

e co

uld

be

ready to move w

ith the necessary air bom

bardments on T

uesday, Oct. 23, If

that was to be the decision. T

he plans ca

lled fo

r an in

itial attack, consisting

of 5

00 so

rties, strikin

g a

ll milita

ry tar-

ge

ts, inclu

din

g th

e m

issile site

s, air

fields, ports and gun emplacem

ents. I supported M

cNam

ara's position in fa

vor o

f a blockade. This w

as not from

a deep co

nvictio

n th

at it w

ould

be a

successful course of action, but a feel-in

g th

at le

ha

d m

ore

flexib

ility an

d

few

er lia

bilitie

s than a

milita

ry atta

ck. M

ost im

porta

ntly, like

oth

ers, I co

uld

n

ot a

ccep

t the

ide

a th

at th

e U

nite

d

States w

ould rain bombs on C

uba, kill. ing thousands and thousands of civil-M

iss hi a surprise attack.

Fo

rme

r Se

creta

ry of S

tate

De

an

A

cheson began attending our meetings,

and finally decided that, as he had not Y

et determined a final course of action

and th

e d

isclosu

re o

f our kn

ow

ledge

mig

ht g

ive th

e R

ussia

ns th

e in

itiative

, he w

ould simply listen to G

romyko.

The

Influences:

"M

an

y con

gressio

nal lea

ders

were sh

arp

in th

eir criticism."

H

ere Ch

airmen

Rich

ard Ru

ssell of th

e Sen

ate A

rmed

Services

Com

mittee, J

. W. F

ulbrigh

t of th

e. Sen

ate F

oreig

n R

elatio

ns

Co

mm

ittee an

d C

arl V

inso

n o

f th

e Hou

se Arm

ed Services C

om-

mittee a

rrive in th

e Capita

l Oct.

22 after being su

mm

oned to m

eet w

ith th

e Presid

ent.

these weapons could ever constitute a

threat to the United S

tates. T

he

Pre

side

nt re

plie

d th

a t there

should be no m

isunderstanding of the positio

n o

f the U

nite

d S

tate

s--that

"T

he m

emb

ers of

the J

oin

t C

hiefs o

f Sta

ff were u

nan

imou

s • in

calling for im

mediate m

ilitary actio

n."

Here, th

e Arm

y's Gen

. E

arle W

heeler, th

e Air F

orce's

Gen

. C

urtis

LeMay

and th

e

Navy's

Ad

m. G

eorg

e An

derso

n

from

left, p

au

se o

utsid

e th

e

Wh

ite Ho

use o

n O

ct. 22

, 19

62

. T

he m

an

at rig

ht is C

ap

t. Ta

ze-w

ell Sh

epa

rd J

r., presid

entia

l n

aval aide.

Iv 'u

11 &

WE

L

Can

Win

It P

OLIT

ICS

, Fro

m P

age E

l H

ouse contests Ill Dem

ocrats and 9 R

epublicans have no Easier pa

rty o

pp

o-

sitio

n) Is

ve

ry difficu

lt, but most ob-

servers agree there will be a

Republi-

can gain of some size, w

hatever the di-vision of votes am

ong the three presi-dential candidates,

House R

epublican Leader Gerald It.

Ford of M

ichigan, whose prophecy of a

40-seat Republican gain in

1988 proved co

nse

rvative

when th

e G

OP

actu

ally

picked up 47 seats, is now on the' re,

ord

as p

redictin

g th

e G

OP

will g

litn

the

30

sea

ts ne

ed

ed

to M

ake

him

S

peaker of the next House.

At th

e clo

se o

f the la

st Congre

ss, D

emocrats held 247 seats and R

epubli-cans 188.

Republicans do have one ace in the

hole

—th

e p

ossib

le w

illingness o

f a

half.d

oze

n S

outh

ern

Dem

ocra

ts to

sw

itch th

eir a

ffiliatio

n to

the G

OP

afte

r the e

lectio

n, if th

eir c

om

mitte

e

senio

rlly is upheld.

Inte

restin

gly, h

ow

eve

r, top stra

te-

gists for Nixon calculate privately that

the R

epublica

ns w

ill gain

only 1

5.2

0

House

seats, in

part In

cense

Nixo

n's

coattails do not look very broad. Dem

o-crats tend to see 15 as the upper lim

it for R

epublican gains. T

he G

OP

's adva

nta

ges th

is year,

apart from w

hatever aid Nixon proves

capable of giving, Include a marked 'su-

periority In congressional campaign fi.

naming and advantages gained by re-

die

tricting

in su

ch sta

tes a

s Ind

ian

a,

North C

arolina, Florida and C

alifornia that m

oved Dem

ocrats into unfamiliar

or more hazardous territory.

On the other hand, m

ost of the Re-

publican target seats happen to fall In the regions w

here Nixon and the G

OP

face their toughest com

petition. In the N

orth

east, H

um

phre

y's rece

nt ra

lly has dim

inished prospects for multiple-

seat GO

P gains in N

ew Jersey, N

ew

York a

nd C

onnecticu

t, am

ong o

ther

states. In

the S

outh

, where

Nix

on w

ould

o

the

rwis

e h

ave

lan

dslid

e m

ajo

rities

over Hum

phrey, the presence of Wal-

lace on the ballot seems likely to save

many D

emocratic C

ongressmen. Indi-

cations are that most W

allace voters in the S

outh will go back to their norm

al D

em

ocra

tic pre

fere

nce

for H

ouse

races. Ironically, w

auace's coattails in A

labama—

where he Is the D

emocratic

candidate for President—

may knock

two R

epublican Congressm

en out of of-fice

,

This survey w

as

compiled from

re-ports by w

eshinnton Post staff w

riters and sp

ecia

l correspandeets in the vari-ous s

tate

s w

ith the aserlstance of W

ash. ingtan P

ost rese

arch

er Jan K

rause.

Georgetow

n University Shop

36

th &

N S

treets, N.W

.

rEm,L5-110.

Open A

ll Day S

aturd

oy u

ntil 6 p.m

. year 'totted

Fro

m a

de

sk

cle

are

d fo

r the

bro

ad

ca

st, P

res

ide

nt K

en

ne

dy

ann

oun

ces the decisin

to "qu

arantin

e" C

ub

a.

Th

e Decision

:

Told th

at the R

ussian

s and

Cu

ban

s had p

ark

ed th

eir pla

nes w

ingtip

to w

ingtip

, m

aking th

em perfect targets,

Presiden

t Ken

nedy requ

ested a

U-2

fligh

t over Florida.

