...The Film: The film Thirteen days is about the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, a 13 day occasion in which there were conflicts between the Soviet Union and the U.S.A. on the issue of nuclear warfare. The film is shown in the perspective of Kenneth O’Donnell, a political consultant for President Kennedy. The film starts off with John F. Kennedy Receiving information that the Soviet Union was depositing nuclear weapons in Cuba to which John F. Kennedy tries to set up a plan to prevent this. John F. Kennedy was reluctant to invade Cuba in fears that the Soviet Union would invade Berlin to counter U.S. acts of aggression. This could potentially lead to another world war which the John F. Kennedy does not want. The U.S. instead announces that they...
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...Politics 101 006 October 8, 2015 Cuban Missile Crisis Analysis Due to the Cold War, in October 1962, tensions were high between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962. This was by far the most significant event to happen in the Cold War. The Soviets had been using Cuba as a place to set their missiles from which they would be able to launch a nuclear attack at any time on almost anywhere in the Southeastern parts of the United States, this including places like Washington D.C., New York City, New Orleans, and other major cities in the United States. Photographers were able to capture pictures of these missiles with high-altitude U-2 spy planes giving evidence that the missiles were 90 miles off the American costal line. Although it seems as if the Cuban Missile Crisis happened at a blinding pace, this crisis actually was a culmination of a much longer process. In this essay I will be focusing on the events that led up to the terrifying 14 day event of the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as looking at the crisis from an individual level of analysis and from a realist point of view. In order to fully understand the Cuban Missile Crisis, we must first take a look at all of the events that had lead up to the crisis. Among many of the factors leading up to the nuclear standoff between the countries, one of the factors, of course, was the genuine concern of defense of each leader, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro...
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...The cuban missile crisis is one of the most iconic event in American history, as well as one of the most frightening, as the horrible threat of war loomed over the American people. Under the leadership of young American president John F. Kennedy, the United States made numerous decisions to the intricate problems, that were brought on by the deadly and strategistic threats of Cuban primer Fidel Castro and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. The sudden threat of missiles combined with the rising panic of not only the American people, but those in governmental positions as well, made president John F. Kennedy’s strategies, actions, and decisions regarding the crises a favorite example to study amongst scholars. Nikita Khrushchev believes in...
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...The Cuban Missile Crisis Fear is defined as an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger(Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, n.d.). Imagine waking up everyday in fear. Not knowing whether today would be the last day walking the earth. This is the fear that Americans lived in for thirteen straight days. The Cuban missile crisis consisted of an intense military standoff between the United states and the Soviet Union. The Cuban missile came to light during the Cold war era. Throughout world war II the Soviet Union and the U.S. fought as allies, battling the axis powers. Although they were allies America was worried about Stalin and Russian communism. (citation) This helped to start the cold war. The...
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...The United States made the right decision in intervening during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Missiles brought to Cuba were against the Monroe Doctrine, and the USA had to act on it. The Monroe Doctrine warns all nations to not interfere in American affairs. The Nuclear Missiles that were brought to Cuba were an extreme threat to the United States, therefore, establishing a naval quarantine around Cuba and intervening had to be done for the welfare of the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a conflict between the United States and Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear missile bases that were found and being built in Cuba. The conflict only lasted 13 days in the October of 1962. In the short amount of time that the Cuban Missile Crisis transpired,...
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...The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Soviet Policy Failure and United States Success AP US History 03/13/13 Few events in modern history have ever come close to changing the course of the world as much as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis which almost changed the Cold War into a truly hot and nuclear massacre, was resolved miraculously to those living through it. A pivotal turning point in the cold war, the Crisis led to increased calls for peaceful existence, and a change from confrontational to indirect policy. Along with these changes the Cuban Missile Crisis was the utter failure of Soviet Cold War policy, and the success of the United States, as evidenced by the Politburo's disorganization, the defeat of Soviet Policies on the floors of the United Nations, and the successful emergence of the United States from the crisis. The Cold War was the period between the end of World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union, during which the West characterized by the United States and the "West", and the "Soviet Union" along with other communist countries, competed for control of the world. These conflicting ideologies caused continuous confrontations, leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. There were three notable events setting the stage for the crisis. The first was the U.S.S.R. shooting down U-2 spy plane pilot, Gary Powers, flying a spy mission into the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960 (York). The handling of the affair by the Eisenhower administration was...
