Cuban Missile Crisis

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.

For Help with this assignment, reference this website: http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war16.htm

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