The Cuban Missile Crisis - Research Paper Example

As a result of a presidential proclamation dated February 3, 1962 the following was made clear, “the United States, in accordance with its international obligations, is prepared to take all necessary actions to promote national and hemispheric security by isolating the present Government of Cuba and thereby reducing the threat posed by its alignment with the communist powers” (Kennedy). In May 1962 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under the premier Nikita Khrushchev decided to implement a plan to base nuclear missiles in Cuba.

According to John Correll a writer with Airforce-Magazine.com, “He was reacting, superficially at least, to the Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles the United States had recently installed in Turkey. More important, though, Khrushchev wanted to compensate for Russia’s strategic disadvantage in long-range missiles.” (Correll) There was also the nuclear arms race between the USSR and the United States, which was a direct result of the Cold War. The Cold War was named this because it was a period of heightened tensions between the USSR and the USA beginning after World War II however, there was not actually a full war in effect.

The nuclear arms race was the result of both superpowers involved in the Cold War’s direct desires to create a better military machine. According to the Flow of History teaching website, “However, in the late 1950s the arms race combined with continuing Cold War rhetoric made the American public even more afraid of growing Soviet military power than nuclear holocaust” (FC144 the Nuclear Arms Race). This desire of military supremacy through the use of nuclear arms had obvious negative consequences.

The USSR wanted to use Cuba as we had used other small nations in proximity to the USSR to stage weapons specifically designed to prevent conflict through their existence. The United States had an important self-realized role, according to author Jutta Weldes, “The United States, with its identity as the leader of the free world, had an obligation to itself, to its allies, and to its moral convictions-to act to forestall the toppling of that domino” (Weldes 15-15). Understanding the leaders involved is important to understanding the crisis itself.

In the United States the important decision makers regarding the Cuba Missile Crisis were, President John F. Kennedy, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other high ranking political leaders. On the USSR’s side the key decision makers were Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and their staff. In the United States President Kennedy was extremely agitated once it was found out that the Soviets were attempting to build missile launchers in Cuba.

According to author Ernest r. May et.al, “For Kennedy, the presence of these missiles was intolerable. During the next 13 days (the Crisis lasted for 13 days) Kennedy and a circle of advisers debated how to cope with the challenge, knowing that one possible outcome was nuclear war” (May, Zelikow 11). The obvious desire of the United States government, namely the president, he was to see this stopped completely. However, more importantly the president did show organizational skills even in the face of what was at that time arguably the most important potentially life