Thirteen Days: A Semi-Bibliography Of The Cuban Missile Crisis

History Essay
‘Thirteen Days’
Words: 825
Thirteen Days, a semi-bibliography of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the steps the American Government took to avoid a nuclear war. In 1962 Fidel Castro agreed to the placing of nuclear missiles belonging to the Soviets in Cuba. All placing of these missiles was done in secrecy, however on October 14th an American U2 plane took photographs of the missile site and the American Government was immediately informed. Thirteen Days follows the perspective of three main characters; Kenny O’Donnell the Presidents assistant, Robert Kennedy the President’s brother and Attorney General and John F. Kennedy. During the first 24 hours of the crisis most of the Government officials were prepared to invade Cuba
The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded1.” The decision to form quarantine around Cuba would prevent a nuclear war from breaking out and would save the lives of thousands of innocent people. This quarantine would prevent a nuclear war not only between America and the U.S.S.R but would prevent any conflict between any Capitalist and Communist countries. As shown in the movie the main reason for the quarantine was to stop any chance of a nuclear war. The American Government wanted to prevent any chance to stop tensions with the Soviets. As shown in the movie O’Donnell and Robert Kennedy both try to find any way to help protect the American people. Also shown in the movie John F. Kennedy knew from protests that the American people wanted quarantine over a
The under secretary of state, George Ball, had commented that a US surprise attack on Cuba would be “... like Pearl Harbor. It's the kind of conduct that one might expect of the Soviet Union. It is not conduct that one expects of the United States2.”’ Apart from wanting to prevent a nuclear war, the President of the United States also wanted to protect their moral integrity. The Government was unwilling to attack another country without warning. The Government didn’t want to ruin the position America had in the world and didn’t want to compromise the way the world viewed them and the decisions they made to protect their country. O’Donnell was President Kennedy’s appointment secretary but throughout the film showed he was a long time aid and trusted political hand. O’Donnell did everything in his power to prevent President Kennedy from making a misguided decision. It is show in the film the lengths O’Donnell goes through to protect the President and find a diplomatic solution to protect America’s