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...The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought the world closer than it had ever been to nuclear war. This makes the crisis one of the most essential events in international affairs history, demonstrating a great example of the realist perspectives and other important aspects of international relations. Primarily, the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis can be readily attributed to the realist perspective. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy launched the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba, which was a thwarted attempt by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with assistance from United States armed forces, to oust the corrupt government of Fidel Castro. This failed operation had sent the US back into a defensive position. In former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s remarks to Kennedy he stated, “The failure of the Bay of Pigs will embolden the Soviets to do something that they would otherwise not do (Absher, 10).” However, not only was the US more alert; so was Cuba. Cuba had evidence that the US would try to invade once more. Thus, Castro and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev conceived the plan to strategically place nuclear missiles in Cuba to protect themselves from the US. The realist perspective, among other things, involves the pursuit of power and, more importantly, a balance of power. The Soviet Union felt that a successful American invasion of Cuba would be extremely detrimental to the global communist movement. From the Soviet perspective this...
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...1st Period CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS John .F. Kennedy was the youngest man to become the president of the United States. He held office for almost 3 years before being assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He faced many important events while being in office, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and The Bay of Pigs. During his second year of presidency he was warned by his advisors that the United States might be under threat by the Soviet Union. They suspected that the Soviet Union had started to build powerful missiles which would be transported to the island of Cuba. These missiles would have the capability to travel great distances and could hit major US cities such as Washington D.C, Houston and San Francisco. John F. Kennedy knew about the strained relationship between the United States While John F. Kennedy was suspicious at first later it was clear to him that this was an act to shift the power from U.S to the Soviet Union. After he was completely sure about the situation JFK addressed the public on this issue on October 22, 1962. He explained his decision to perform a naval blockade near the coast of Cuba, he also said that the US was ready to use military force if there is a threat to national security. The Cold War was one of the most important wars and would have been one of the most deadly wars of the 20th century. The Cold War is the closest that the world has come to a nuclear war. One of the main events of this war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The 2 most powerful...
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...The missile crisis was unique in terms of having a balance of having thought out plans and having miscalculations. Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba in 1959. Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Under Castro, Cuba grew dependent on the Soviets for military and economic aid. During this time, the U.S. and the Soviets including their allies were engaged in the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union at this point had basically been in conflict on a global scale. “In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the CIA began organizing and training anti-Castro Cuban exiles for a possible invasion. After President John F. Kennedy entered the White House in 1961, he agreed to continue this program, and in April, more than fourteen hundred commandos landed at the Bay of Pigs. U.S. experts believed that the people would rise up and revolt against Castro during this assault, but Castro easily quashed this rebellion. Afterward, Kennedy devised multiple assassination plans against Castro, and he sanctioned the CIA to conduct sabotage raids upon Cuban sugarcane fields, railroad bridges, and oil tanks through Project...
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...The Cuban Missile Crisis, an event that occurred in October 1962, almost turned the Cold War “hot”, presumably destructive for humanity as we know it. However, the conflict proved manageable, to all participating sides, as no nuclear war actually occurred. To avoid escalation of the conflict, involved nations were obliged to come to an agreement, and overcome their differences. To reach the phase of a resolution however, states underwent a series of events, which escalated the conflict. In order to understand how and why the USSR agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba and why the United States, though in secret, agreed to remove its armaments from Turkey and Italy, one must take a look at and analyze the events from that period. An idea of why the crisis occurred should be taken into account. Then, an overlook of the events during the crisis would fully reveal how and why the exact resolution was agreed. For a start, looking at the structural level, three important events which brought the crisis, could easily be distinguished. First of all, it was the policy of the United States towards Cuba. US’ elite was greatly disturbed by the Revolution that took place in Cuba. Americans were very discontent with a country leaning towards leftist politics in the region. They thought that socialist ideas would more easily be spread throughout the western hemisphere, if such a state existed. So it happened as Cuban revolutionaries proclaimed the socialist ideas in countries in...