'It wou

ld be interestin

g if we

have don

e she sam

e thin

g,' h

e rem

ark

ed. T

his

Tam

pa T

imes ph

oto of MaeD

ill Air

Force E

ase, Flo., w

as trans-

mitted th

at SU

MO

ad

y—

Ocs.

23, 1962.

TH

E W

AS

HIN

GT

ON

PO

ST

S

an

der. IV

n J

. lea

B3

`Th

ere Was N

o Oth

er Ch

oice, S

aid JFK

P

rom

Pre

ce

din

g P

ag

e

ou

r Meetin

g in

the S

tate

Dep

artm

en

t, S

ecre

tary

MeM

an

iere

ord

ere

d fo

ur

tac

tica

l -air s

qu

ad

ron

s p

lac

ed

at reach-

'lima SW

'an' a

ir strik

e in

ca

se th

e B

rest.

den

t decid

ed m

accept th

at cecorn

ossu

-

Th

e P

res

ide

nt a

rrive

d b

ac

k a

t the

W

hite

Ho

us

e a

t 1:4

0 p

.m. a

nd

we

nt fo

r a

an

dm

. At 2

:30

we w

alk

ed

up

to th

e

Ov

al R

oo

m. T

he

me

etin

g w

en

t on

un

til te

n m

inu

tes

afte

r 5.

C.O

nven

ed as a fo

rmsd

meetin

g o

f the

Natio

nal S

ecu

rity C

ou

ncil, it w

as a

la

rger 'g

rou

p o

f peo

ple

wh

o m

et, s

om

e

of w

ho

ria lo

ad

no

t pa

rticip

ate

d in

the

d

elib

era

tion

s u

p to

tha

t lime

. Bo

b

lide

Nfirria

ra p

res

en

ted

the

arg

um

en

ts

for th

e .b

loo

kad

e; o

the

rs p

resen

ted

the

arg

um

en

ts fa

r the

milita

ry a

ttac

k.

Th

e d

iscu

ssio

n, fo

r the v

ilest p

art,

was a

ble

an

d o

rgan

ised

, alth

ou

gh

, like

all m

eetin

gs o

f this

kin

d, c

erta

in s

tate

-m

en

ts w

ere

mad

e a

s .a

ccep

ted

trusim

s

wh

ich

I, at le

ast, th

ou

gh

t were

of q

ues-

tion

ab

le v

alid

ity. O

ne

me

mb

er o

f the

Jo

int

Ch

iefs

o

f Sta

ff, for e

xa

mp

le,

arg

ued

that w

e c

ou

ld u

se n

ucle

ar w

eap

-o

ns

, on

the

ba

sic

tha

t ou

r ad

ve

rsa

ries

w

ou

ld u

se

the

irs a

ga

ins

t us

in a

n a

t. ta

ck_ I th

ou

gh

t, as I lis

ten

ed

, of th

e

man

y time

s th

at I h

ad

he

ard

the

milt-

tary

ta

ke p

os

ition

s w

inc

h, if

wro

ng

, A

zad

the a

dvan

tag

e th

at n

o o

ne w

ou

ld

be

aro

un

d a

t the

en

d to

kn

ow

,

Th

e P

ree

itien

t De

cid

es

E

S P

RE

SID

EN

T m

ad

e h

is d

eal-

sio

nn

Ma

t afte

rno

on

In fa

vo

r of th

e

blo

ckad

e. T

here

was o

ne fin

al m

eetin

g

the

ne

xt m

orn

ing

, with

Ge

n. W

aite

r C

. Sw

ee

ne

y J

r., co

mm

an

de

r in c

hie

f of

the

Ta

ctic

al A

ir Co

mm

an

d, w

ho

told

th

e P

resid

en

t tha

t ev

en

a m

ajo

r su

r-p

rise a

ir atta

ck c

ou

ld n

ot h

e certa

in o

f d

estro

yin

g a

ll the m

issile

site

s a

nd

nu

. cle

ar w

eap

on

s in

Cu

ba. T

hat e

nd

ed

the

sm

all, lin

gerin

g d

ou

bt th

at m

igh

t still

have re

main

ed

in Ills

min

d. it h

ad

wo

r-rie

d h

im th

at a

blo

ackad

e w

ou

ld n

ot

rem

ove th

e m

issile

s—

no

w iiw

as c

lear

that on

atta

ck

co

uld

no

t ac

co

mp

lish

th

at ta

sk c

om

ple

tely

, eith

er,

Attla

i Ste

ve

ns

on

ha

d c

om

e fro

m N

ew

Y

ork

to a

tten

d th

e m

eetin

g S

atu

rday

afte

rno

on

, as

he

ha

d a

tten

de

d s

ev

era

l o

f the

Ex

-Co

rnm

me

etin

gs

. He

ha

d a

l-w

ays b

een

du

bio

us a

bo

ut th

e a

ir strik

e,

bu

t at - th

e S

atu

rday m

eetin

g h

e

stro

ng

ly a

dv

ocate

d w

hat h

e h

ad

on

ly

ten

tativ

ely

su

gg

es

ted

to ro

e a

few

da

ys

b

efo

re—

min

:tub

% th

at w

e m

ak

e it .h

ea

r to

the S

ovie

t Un

ion

that if It w

ithd

rew

its

mis

sile

s fro

m C

ub

a, w

e w

ou

ld b

e

willin

g to

with

dra

w o

ur m

iss

iles

from

T

urk

ey a

nd

Italy

an

d g

ive u

p o

ur

nava

l bas

e a

t Gu

an

tan

am

o B

ay

. .. T

here

Was o

p e

xtre

mely

stro

ng

rear

from

so

nic

of th

e p

arlie

lPen

ts to

pre

para

tion

s w

en

t forw

ard

d,

Missile

cre

ws

we

re p

lac

ed

on

ina

xn

uu

ni a

lert.

Tro

op

s w

ere

mo

ve

d in

to F

lorid

a a

nd

the s

ou

theaste

rn p

art o

f the

Un

ited

'Sta

tes

. La

te S

atu

rda

y n

igh

t, the

Firs

t A

rmo

red

Div

isio

n b

eg

an

to m

ove o

ut

of T

ex

as

into

Ge

org

ia a

nd

live

mo

re

div

isio

ns w

ere

pla

ced

on

ale

rt. Th

e

ba

se

at G

ua

nta

na

mo

Ba

y w

as

stre

ng

th-

crie

d

Th

e N

avy d

ep

loyed

1g

t1 s

hip

s in

to

the

Ca

ribb

ea

n- T

he

Stra

teg

ic A

ir Co

m-

ma

nd

wa

s d

isp

ers

ed

to c

ivilia

n la

nd

ing

fie

lds a

rou

nd

the c

ou

ntry

to le

ssen

its

vu

lne

rab

ility in

ca

se

of a

ttac

k. T

he

5

.52

bo

mb

er fo

rce

wa

s o

rde

red

into

the

air fu

lly lo

ad

ed

with

ato

mic

weap

on

s.

