Cuban Missile Crisis Sources Questions.

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Cuban Missile Crisis Sources Questions.

1. Sources A and B tell us a lot about Kennedy's reaction to the U2 spy photos. In source A, President Kennedy asks his brother Robert, the author of the source, to come to the White House. This shows that the President needed moral support, indicating that he was worried about what the U2 photos showed. Source B shows the range of the missiles. This must have been of great concern to Kennedy, because most of the USA, including Washington, was within range of long or short ranged missiles based on Cuba. Source B also shows that more Soviet missile-carrying ships were en route, which must have prompted Kennedy to consider what action he was going to take.

2. Kennedy knew that some kind of action was needed to reassure the public, and this is shown to be what the general feeling at the time in source C. To do nothing would mean the threat of missile attack would not be eliminated. It would also be very unpopular in the USA, especially as Kennedy was still considered by some to be 'soft' on communism, especially after Berlin. As it says in source C, 80