Back at the White House, the President decided to give Khrushchev more time and pulled the quarantine line back to 500 miles.
Day 10: Wednesday, October 24
On the 24th EX-COMM convened at 10:00 a.m. (EST), the exact time the blockade began. Soviet ships kept coming closer to the line. American ships were preparing to disable them if they did not stop. The order given to the American ships was to first communicate with the Soviet vessels; then if they did not stop, the American’s were to fire across their bow, and if they still did not stop, American ships were instructed to blow off the rudder in order to stop the ships.
Two of the major concerns during the EX-COMM meeting were the Soviet submarines accompanying the vessels and the possibility that Khrushchev had not had enough time to instruct the ship captains on what they should do. At 10:25 EX-COMM received a message that the Soviet ships were turning back. Khrushchev was not ready to expand the crisis by challenging the blockade. This did not mean that the crisis was over.
Also on Wednesday, military alert was raised to DEFCON 2, the highest level ever in U.S. history. The notification, sent round the world from Strategic Air Command headquarters, was purposely left uncoded to let the Soviets know just how serious the Americans were.
That evening, the White House received a second letter from Khrushchev:
“You, Mr. President, are not declaring a quarantine, but rather are advancing an ultimatum and threatening that if we do not give in to your demands you will use force…. No Mr. President, I cannot agree to this, and I think that in your own heart you recognize that I amcorrect. I am convinced that in my place you would act the same way.
Therefore the Soviet Government cannot instruct the captains of Soviet vessels bound for Cuba to observe the orders of the American naval forces blockading that Island…. Naturally we will not simply be bystanders with regard to piratical acts by American ships on the high seas. We will then be forced on our part to take the measures we consider necessary and adequate to protect our rights. We have everything necessary to do so.”
Day 11: Thursday, October 25
On the 23rd, U Thant, Secretary General of the United Nations, had proposed a pause in the crisis to Kennedy and Khrushchev. He suggested the Soviets stop shipping offensive weapons to Cuba for two or three weeks and in exchange the Americans would suspend the quarantine for the same length of time. On the 25th Kennedy politely turned down the offer because it allowed the Soviets to continue preparing the missiles that were already in Cuba.
Khrushchev received another correspondence from Kennedy which restated the United State’s position. Kennedy was not going to back down. Still attempting to avoid war, Kennedy had U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson confront the Soviets at the United Nations. When asked directly about the missiles, Soviet Ambassador Zorin refused to comment. Consequently, Stevenson showed the reconnaissance photos of missile sites. The photographs were unmistakable evidence of the Soviet presence in Cuba.
A newspaper column written by influential journalist Walter Lippman was also printed on Thursday. Lippman suggested a face-saving missile exchange. The Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba and the Americans would remove their missiles from Turkey. Days before, EX-COMM had already begun to consider this option and was currently exploring the political consequences. Government officials both in the United States and Soviet Union mistakenly interpreted Lippman’s article as a trial balloon floated by the Kennedy administration, which it was not.
At the close of the 5:00 p.m. EX-COMM meeting, CIA Director McCone indicated that some of the missiles deployed in Cuba were now fully operational.
Day 12: Friday, October 26
During the 10:00 a.m. EX-COMM meeting, Kennedy said that he believed the quarantine alone could not force the Soviet government to remove its offensive weapons from Cuba. A CIA report from that morning stated that there was no halt in progress in the development of the missile sites and another reconnaissance flight revealed the Soviets were also attempting to camouflage the missiles. Kennedy believed that only an invasion or a trade (for missiles in Turkey) would now succeed. He also agreed to enhance pressure by increasing the frequency of low-level flights over Cuba from twice per day to once every two hours.
A Letter from Khrushchev to Kennedy arrived this day, at the White House at 6:00 p.m. but because it had to be translated, it came in four separate parts, the last of which arrived at 9:00 p.m. The letter was clearly an impassioned appeal, written by Khrushchev himself, to resolve the crisis. Khrushchev proposed removing his missiles if Kennedy would publicly announce never to invade Cuba. It read:
“You and I should not now pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied a knot of war, because the harder you and I pull, the tighter the knot will become. And a time may come when this knot is tied so tight that the person who tied it is no longer capable of untying it, and then the knot will have to be cut. What that would mean I need not explain to you, because you yourself understand perfectly what dreaded forces our two countries possess.
I propose we, for our part, will declare that our ships bound for Cuba are not carrying any armaments. You will declare that the United States will not invade Cuba with its troops and will not support any other forces which might intend to invade Cuba. Then the necessity of the presence of our military specialists in Cuba will disappear.”
Day 13: Saturday, October 27
Saturday was the worst day of the crisis. One U-2 was shot down, another flew off course over Russia, a low-level reconnaissance mission was shot at over Cuba, and a second, more demanding letter was received from Khrushchev.