As

on

e c

am

e d

ow

n to

lan

d, a

no

the

r iin-

med

iate

ly to

ok its

pla

ce in

the a

ir. A

n h

ou

r befo

re th

e P

resid

en

t's

sp

ee

ch

, Se

cre

tary

Ru

sk

ca

lled

in A

m-

bassad

or D

ob

ryn

in a

nd

told

him

of th

e

sp

eech

. Th

e n

ew

sp

ap

ers

rep

orte

d th

at

Do

hry

nin

left th

e S

ecre

tary

's o

ffice

loo

kin

g c

on

sid

era

bly

sh

aken

. - T

he

Pre

sid

en

t me

t with

the

me

m.

he

rs o

f the

Ca

bin

et a

nd

info

rme

d th

em

fo

r the firs

t time o

f the c

risis

. Th

en

, n

ot lo

ng

be

fore

the

bro

ad

ca

st, h

e m

et

with

the

lea

de

rs o

f Co

ng

res

s. T

his

wa

s

the

mo

st d

ifficu

lt me

etin

g. I d

id n

ot a

t-te

nd

, bu

t I kn

ow

from

se

ein

g h

im a

ft-e

rwa

rd th

at it w

an

a tre

me

nd

ou

s

stra

in.

Ma

ny

co

ng

res

sio

na

l lea

de

rs w

ere

sh

arp

In th

eir c

riticis

m. T

hey fe

lt that

the

Pre

sid

en

t sh

ou

ld ta

ke

mo

re fo

rce

-fu

l ac

tion

, a m

ilitary

atta

ck

or in

va

sio

n,

an

d th

at th

e b

loc

ka

de

wre

n fo

r ton

w

ea

k a

res

po

ns

e. S

en

. Ric

ha

rd E

. R

us

se

ll of G

eo

rgia

sa

id b

e c

ou

ld n

ot

live

with

him

se

lf if he

did

no

t sa

y in

th

e s

tron

gest p

ossib

le te

rms h

ow

im-

po

rtan

t it was th

at w

e a

ct w

ith g

reat-

er s

tren

gth

than

the P

resid

en

t was c

on

-tem

platin

g,

Se

n. J

. Willia

m F

ulb

righ

t of A

rka

n-

sas also stro

ng

ly advised

military actio

n

rath

er th

an

su

ch

a w

ea

k s

tep

as

the

b

lockad

e. O

thers

said

they W

ere

skep

ti. cal b

ut w

ou

ld re

main

pu

blic

ly s

ilen

t o

nly

be

ca

us

e It w

as s

uch

a d

an

gero

us

ho

ur fo

r the

co

un

try.

Th

e P

res

ide

nt, a

fter lis

ten

ing

to th

e

freq

uen

tly e

mo

tion

al c

riticis

m, e

x-

pla

ine

d th

at h

e w

ou

ld ta

ke

wh

ate

ve

r ste

ps w

ere

necessary

to p

rote

ct th

e s

e-

cu

rity o

f the

Un

ited

Sta

tes

bu

t tha

ttie

did

no

t feel g

reate

r on

ilitary

actio

n w

as

wa

rran

ted

initIa

llY. B

eca

use

it wa

s P

os-

sib

le th

at th

e m

atte

r co

uld

be

res

olv

ed

w

itho

ut a

de

va

sta

ting

wa

r, he

ha

d d

e-

tide

d o

n th

e c

ou

rse

he

ha

d o

utlin

ed

, P

erh

ap

s In

the e

nd

, he s

aid

, dire

ct n

ill-tirm

y a

ctio

n w

ou

ld b

e n

ecessary

, bu

t th

at c

ou

rse

sh

ou

ld n

ot h

e .fo

llow

ed

lig

htly

. In th

e m

ea

ntim

e, h

e a

ss

ure

d

them

he b

ed

cate

r, -ree.i,.,,re

s.

waTnhieed

tonehx

tavemsoiro

ninein

Cgiir. day

ineeiih

i:s40:11,

hern

ia.

.-the_..4u

arantin

e wen

t tide

effe

ct, a

nd

th

e re

po

rts d

urin

g th

e e

arly

ho

urs

So

ld

of th

e Ru

ssian sh

ips co

min

g S

teadily o

n

tow

ard

Cu

ba

. / talk

ed

with

the

Pre

si-

de

nt fo

r a -fe

w m

om

en

ts b

efo

re w

e

we

nt in

to o

ur

-reg

ula

r meetin

g. H

e

said

, "It loo

ks re

ally

mean

, do

esn

't it?

Bu

t then

, really

, there

was n

o tith

er

ch

oic

e. If th

ey g

el th

is m

ean

on

this

o

ne in

ou

r part o

ithe w

orld

, wh

at w

ill th

ey

do

on

the

ne

xt?

"

'I just d

on

't thin

k th

ere

was

an

y

ch

oic

e," I s

aid

, "an

d n

ot o

nly

that, If

yo

u h

ad

n't a

cte

d, y

ou

wo

uld

have b

een

im

peach

ed." T

he

Pre

sid

en

t tho

ug

ht fo

r a

mo

me

nt a

nd

sa

id, "

Th

at%

wh

at I

thin

k—

I wo

uld

have b

een

imp

each

ed

."

Th

is W

ed

nesd

ay m

orn

ing

meetin

g,

alo

ng

with

tha

t of th

e fo

llow

ing

Sa

tur-

da

y, O

ct. 2

7, s

ee

me

d th

e m

os

t tryin

g,

the

mo

st d

ifficu

lt an

d th

e m

os

t filled

w

ith te

nsio

n. T

he R

ussia

n s

hip

s w

ere

-p

roc

ee

din

g, th

ey

we

re n

ea

ring

the

500- M

ile b

arrie

r an

d w

e e

ithe

r ho

d to

In-

terc

ep

t the

m o

r an

no

un

ce

we

we

re

with

dra

win

g.

Th

e IT

Es

an

d lo

w-fly

ing

pla

ne

s h

ad

re

turn

ed

the p

revio

us d

ay w

ith th

eir

film, a

nd

thro

ug

h th

e e

ven

ing

it was

an

aly

se

d—

by

no

w in

su

ch

vo

lum

e th

at

the filth

alo

ne w

as m

ore

than

125 m

iles

lon

g a

nd

25 m

iles w

ide. T

he re

su

lts

we

re p

res

en

ted

to u

s a

t the

me

etin

g.

