The History of Cuban Missile Crisis - Essay Example

As Robert Kennedy and Arthur Jr. Schlesinger portray in their book In Thirteen Days, they applaud John F. Kennedy for how he handled the crisis. Kennedy’s team of Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm) congregated and deliberated on different ways to deal with the crisis.

As Robert puts it, they considered several options. The first one was invading Cuba, option two was ordering air strikes to take out the missile areas, and the other option was imposing a blockade around Cuba. This was aimed at keeping out the undelivered missiles. The fourth option they considered was presenting a private ultimatum to Nikita Khrushchev and if the missiles were not removed, then military action was to be taken. The fifth and last option was to present some offer of trade for the missiles in Cuba and those in Turkey.

The fifth option was fronted and therefore at the heart of the crisis Kennedy’s administration agreed to withdraw or remove the US missiles from the republic of Turkey and in exchange, the Soviet Union was to also remove their nuclear forces from Cuba. The US central concession handled the matter in secret, unlike the Soviets who came out in public. The US thought that the idea of withdrawing from the republic of Turkey would have seen the administration that was in place as weak. Nonetheless, this was only bait or a “sweetener” which lead to a smoother ending of the withdrawal of missiles from Cuba.

The historians also postulate that Kennedy was very smart in handling this issue as he engaged himself in two different sets of negotiations. One of the negotiations was with Moscow while the other was with his inner circle or the most revered as the ad has a high-ranking team of advisers. This high-ranking team was the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm). Kennedy too made sure that only a few of his most trusted advisers were in connection with the missile proceedings.

US President Kennedy was focused and he even authorized Dean Rusk his Secretary of State to announce the idea of a missile swap during the United Nations meeting. This announcement was begging on the condition that the Soviets would reject a secret agreement. Kennedy’s administration employed diplomacy and deal-making in handling the crisis matter other than using the military or employing force. The deals were made on state-to-state agreements. They did involve fewer and fewer intermediaries. Ending the crisis too involved loosening of stands on both ends.

Kennedy’s administration also resolved not to use threats before or during the negotiation process. The crisis was amicably resolved without bloodshed or destruction of property in all the involved states.