First, a U-2 on a “routine air sampling mission” over western Alaska picked the wrong star to navigate by and flew off course into Soviet airspace. When he realized his mistake, the pilot immediately radioed for help. The rescue station operator was able to give him directions to turn his plane onto the right course. By that time the Soviets had detected the U-2 and sent MiG fighters to intercept the spy plane. The Americans also sent their F-102 fighters to provide cover for the U-2. The F-102s had been armed with nuclear tipped air-to-air missiles. The U-2 left Soviet air space in time and two fighter groups never met.
Around noon, news reached EX-COMM that a U-2 had been shot down over Cuba. Major Rudolph Anderson’s spy plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile and crashed in the island’s eastern jungle. EX-COMM interpreted the action as a planned escalation of the situation by the Kremlin. The order to launch the missile did not come from Moscow. It was a Soviet commander in Cuba who gave the command. Khrushchev now worried that he had lost control of his forces.
EX-COMM had previously decided that if an American reconnaissance plane was downed, the Air Force would retaliate by bombing the offending site. Now that it had happened, the Joint Chiefs, who had been pressing for permission to bomb Cuba, pressed even harder.
The next event in that long day was a low-level reconnaissance mission flown by six F8U-1P Crusader jets. Two of the jets aborted the mission early due to mechanical problems, but the remaining four continued on their course. As the fighters passed over the San Cristobal and Sagua la Grande missile sites, Cuban ground forces shot at the planes with anti-aircraft guns and small arms. One plane was hit by a 37mm shell but it returned safely. Earlier that morning, Castro lost his nerve and ordered his troops to fire at American aircraft. With each new flight the Americans were gaining valuable information for an invasion Castro believed to be only 24 to 72 hours away.
A Pretty Good Spot
Fourth, at 11:03 a.m. a second letter from Khrushchev arrived. This letter, formally written, was much more demanding. Some members of EX-COMM speculated that hard-liners had pressured Khrushchev to take a more aggressive position. The letter was also publicly broadcast in order to reduce communication delays but the broadcast also raised the stakes. The two countries no longer had the luxury of private negotiations Khrushchev’s previous proposal had not mentioned Turkey. Too much information on the crisis had already been leaked to the press. If the U.S. buckled under pressure and removed its missiles from Turkey, a NATO ally, the whole alliance could falter.
Dreading conflict, Kennedy couldn’t demand more of Khrushchev. Fearing political pressure at home, he couldn’t give in on the question of Jupiter missiles in Turkey. Then, Robert Kennedy had an inspiration: why not ignore the second letter and respond only to the first? A long-shot, but it might work suggested Soviet specialist Llewellyn Thompson. To Kennedy, it seemed the only viable option left. Consequently, the President had Robert Kennedy and Theodore Sorensen draft a response. In forty-five minutes they returned to the meeting. The committee then edited the proposal and approved it.
The Secret Deal
After the meeting adjourned, Kennedy called six men into the Oval Office for further consultation. The President informed them of the Attorney General’s meeting with Ambassador Dobrynin on the previous evening and asked for more suggestions on how to use this precious channel of communication. The group agreed to have the Attorney General meet with Dobrynin again to orally reinforce the proposal. Secretary Rusk also suggested that Robert Kennedy propose a secret deal on the Jupiter missiles in Turkey.
At 7:45 that evening, Dobrynin came to the Justice Department to meet with the Attorney General. Kennedy handed him a reply to Khrushchev’s letter and then informed him of the secret deal. He gave assurances that the U.S. would quietly remove the Jupiters a few months after the crisis but warned they could not be part of a public deal. Robert Kennedy also imposed an ultimatum to Dobrynin. “If you do not remove those bases, we would remove them.” He concluded by saying a Soviet commitment was needed by tomorrow. Immediately after the meeting Dobrynin cabled Khrushchev to tell him of the proposal and that the Attorney General had imposed a deadline for a response. The Soviets just didn’t know what that deadline was.
Meanwhile, at the request of Secretary Rusk, John Scali met once again with Aleksandar Fomin. Rusk wanted Scali to find out why Khrushchev had suddenly introduced the Jupiter missiles into the deal. When Scali met Fomin in an empty ballroom at the Statler Hotel, he exploded. Why, Scali demanded, had Khrushchev performed a flip-flop? Fomin muttered something about poor communications. Scali, not satisfied with the answer, then accused Khrushchev of performing a “stinking double-cross.” The ABC News corespondent, in the heat of the moment, then gave a warning he had no right in making: “American invasion of Cuba is only hours away,” said Scali. Fomin was deeply impressed by the statement. After the two parted ways he went back to the Soviet embassy to report the latest news to Khrushchev, while Scali wrote a memorandum summing up the encounter for EX-COMM.
At 8:05 p.m. Kennedy released his response to Khrushchev’s latest proposal. It was given to the press to avoid any communications delays.
“As I read your letter, the key elements of your proposals–which seem generally acceptable as I understand them–are as follows:
1.You would agree to remove these weapon
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