Th

e la

un

ch

ing

pad

s, the

mis

sile

s, th

e

co

nc

rete

bo

xe

s, th

e n

uc

lea

r sto

rag

e

bu

nkers

, all th

e c

om

po

nen

ts w

ere

th

ere

, by

no

w c

lea

rly d

efin

ed

an

d o

b-

vio

us

. co

mp

aris

on

s w

ith th

e p

ictu

res

o

f a fe

w d

ays e

arlie

r mad

e c

lear th

at

the

wo

rk o

n th

os

e s

ites

wa

s p

roc

ee

d-

ing

an

d th

at w

ithin

a fe

w d

ay

s s

ev

era

l o

f the

lau

nc

hin

g p

ad

s w

ou

ld b

e re

ad

y

for w

ar.

It wa

s n

ow

a fe

w m

inu

tes

afte

r I0

o'c

loc

k. S

ec

reta

ry M

cN

am

ara

an

-n

ou

nced

that tw

o R

ussia

n s

hip

s, th

e

Gag

arin

an

d th

e K

om

iles, w

ere

with

in

a fe

w m

ites o

f ou

r qu

ara

ntin

e b

arrie

r. T

he in

terc

ep

tion

of b

oth

sh

ips w

ou

ld

pro

ba

bly

be

be

fore

no

on

Wa

sh

ing

ton

tim

e.

Th

en

cam

e th

e d

istu

rbin

g N

avy re

. p

ort th

at a

Ru

ss

ian

su

bm

arin

e h

ad

m

ov

ed

into

po

sitio

n b

etw

ee

n th

e tw

o

It ha

d o

rigin

ally

be

en

pla

nn

ed

to

have a

cru

iser m

ake th

e firs

t inte

rcep

• tio

n b

ut, b

ec

au

se

of th

e in

cre

as

ed

do

n•

ger, it w

as d

ecid

ed

in th

e p

ast fe

w

ho

urs

to s

en

d in

an

airc

raft c

arrie

r su

pp

orte

d b

y h

elic

op

ters

, carry

ing

an

-tis

ub

ma

rine

eq

uip

me

nt, h

ov

erin

g o

ve

r-h

ead

. Th

e c

arrie

r Essex w

as to

sig

nal

the

su

bm

arin

e b

y s

on

ar to

su

rfac

e a

nd

Front a desk cleared for the broadcast, P

resident Kennedy announces flee decision to "quorentineu C

ube.

Th

e Decision

:

Told

that th

e Russia

ns a

nd

Cu

ba

ns h

ad

pa

rked th

eir pla

nes w

ingtip

to w

ingtip

, m

aking them perfect targets,

President K

ennedy requested a U

.2 flig

ht o

ver Flo

rida.

'It would be interesting if w

e h

ave d

on

e the sa

me th

ing

: he rem

arked

. This T

am

pa

Tim

es photo

of M

acD

ill Air

Force B

ase, Fla., w

as trans-m

itted th

at so

me d

ay—

Oct.

23, 1962.

With

an

tiaircra

ft rockets in

the background, troops string barbed w

ire along the beach at K

ey West, F

la.

'Isn't there some w

ay we can

avo

id h

avin

g o

ur first

ex-

001P R

eim. T

he meeting w

ent on until tea m

inu

tes after 5,

Consiened as a form

al meeting of the

Nadanar

Seeerity

Council, It w

as a larger group of people w

ho met, som

e o

f• wh

om

had

no

t particip

ated in

the

defileeratien

s up to

that tim

e. Hob

Mere

pre

sente

d th

e a

rgum

ents

for e b

lock

ade; o

thers p

resented

the

arguments for the m

ilitary attack. T

he d

iscussio

n, fo

r the m

ost p

art, w

as able and organized, although, like all m

eetings o

f this kind, certain state-m

ents w

ere mad

e or accep

ted tru

sims

which I, at least, thought w

ere of ques-tio

nab

le valid

ity. O

ne m

ember o

f the

Join

t 'Chiefs o

f Staff, fo

r exam

ple,

argued that we could use nuclear w

eap-o

ns, o

n th

e basis th

at ou

r adv

ersaries w

ould

use th

eirs again

st us le an

at-tack

. I thought, as I listen

ed, o

f the

man

y lim

es that I h

ad h

eard th

e mili-

tary tak

e po

sition

s win

ch, if w

ron

g,

bad

the ad

van

tage th

at no

on

e wo

uld

be around at the end to know

,

Th

e P

resid

ent D

ecid

es

ere

=P

RE

SID

EN

T m

ade h

is dece

eion that afternoon in favor of the blockade. T

here was one final m

eeting _th

e teat morn

ing, w

ith G

en. W

aiter C

. Sw

eeney Jr., comm

ander in chief of th

e Tao

tical Air C

om

man

d, w

ile told

th

e Presid

ent th

at even

a majo

r sur-

prise air attack could not be certain of destroying all the m

issile sites and nu-clear w

eapons in Cuba. T

hat ended the sm

all, lingerin

g d

oubt th

at mig

ht still

have remained in his m

ind. It had wor-

ried b

en th

at a blo

ackatle w

ould

not

remove th

e oessiles—

now

it was d

ear th

at en attack

cou

ld o

at siecom

plisb

that task com

pletely, either. A

ellai Stevenson had com

e from N

ew

York

to atten

d th

e meetin

g S

aturd

ay

afterno

on

, as he b

ad atten

ded

several

of the Ex-C

mforn. m

eetings. He had al-

ways been dubious about the air strike,

bu

t at th

e S

atu

rday

meetin

g h

e

strongly

advocated

what h

e had

only

tentatively seggested to m

e a few days

before—nam

ely, that we m

ake it elear to the S

oviet Union that if it w

ithdrew

its missiles fro

m C

uba, w

e would

be

willing to w

ithdraw our m

issiles from

Turk

ey a

nd Ita

ly a

nd g

ive u

p o

ur

naval base at Guantanam

o Bay,

Th

ere was an

extremely stron

g rent`

Sio

n fro

m so

me o

f the p

arti ci pan

ts to

his su

ggestio

n, an

d sev

eral sharp

ex-

chan

ges fo

llow

ed. T

he P

residen

t, el though be rejected S

tevenson's Sugges-

tion, pointed out that be had for a long P

eriod h

eld reserv

ation* ab

out th

e v

alue o

f Jup

iter el:thee:is in

Tu

rkey

end Italy and som

e time ago had asked

the State D

epartment to conduct nego•

liations for their removal; but now

, he 'sak

e was n

ot th

e appro

priate tim

e to

sug

gest th

is action

, and

we co

uld

no

t abandon G

uanta

nam

o B

ay u

nder

threat from the R

ussians. S

teven

son h

as slime been telecised

publicly for the position he took at this m

eeting

. 1 th

ink It sh

ou

ld b

e emp

ha-

sized that he was presenting a point of

view from

a different perspective than th

e oth

ers, on

e wh

ich w

as therefo

re im

po

rtant fo

r the P

residen

t to co

n-

The N

avy d

eplo

yed

lee ship

s into

the C

aribbean. The S

trategic Air C

om-

mand w

as dispersed to civilian landing field

s around th

e country

to lessen

its V

uln

erability

in ease o

f attack T

he

B.52 bom

ber force was ordered into the

air fully

load

ed w

ith ato

mic w

eapons.

