Was JFK truly the hero of the Cuban missle crisis? For thirteen days the world was held in suspense while two super powers were on the brink of war with casuallities possible of over a hundred million.. When two countries as in the US and Russia meet head to head a compromise has to be made that does not make either country look like they have backed down. In the case of the Cuban Missile Crisis one wrong move by either side would have sparked a war. In the end the conflict was worked out, but it was closer then anybody would have liked it. Was JFK the true hero of the war? The United States would like to think so, but the facts that will be provided will tilt in the favor of the ...view middle of the document...
Also if there was an attack on Cuba the commanders had the go head to fire at will. The right appoarch would have been to consult the Soviet Union in a private meeting and try to come to a conclusion. Instead JFK makes a television report on October 22,1962 stating that the US will enforce a strict quarantine on military shipments to Cuba, a military call up, and a demand that the Soviet Union withdraw its weapons from Cuba. This broadcast now has involved the whole world versus the altomative of trying to keep the situation under lock. By involving the public it makes the situation intensify and puts each leader under extreme pressure to act. Khrushchev responded not by using the media, but through a letter demonstrating the position that he has just been put in, and states that is why he cannot obey by these demands. The letter was brilliant because the demands from the United States were rejected, but it made JFK himself look bad because he turns the situation around. Khrushchev rational thinking stopped war at the moment, but the situation was still not resolved. The quarantine by the US still...