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...The Two Perspectives of JFK John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States of America, who was shortly assassinated before he completed his third year in presidency. Kennedy’s presidency mainly consisted on managing relations with the Soviet Union, serving speeches for fellow citizens, and having an impact on the Civil Rights Bill. John F. Kennedy’s presidential actions led to the people having two perspectives of him. John F. Kennedy had quite a positive and negative effect on the citizens of America. People consider their views of John F. Kennedy to be either a pro-Kennedy liberal, or an anti-Kennedy revisionist. It is interesting how Kennedy seems to have an equal proportion to both pro-Kennedy liberal, and anti-Kennedy revisionist...
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...Was John F. Kennedy really a good president? On November 8, 1960, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president. About 3 years after that, he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. The assassination has been questioned to this day about whether or not the assassination was unjust or justified. The assassination of JFK was justified because he caused the Cuban Missile Crisis and The Bay of Pigs invasion; however, others believe differently about his actions. Kennedy’s assassination was justified because of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States provoked the Soviet Union into what could have been nuclear war. Before JFK placed the nuclear missiles in Turkey, Nikita Khrushchev, a Soviet Premier, placed missiles in...
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...Decision Making : Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962 was a tumultuous time for Americans, and people around the nation. During this time the United States and nations were on the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis was known as one of the most trying times in history, as well as crucial moment throughout John F. Kennedy’s presidency. The Cuban Missile Crisis was believed to be one of the most successful decision-making processes in history. The movie Thirteen Days was one among several media outlets, which analyzed the events leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis. It explored the leadership methods of President Kennedy, and process which led him and the Executive Committee (ExComm.) to reach a successful resolution. The intent of this summary will explore detailed events of the film to pinpoint several decision-making models, such as the rational model, political model, and process model. The review will focus on the key players in the decision making process and their influence on President Kennedy, as well as, how they eventually reached a successful outcome. During an emergency meeting with President Kennedy, McGeorge Bundy, National Security Advisor reported U-2 aerial photographs detecting the construction of medium range missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy initiated a discussion with the Joint chiefs of the Executive Committee. He took a step back to allow everyone involved to suggest different scenarios to solve the missile crisis. The military consensus...
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...The Kennedy Doctrines & US Relations BY Shaconda Peterson POL 300 Instructor Dr. Angela Agboli-Esedebe Date: September 3, 2011 The Kennedy Doctrine refers to foreign policy initiatives of the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, towards Latin America during his term in office between 1961 and 1963. Kennedy voiced support for the containment of Communism and the reversal of Communist progress in the Western Hemisphere. The Kennedy Doctrine was essentially an expansion of the foreign policy prerogatives of the previous administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman. The foreign policies of these presidents all revolved around the threat of communism and the means by which the United States would attempt to contain the spread of it. The Truman Doctrine focused on the containment of communism by providing assistance to countries resisting communism in Europe while the Eisenhower Doctrine was focused upon providing both military and economic assistance to nations resisting communism in the Middle East and by increasing the flow of trade from the United States into Latin America. The Kennedy Doctrine was based on these same objectives but was more concerned with the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Latin America following the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power under Eisenhower during the 1950s. Some of the most notable events that stemmed from tenets of JFK’s foreign policy initiatives in regard...
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...During Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential tenure, a disagreement with Fidel Castro caused friction between the United States and Cuba. The turmoil between the United States and Cuba continued after John F. Kennedy took office. Each one these men, Fidel Castro, President Eisenhower, President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev struggled for power and almost led our nations to a nuclear war. What led to the Cuban Missile Crisis? Fidel Castro was a lawyer in Cuba, he was unhappy with Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship and tried to use the law to remove Batista from power.1 After his failed attempts he became a rebel with the intent of overthrowing Cuba’s dictator Fulgencio Batista. His vision was to spread the wealth of the rich and give to the poor; and provide everyone with the same resources.2 Batista’s cruel behavior and murder of the Cuban people made him a target, he eventually fled.3 After winning public support and overthrowing their dictator, Fidel Castro began to spread the wealth among the Cuban people.4 This was a positive movement for the poor, but not popular among the more educated people who knew how to make money, so they began to flee Cuba.5 On April 15th 1959, Fidel Castro made an attempt to meet with President Eisenhower, instead, President Eisenhower went to play golf to avoid interaction with Castro.6 His intentions may have been to address the turmoil between the United States and Cuba. Instead, Vice President Nixon met with Fidel Castro, the vice presidents...
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