As one cam

e down to land, another M

i. m

ediately took its place In the air. A

n h

our b

efo

re th

e P

resid

ent's

speech

, Secretary

Ru

sk called

in Asa.

bassador Dobrynin and told him

of the sp

eech. T

he n

ewsp

apers rep

orted

that

Dobry

nin

left the S

ecretary's o

ffice looking considerably shaken.

The P

residen

t met w

ith th

e mem

-bers of the C

abinet end informed them

fo

r the first tim

e of th

e crisis. Th

en,

no

t lon

g b

efore th

e bro

adcast, h

e met

with the leaders of C

ongress. This w

as the m

ost difficult meeting. I did not at-

tend, b

ut I k

now

from

seeing h

im aft.

cow

ard

that it w

as a

trem

endous

strain.

Man

y co

ngressio

nal lead

ers were

sharp

in th

eir criticism. T

hey

felt that

the P

residen

t shou

ld tak

e more fo

rce-ful action, a m

ilitary attack or invasion, and th

at th

e b

lockade w

as M

r too

weak

e re

spo

nse

. Sen

. Ric

hard

B.

Ru

ssell of G

eorg

ia said h

e cou

ld n

ot

live w

ith h

imself if h

e did

no

t say in

th

e strongest p

ossib

le terms h

aw im

- p

ortan

t it was th

at we act w

ith g

reat. er strength than the P

resident was con-

templating.

Sen

, J. William

Fu

lbrig

ht o

f Ark

in.

ass also strongly advised military action

rathei th

an su

ch a w

eak step

as the

blockade. Others said they w

ere skePti•

cal but w

ould

remain

publicly

silent

on

ly b

ecause it w

as ou

ch a d

ang

erou

s h

our fo

r the co

un

try.

The P

residen

t, after listenin

g to

the

frequ

ently

emo

tion

al criticism, ex

-p

lained

that h

e wo

uld

take w

hatev

er steps w

ere necessary to protect the Se-

curity

of th

e Untied

States b

ut th

at he did not feel greater m

ilitary action was

warranted initially. B

ecause it was P

os-sib

le that th

e matter co

uld

be reso

lved

w

ithout a d

evastatin

g w

ar, lie had

de-

cided

on th

e course h

e had

outlin

ed.

Perh

aps in

the end, he said, direct m

il-eery

action

wo

uld

be n

ecessary, b

ut

that co

urse sh

ould

not lee .f.ello

wed

'tig

htly

. In th

e mean

time, h

e assured

th

em, h

e had

taken

measu

res to p

re-pare

our m

ilitary

forc

es a

nd p

lace

them in a position to m

ove. Ile w

as upset by th

e time th

e meet-

lag M

ided

. Wh

en w

e discu

ssed it later

he w

as more p

hilo

sophical, p

oin

ting

ou

t that th

e con

gressio

nal leaders' re-

actloo to what w

e should do, although m

ore m

ilitant th

an h

is, was m

uch the san

e as our first reaction w

hen

we

first heard

abo

ut th

e missiles th

e pre-

vious Tuesday.

At 1 o'clock, he w

ent on television to th

e Natio

n to

exp

lain th

e situatio

n in

C

ub

a and

the reaso

ns fo

r the q

uaran

-tine. In his speech, he em

phasized that th

e blo

ckad

e was th

e initial step

. He

had

ord

ered th

e Pen

tago

n to

mak

e all th

e prep

arations n

ecessary fo

r furth

er m

ilitary action. S

ecretary M

cNam

ara, in a co

nfid

en.

LI/C

11

, rea

lly, [1

10

.11

C w

11

0 um

er ch

oice. if they get th

is mean

on

this

one in our part o Ithe world, w

hat will

they do on the next?" "I ju

st do

n't th

ink

there

was a

ny

ch

oice," I said

, "and n

ot o

nly

that, if

you hadn't acted, you would have been

impeached." T

he President thought for

a mom

ent an

d said

. "That's w

hat I

think—I w

ould have been impeached."

Th

is Wed

nesd

ay m

orn

ing

meetin

g,

along with that of the follow

ing Satur-

day

, Oct 2

'/, seemed

the m

ost try

ing,

the m

ost d

ifficult an

d th

e most filled

w

ith ten

sion. T

he R

ussian

ship

s were

proceeding, they were nearing the 500-

mile b

arrier and w

e either h

ad to

in-

tercept th

em o

r ann

ou

nce w

e were

withdraw

ing. T

he L

ies and

low

-flyin

g p

lanes h

ad

return

ed th

e prev

ious d

ay w

ith th

eir film

, and

thro

ug

h th

e even

ing

it was

analyaed—by now

in such volume that

the film alone w

as more than 125 m

iles lo

ng an

d 2

5 m

iles wid

e. The resu

lts w

ere presented to us at the meeting.

The launching pads, the m

issiles, the co

ncrete b

ox

es, the n

uclear sto

rage

bu

nk

ers, a

ll the c

om

po

nen

ts were

th

ere, by

no

w clearly

defin

ed an

d o

b-

vio

ue. C

om

pariso

ns w

ith th

e pictu

res o

f a few d

ays earlier m

ade clear th

at th

e wo

rk o

n th

ose sites w

as pro

ceed-

ing

and

that w

ithin

a Sew days several

of th

e laun

chin

g p

ads w

ou

ld b

e ready

for w

ar. It w

an

now

a few m

inutes after le

o'c

lock. S

ecre

tary

McN

am

ara

an.

flounced

that tw

o R

uasien

ships, the

Gagarin and the leam

iies, were w

ithin a few

miles o

f ou

r qu

arantin

e barrier.

The in

terceptio

n o

f both

ship

s would

pro

bab

ly b

e befo

re noon W

ashin

gto

n

time.

