The Cuban Missile Crisis

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy's handling of this confrontation with the Soviet Union. First, the paper briefly examines the global events and Cold War conditions that precipitated the missile crisis. The paper then discusses the tensions between Moscow and Washington and why they had increased throughout the decade of the 1950s after the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb, then its first hydrogen bomb and brutally invaded Hungary in 1956.

From the Paper:

"In conclusion, President John F. Kennedy's ability to balance issues of national interest against the imminent threat of global nuclear war was the most important aspect of his leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis in late October of 1962. Ironically, it was disagreement among Kennedy's advisors that ultimately produced a tough but measured response that compelled Khrushchev to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba and thus avoid an American invasion and likely escalation into nuclear war.
"By the narrowest of margins, World War III had been avoided. Despite the ill-considered decision of Premier Khrushchev to antagonize the United States by deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba certain to be discovered, and President Kennedy's ill-considered decision to authorize the Bay of Pigs invasion the preceding year, which antagonized Khrushchev into deploying those nuclear missiles to Cuba, both leaders managed to restrain their hawkish advisors and generals, and found a way to resolve the crisis through back-channel diplomacy and covert compromise."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Beschloss, Michael. (1991). Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960-1963. New York: HarperCollins.
• Crotty, William. (2003). "Presidential Policymaking in Crisis Situations: 9/11 and It's Aftermath." The Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 31, No. 3.
• Nathan, James A. (2007). "Kennedy and Cuba: Then and Now." Diplomatic History. New York: Blackwell Publishing.
• Pious, Richard M. (November 1, 2001). "The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Limits of Crisis Management." Political Science Quarterly, Volume 11.
• _ _ _. (2002). "Why Do Presidents Fail?" Presidential Studies Quarterly 32.4., Questia. Online. Available: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d =5000657400. 20 June 2007.

More papers on The Cuban Missile Crisis:

• Analytical Essay # 3911 : "Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis"
• Term Paper # 131747 : "American Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis"
• Analytical Essay # 74125 : "President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis"
• Analytical Essay # 134074 : "The Cuban Missile Crisis: An Analysis"

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