Benjamin Graefser > Recent Status Updates

Every day is a blank page, waiting to write itself.

The US allowed some ships to pass the quarantine line unsearched but searched a Soviet ship to prove that they were serious. The UN wanted all players to pause the game to allow for peace to play out, but the US wouldn't stop until the Soviets took the missiles out of Cuba. The idea has been floated to exchange the missiles in Turkey for the missiles in Cuba columnist Lippemann (which eventually happened)

Adali Stephenson delivered his UN speech about the Soviets having nuclear missiles in Cuba. He caught the Soviets off-guard that they had evidence. It reminded me of a similar scene in the movie.

Khrushchev asked an American business executive to contact Kennedy to cool down the crisis. Khrushchev believed he was a spy but wanted someone to talk to Kennedy.

Khrushchev learned about Kennedy's speech to the nation and knew that the US knew about the weapons in Cuba. He drafted a note to Kennedy about his response and met with his advisors to determine their next moves.

Kennedy gave his response to the nation about the buildup of weapons in Cuba. It also talked about how EXCOMM was split between blockade and military response. Adali Stephenson wanted to take the appeasement way and try to give the Soviets what they wanted, but Kennedy rejected it. The Military wanted action - Kennedy opted for the smart response to blockade the weapons from getting to Cuba.

The book reminds me of the movie "13 Days" in the sense that similar scenes play out. Of course, both the movie's and this book's writers must have done similar research. It does play out like a movie in my mind.