Th

en cam

e the d

isturb

ing

Nav

y re-

Peet th

at a Ru

ssian su

bm

arine h

ad

mo

ved

into

po

sition

betw

een th

e two

ships.

It had

orig

inally

been

plan

ned

to

hav

e a cruiser m

ake th

e first intercep

-tion but, because of the increased dan-ger, it w

as decid

ed in

the p

ast few

ho

urs to

send

in an

aircraft carrier supported by helicopters, carrying an-tisubm

arine equipment, hovering over-

head

Th

e carrier Essex

was to

sign

al the subm

arine by sonar to surface and Identify itself. If it refused, said S

ecre-tory M

cNam

ara, depth charges with a

small ex

plo

sive w

ou

ld b

e used

un

til the subm

arine surfaced.

Some P

ersonal Thoughts

TifiN

le geese few m

inutes were th

e tim

e o

f gra

vest c

oncern

for th

e

President. W

as the world on the brink

of a h

olo

caust,

Was It o

ur erro

r? A

mistake? W

as there something further

that sh

ould

hav

e been

done? O

r not

done? H

is han

d w

ent u

p to

his face an

d

cov

ered h

is mo

uth

. He o

pen

ed an

d

closed his fist. klimface seem

ed drawn,

his e

yes p

ain

ed

, niM

ost g

ray

. We

stared at each

oth

er across th

e table.

For a few

Heetin

g seco

nds, it w

as al-m

ost as th

ou

gh

no

on

e else was th

ere

• S

teven

son h

as since b

een criticized

publicly for the position he took at this m

eeting

, I thin

k it sh

ou

ld b

e emp

ha-

sized that he was presenting a point of

view from

a different perspective than th

e oth

ers, on

e wh

ich w

as therefo

re im

po

rtant fo

r the P

residen

t to co

n-

sider. A

ltho

ug

h I d

isagreed

stron

gly

w

ith h

is recom

men

datio

ns, I th

ou

gh

t he w

as courageous to make them

and I m

ight add they made as m

uch sense as som

e others considered during that pe-riod of tim

e, T

he P

residen

t's speech

was n

ow

scheduled for M

onday evening. Under

the d

irection o

f Geo

rge B

all, Alex

Jo

hn

son

and

Ed

Martin

, a detailed

hour-to-hour P

rogram w

as arranged, to in

form

ou

r allies, prep

are for a m

eet-in

g o

f the O

AS

, info

rm v

ie amb

assa-d

ors statio

ned

in W

ashin

gto

n an

d p

re-pare fo

r them

and

ethers, in

written

form

, the legal Justifir.allon on which

our action was predicated.

More and m

ore Governm

ent officials w

ere brought into the discussions, and fin

ally w

ord

beg

an to

seep th

rough to

th

e press th

at a seriou

s crisis was im

-m

inen

t Th

rou

gh th

e perso

nal in

ter-ven

tion o

f the P

residen

t with

several

new

spap

ers, the O

nly

stories w

ritten

Monday

morn

ing w

ere 'reports th

at a m

ajor sp

eech w

as to b

e giv

en b

y th

e P

residen

t and

that th

e cou

ntry

faced a

serious crisis.

Su

pp

ort F

rom

Allie

s rim

E D

IPL

OM

AT

IC E

FF

OR

T w

as I

of g

reat sign

ificance. W

e were

able to

establish

a firm leg

al too n

cla. lio

n fo

r our actio

n u

nder th

e OA

S

Ch

arter, and

ou

r po

sition

arou

nd

the

wo

rld w

as greatly

streng

then

ed w

hen

th

e Org

anizatio

n o

f Am

erican S

tates

, theRhnou-slY

supported the recomm

en-datio

n fo

r a quaran

tine. T

hus th

e So-

viet U

nio

n an

d C

uba faced

the u

nited

actio

n o

f the w

hole W

estern H

emi-

sph

ere. F

urther, with the m

inima of detailed

photo

grap

hs, D

ean A

cheso

n—

who

oblig

ed th

e Presid

ent b

y o

nce ag

ain

bein

g w

illing

to h

elp

—w

as a

ble

quick

ly to

convin

ce Prim

e Min

ister H

arold Macm

illan of Great B

ritain and F

rench President C

harles de Gaulle of

the correctness of our response. G

en.-d

e Gau

lle said, "It is ex

actly

what I w

ould

hav

e done," ad

din

g th

at it w

as no

t necessary

to see th

e ph

oto

-graphs as "a great governm

ent such as yours d

oes n

ot act w

ithout ev

iden

ce." C

hancellor Konrad. A

denatier of West

Germ

any

vo

iced h

is sup

po

rt, as well,

and

the S

ov

iet Un

ion

was p

reven

ted

from

sep

ara

ting

the U

ntie

d S

tale

s from

Europe. (John D

iefenbaker. Prim

e M

iniste

r of C

an

ad

a, w

as th

e o

nly

N

AT

O lead

er wh

o v

oiced

skep

ticism

and disbelief.) D

urin

g th

is same p

eriod

, military

the N

ation

to ex

plain

the situ

ation

in

Cuba an

d th

e reasons fo

r the q

uaran

-tine. In

his sp

eech, he ein

ph

asized that

the blockade w

as the in

itial step. H

e h

ad o

rdered

the P

entag

on

to m

ake all

the p

reparatio

ns n

ecessary fo

r furth

er m

ilitary action. S

ecretary M

cNam

ara, in a co

nfid

en-

tial re

po

rt, had

listed

the re

qu

ire-

meats: 2

50,0

00 m

en, 2

000 air so

rties ag

ainst th

e Vario

us targ

ets In C

uba

and 90,000 Marines and A

irborne in the invasion force. O

ne estimate of A

meri-

can casu

alties pu

t the ex

pected

figu

re over 25,000,

A T

em

pora

rily L

ight M

ood.

triii3. N

EX

T D

AY

, Tuesd

ay, o

ur

_1_ group met w

ith the President at 10

in th

e mo

rnin

g. T

here w

as ra certain

spirit o

f ligh

tness—

no

t gaie

ty c

er-

tainly

, but a feelin

g o

f relaxatio

n, p

er-hap

s. We h

ad tak

en th

e igrst step

, it w

asn't so b

ad an

d w

e were still aliv

e. Jo

hn M

eCone rep

orted

to o

ur co

in-

mitten

that as y

et there h

ad b

een n

o

gen

eral alert of th

e Soviet fo

rces in

Cuba or arennd the globe. In C

uba, the R

ussian

s were b

egin

nin

g to

camou-

flage th

e missile sites.. It

wa

s never

clear why th

ey w

aited u

ntil th

at late date to do so.

