ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Use the chart on the back of this sheet to complete the following. (10 pts) During
the film:
A. Take notes on the key events in the
escalation of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
B. Take notes on the interaction between the
President and the military chiefs.
C. Take notes on the influence of the
non-military advisors on the President.
2. At the end of the film, choose one of the
following two options: (25 pts)
Write an organized
editorial, one-half page in length, which either criticizes or
praises the President’s actions. Your
editorial should include your opinion on the US’s
response to the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba,
the President’s actions as they relate to the role of Commander-in-Chief, the
President’s consideration of the recommendations from civilian and military
advisors and your overall opinion on what the US should have done.
The
suggested length is based on regular-sized handwriting on college-ruled
paper. If you have wide-ruled paper
and/or large handwriting, I expect the assignment to be longer in length. You may, of course, exceed these minimum
requirements, particularly with regard to the editorial.
Important People
Admiral George Anderson – chief
of naval operations
Fidel Castro – Communist
dictator of Cuba
from 1959-2008
John F. Kennedy – President
of the US
from 1960-1963
Robert F. Kennedy – Attorney
General and advisor to the President
Nikita Khrushchev – leader of
the USSR
from 1953-1964
General Curtis LeMay – Air
Force chief of staff
Robert McNamara – Secretary
of Defense
Kenny O’Donnell – Special
Assistant to the President
Dean Rusk – Secretary of
State
Ted Sorenson – Special
Counsel (lawyer) to the President
Pierre Salinger – Press
Secretary for the President, helped White House deal with the media
Adlai Stevenson – US
Ambassador to the United Nations, had been in politics many years prior
Important Facts, Terms, and Events
October 1962 – the month when
the crisis happened
100 miles – the approximate
distance from Cuba to Florida
Appeasement – failed WWII
policy used to try to avoid war by giving in to the demands of an aggressor
Bay of Pigs Invasion – failed attempt to overthrow Castro, conducted by
Cuban exiles and supported by the United States
Berlin – after WWII, control of Germany
was divided among the US, France, Britain
(West Germany) and the USSR (East Germany). The capital city of Berlin
was also divided among these nations;
however, Berlin was located entirely
within the borders of East
Germany.
Thus, West Berlin was the location of
several Cold War conflicts, including the Berlin Blockade and subsequent
Airlift and, later, the building of the Berlin Wall.
Def Con – Defense Condition;
there are five levels: 5 is peacetime readiness and 1 is maximum readiness.
Ex-Comm – JFK’s executive
committee, it consisted of numerous advisors
Joint Chiefs of Staff – a
military advisory group with a chairman, a vice chairman, the chief of staff of
the Army, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force,
and the commandant of the Marine Corps.
The chairman of the Chiefs is the principal military adviser to the
president, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council.
MRBMs – medium range
ballistic missiles; designed for nuclear weapons delivery 1,200 miles away
Munich Conference
– meeting held before WWII when European leaders allowed Hitler to take the
Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia
Turkey – location of US military bases where “Jupiter”
class intermediate-range ballistic missiles had been kept since the 1950s