Th

e Presid

ent o

rdered

prep

aration

s to

pro

ceed fo

r a possib

le blo

ckad

e of

Berlin

. We also

discu

ssed in

detail

wh

at wo

uld

be d

on

e if a II-2 p

lane

were to

be sh

ot d

ow

n, ag

reeing

that—

after obtain

ing sp

ecific perm

ission

from the P

resident--bomber and fighter

plan

es would

destro

y a su

rface-to.air-

missile site. S

ecretary M

cNam

ara said

that su

ch an

attack co

uld

take g

lace w

ithin

two h

ou

rs after no

tification o

f the firing on one of our planes.

By

this tim

e, the relax

ed, lig

hter

mood

had

com

pletely

disap

peared

. It had taken only a few

minutes.

At th

e end o

f the m

eeting, th

e Presi-

den

t poin

ted o

ut th

at an attack

on o

ne

of th

eir. Installatio

ns m

igh

t very

well

brin

g an

attack ag

ainst o

ur airfield

s. H

e asked

for a rep

ort fro

m th

e mili-

tary as to

wh

ether o

ur o

wn

plan

es had

been

disp

ersed. W

hen

It was rep

orted

to

him

that o

ur p

hoto

grap

hy sh

ow

ed

that th

e R

ussia

ns a

nd C

ub

an

s had

in

ex

plic

ab

ly lin

ed

up

their p

lan

es

win

gtip

to w

ingtip

on C

uban

airfields,

mak

ing

them

perfect targ

ets, he- re-

quested Gen. T

aylor to have a fly

a photographic m

ission over our fields in F

lorid

a. "It would

he In

teresting If w

e h

av

e d

on

e th

e sa

me th

ing

," he re

. m

arked. We had. H

e examined the pie.

tures th

e nex

t day

and

ord

ered th

e Air

Force to disperse our-planes.

Rule

s of Q

uara

ntin

e

•

NI(If

CA

ME

BA

CK

about 0 O'clock

hat ev

enin

g. T

he O

AS

had

an.

Bounced its support, and the P

resident pre

pare

d th

e p

rocla

matio

n w

hic

h

'would put the quarantine into effect at

10 o'clock the next morning.

Din

ing th

e couree o

f this m

eeting,

we learned that an extraordinary M

EW

her o

f coded

messag

es had

been

sent

to all the Russian ships on their w

ay to C

uba. What they said w

e did not know

then, nor do ,we know

now, but it w

as clear th

at the sh

ips as o

f that m

om

ent

were still straig

ht o

n co

urse.

Th

e Presid

ent co

mp

osed

a letter to

IChrushehev asking him

to observe the q

uaran

tine leg

ally estab

lished

by

a vole ,o

f the O

AS

, mak

ing it clear th

at th

e Un

ited S

tates did

no

t wish

to fire

on an

y sh

ips o

f the S

oviet U

nio

n an

d

addin

g at th

e end: "I am

concern

ed

that w

e both

show

pru

den

ce and d

o

no

thin

g to

allow

even

ts to m

ake th

e situation m

ore difficult to control than It M

." W

e then discussed in detail the rules th

at were to

be g

iven

to th

e NaO

' for

intercep

ting

a merch

ant vessel

in th

e quarantine zone. T

o avoid a major m

il. itary

confro

ntatio

n If a v

essel refused

to

stop

, the N

avy

was to

sho

ot at its

rudd

ers and p

ropellers, d

isablin

g th

e vessel but hopefully avoiding any has of life or the sinking of the ship.

The P

residen

t then

expressed

con-

cern ab

out th

e board

ing o

f these v

es-sels if th

e Russian

s decid

ed to

resist. W

e could

anticip

ate a rough, fierce

fight and many casualties, lie said. S

ec-retary M

cNam

ara felt the vessel might

not have to

be b

oard

ed b

ut w

ou

ld,

with

in a reaso

nab

ly sh

ort p

eriod o

f tim

e, hav

e to b

e tow

ed in

to Jack

son

-ville or C

harleston. "W

hat would you do then," the P

res-id

ent said

, If we go through all of this

effort, an

d th

en fin

d o

ut th

ere's bab

y

food on it?"

"Th

e G

an

a o

f Au

gu

st'

OOU

RP

RO

BL

EM

S for diet day w

ere h

ardly

over. Jo

hn M

eCone re-

po

rted th

at Ru

ssian su

bm

arines w

ere beginning to m

ove into the Caribbean,

One had refueled the day before In the

Azo

res and w

as head

ed n

ow

tow

ard

Cuba. T

he President ordered the N

avy to give the highest priority to tracking th

e subm

arines an

d to

put in

to effect

the g

reatest possib

le safety m

easures

to p

rotect o

ur o

wn aircraft carriers

and other vessels. A

fter the m

eeting, th

e Freak

:lent.

Ted S

orensen, Kenny O

'Donnell and I

sal in his office and talked. "The great

dan

ger an

d risk

in all of this," he said

.4 a m

iscalculatio

n—

a mistak

e in

judgm

ent." A

short tim

e befo

re, he

hod read

Barb

ara Tuck

man

's book

'Th

e Gu

ns o

f Au

gu

st," and

he talk

ed

about th

e miscalcu

lations o

f the G

er-m

ans, the Russians, the A

ustrians, the F

rench and the British. T

hey somehow

seem

ed to

tunab

le into

war, h

e bald

, th

rough stu

pid

ity, in

div

idual id

iosy

n-

crasies, misu

nd

erstand

ing

s and

per-

son

al com

plex

es of in

feriority

and

grandeur.

Neither side w

anted war over C

uba, w

e agreed, but it was possible that el•

they

side co

uld

take a step

that—

for

reasons o

f "security

" or "p

ride" o

r "lace"—

wo

uld

requ

ire a respo

nse b

y

the o

ther sid

e, wh

ich. in

torn

, for th

e tim

e reasons of security, pride or face, w

ould bring about a counter.response and

even

tually

an escalatio

n In

to

armed

conflict- T

hat w

as what h

e w

anted to avoid. H

e did not want anyone to be able to

write, at a later d

ate, a book o

n "T

he -

Missiles o

f Octo

ber" an

d say

that th

e O

S- h

ad n

ot d

one all it co

uld

to g

re• serve the peace. W

e were not going to

misjudge, or m

iscalculate, or challenge th

e Oth

er side n

eedlessly

or P

reciln, ted

dy

pu

sh o

ur ad

versaries in

to

It course of action that w

as not intended or anticipated.

Afte

rward

, the P

resid

ent a

nd I

talked for a little while alone. H

e sug-gested I m

ight visit Am

bassador Doh-

- Win

and personally relate to him the

serious im

plicatio

ns o

f the

Russians'

duplicity

and th

e crisis they

had

ere,

Bled through the presence of their m

is-siles w

ithin Cuba. .

I called D

oliry

nin

. and

mad

e ar-ran

gem

ents to

see him

at 0:3

0 th

at sam

e Tuesday night. l F

iler with hirn in

hit off ice.on the third floor of the Rus-

sian E

mb

aisy. I- rev

iewed

with

him

th

e c

ircum

stances o

f the p

ast six

w

eeks w

hich had • brought -abo

ut th

is co

nfro

ntatiO

n. I p

oin

ted o

ut to

him

th

at, w

hen

I had

met w

ith h

im in

early

Sep

temb

er, he h

ad to

ld m

e that

the R

ussian

s had

no

t placed

any

lon

g-

rang

e missiles in

Cu

ba an

d h

ad n

o in

. ten

tions.of doing so in the future.

Dobry

nin

's answ

er was th

at he to

ld

me th

ere w

ere no m

issiles in C

uba,

that th

is was w

hat K

hru

slichev

had

said and, as far as he knew

, the re were

still no missiles in C

uba. He then asked

me w

hy P

residen

t Ren

net-1

y h

ad n

ot

told

Gro

myko th

e facts when

he h

ad

seen him the previous T

hursday, I rep

lied b

y saying th

ere was n

oth

-in

g th

e Presid

ent co

uld

tell Gro

myko

that G

rom

yko d

idn't alread

y k

now

—and, after all, w

hy didn't Groniyko tell

the P

residen

t? In

fact, Use P

resident w

as sho

cked

. that G

rom

yk

e's state-m

ents ev

en at th

at late date w

ere so

mislead

ing

. Do

bry

nin

was ex

tremely

concerned. A

s I left, t asked him if the

Soviet ships w

ere going to go through to

Cuba. H

e replied

that th

at had

been

th

eir instru

ction

s and

he k

new

of n

o

changes. I left th

e Ru

ssian E

mb

assy aro

un

d

10:15 p.m. and w

est back to the White

Ho

use. I fo

un

d th

e Presid

ent m

eeting

A

mb

assado

r Dav

id O

rmsb

y-G

ore o

f G

reat Britain

, an o

ld frien

d w

hom

he

trusted

noonday

. I related th

e ninver• setio

n to

bo

th o

f them

. Th

e Presid

ent

talked

about th

e possib

ility o

f arrang-

ing an imm

ediate summ

it with K

hrush-eh

ev b

ut fin

ally d

ismtssed

the id

ea, concluding that such a m

eeting would

he u

seless until K

hru

shch

ev first ac-

cepted, or a result of our deeds as well

as our statements, the U

.S. determ

ine.• L

ion

in th

is matter. B

efore a su

mm

it took place, and it should, the P

resident

done? H

is han

d w

ent u

p to

his fare and

covered

his m

outh

. He o

pen

ed an

d

closed lilt fist. H

is face seemed draw

n, h

is ey

es p

ain

ed

, alm

ost g

ray

. We

stared at each

oth

er across th

e table.

For a few

fleeting seco

nds, it w

as al. m

ost as th

ough n

o o

ne else w

as there

and he was no longer the P

resident. In

explicab

ly, I th

ought o

f when

he

was ill an

d alm

ost d

ied; w

hen

he lo

st h

is child

; wh

en w

e learned

that o

ur

old

est bro

ther h

ad b

een k

illed; o

f per-

son

al times o

f strain an

d h

urt. T

he

voices d

roned

on, b

ut I d

idn't seem

to

hear an

yth

ing

un

til I heard

the P

resi-dent say: "Isn't there som

e way w

e can avoid having our first exchange w

ith a R

ussian

subm

arine—

almost an

yth

ing

bu

t that?"

"No

, there's to

o m

uch

dan

ger to

ou

r sh

ips. T

here is n

o altern

ative," said

M

cNam

ara. 'Our co

mm

anders h

ave

been

instru

cted to

avoid

hostilities if

al all po

ssible, b

ut th

is Is wh

at we

must b

e prep

ared fo

r and th

is is what

we m

ust expect." •

We had com

e to the time of final de-

cision. "We m

ust expect that they will

close d

ow

n B

erlin—

mak

e the fin

al p

reparatio

ns fo

r that.," th

e Presid

ent

said. I felt w

e were o

n ih

e edg

e of a

precipice with no w

ay off. O

ne th

ou

sand

miles

away,

in th

e

vast expanse of the Atlantic O

cean, the final decisions w

ere going to he made

In th

e nex

t few m

inu

tes. Presid

ent

Ken

ned

y h

ad in

itiated th

e cou

rse of

even

ts, ho

t he n

o lo

ng

er had

con

trol

over them. H

e would have to w

ait—w

e w

ould have to wait.

`Dead

ill the W

ate

r' H

EN

IT W

AS

10:25—s m

essenger T

brought in a note to Jahn McC

une. "M

r. President, w

e have a preliminary

repo

rt wh

ich seem

s to In

dicate th

at so

me o

f the R

ussia

n sh

ips h

av

e

stopped

dead

in th

e water." A

short

time later, th

e report can

to th

at the 2

0

Ru

ssian sh

ips clo

sest to th

e barrier

had

stop

ped

an

d w

ere

dead

in th

e

water or had turned around. "S

o no ships will be stopped or inter.

netted

!' said th

e Presid

ent. I said

we

should make sure the N

avy knew noth.

ing was to he done, that no ships w

ere to be Interfered w

ith. Orders w

ould go out to the N

avy imm

ediately. "If th

e sh

ips h

av

e a

rden

t to tu

rn

around, w

e wan

t to g

ive th

em ev

ery

opportu

nity

to d

o so

. Get in

direct

touch

with

the E

ssex an

d tell th

em

not to

its an th

ing, b

ut g

ive th

e Rus-

sian v

essels on

op

po

rtun

ity to

turn

back. W

e must m

ove quickly because th

e limo Is expiring," said

the P

resi-dent.

tP, use. Mayan

CO

TO

-

MO

ND

AY

I• Russia intensifies luta-

site buildup in Cabe is defiance

of quarantine.

'Isn't th

ere

som

e w

ay w

e ca

n

avoid

havin

g o

ar firs

t ex-

ch

an

ge

with

to R

ussia

n s

ub

-m

arine—alm

ost anything but th

at?

' the

Pre

sid

en

t aske

d.

Here

, a U

.S. h

elic

op

ter h

av-

ers over a

So

viet sub

in th

e

Caribbean during th

e b

lock-

tide_