American Contemporaries fully respected Kennedy and throughout the crisis viewed him as the “saviour” of the western world, Theodore Sorenson actually states that Kennedy “saved the world” Furthermore, he refers to Kennedy as “combination of courage, coolness and determination” this clearly states that Sorenson thinks exceptionally highly of Kennedy and portrays him as a wonderful president and man. This feeling was that of most Americans at the time of the crisis which symbolises a great show of faith of that from when Kennedy first came to the American leadership and was portrayed as a naïve president, now he is handling the fate of all these peoples futures. He also says that “if anyone else had been president, it is likely the world would have blown up” this clearly shows that president Kennedy was the sole saviour of the western world. This information provided is written by one of the only people who were constantly alongside Kennedy throughout the predicament and could see the pressures he was having to contend with. This is also primary evidence and is accurate as this was one of the closest men to the president. However the flaws in this are that someone close to Kennedy would not bad mouth him, and this means that Sorenson’s evidence could be considered slightly biased. The other flaw is that this evidence was given at Kennedy’s funeral, with emotions running high it would be easy to exaggerate what happened in the Cuban missile crisis.
Kennedy was seen as the saviour because he responded in a legitimate and justifiable way to a genuine threat on America and world security. In October 1962 U.S. spy planes took aerial photographs over Cuba, which showed the building of missile sites. Missiles were aboard Russian vessels heading for Cuba, which is only ninety miles from Florida in the United States, this meant every city in the USA would be in range if Russian missiles were launched from Cuba. Kennedy acting as defender of security of the USA and the western hemisphere in conjunction with congress and the constitution directed initial steps to be taken immediately, he outlined these in a speech given on 26th October 1961 on television.
“First, to half this offensive build up, a strict quarantine of all military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. Second I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance and it’s military build up. Third, it shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack from the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response on the Soviet Union.”
Kennedy’s initial response to the Soviet aggression showed reasonable restraint and a genuine concern to maintain world peace. During the crisis he chose a diplomatic course of action, which was less likely to result in nuclear war. He did not authorise American armed forces to invade or bomb Cuba but chose to blockade the island of Cuba, this would keep the opportunity to negotiate with the Soviet Union open and result in a peaceful end to the crisis.
The Soviet Union emerged in a weaker state following the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khrushchev agreed to back down and dismantle Russian missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev had been mistaken in thinking he could pressurise Kennedy and that the final victory of communism over capitalism was possible. Kennedy’s continuing decision to negotiate resulted in Khrushchev’s humiliation. Khrushchev wrote two letters to Kennedy, the first on 26th October 1963 and the second on 28th October 1963. Kennedy decided to respond to the more reasonable of the two letters. Khrushchev’s decision to back down allowed American and western media to present Kennedy as the saviour of the western world.
Khrushchev’s decision to back down over Cuba destroyed his reputation and support in the Soviet Union. The direction of his foreign policy was not criticized but the method’s he had used were. His volatile threats mixed with calls for negotiation made him appear to be highly unpredictable, almost resulting in the involvement of Russia in a nuclear war. He was therefore removed from office in October 1964. Between June and July 1963 the communist party of China, a former ally of Russia wrote an open letter to Moscow accusing the Russians of betraying communism. This and Khrushchev’s climb down over Cuba worsened relations with China.
Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy played a part in adopting measures to preserve the peace and prevent the possibilities of there ever being a nuclear war.
The relationship between American and Soviet leaders changed from one of tension and threat of nuclear war to a more relaxed and responsible attitude and responsibility to save the world.
A direct telephone line, known as the hotline was established between Washington and Moscow to enable the leaders of the super-powers to communicate with each other. There was now an eagerness to avoid confrontation and instead pursue détente.
Despite these more relaxed relationships the super-powers maintained their mutual hostility and the Cold War continued.
In 1963 a nuclear test ban treaty was signed, this stopped all Soviet, American and British nuclear tests in the atmosphere. This treaty aided in limiting the spread of nuclear weapons although France and China did not agree. In 1969 the strategic arms limitation talks (S.A.L.T.) began.
Kennedy helped cause the crisis by pushing Cuba closer to the Soviet Union; his determination to overthrow Fidel Castro’s government and the catastrophe at the Bay of Pigs enabled Khrushchev to strengthen his position in the Cold War. If this situation had arisen then the Soviet Union would not have built missile bases on Cuba within range of American cities.
Kennedy was unreasonable and ignored Khrushchev’s argument that the placing of missile bases in Cuba was justified and compared this to Americans placing of missiles in Europe particularly in Turkey. Kennedy’s actions showed that he believed America had the right to do this but that the Soviet Union did not have the right to place missiles so close to America. This increased tensions through his failure to negotiate and appeared to place American interests over world security.
Kennedy’s actions in the Cuban missile crisis weakened world peace by increasing tensions in America’s relationship with Cuba and France. Cuba became more hostile to America and was expelled by other Latin-American states from the organisation of American states in 1962. This situation made Cuba more reliant on the Soviet Union. President Degaulle of France pulled his country out of NATO and encouraged other Western European country’s to do the same, as they had not been consulted during the emergency.
Kennedy was not as strong as the American propaganda implied because behind the scenes he was discussing concessions and negotiating with the Soviets. On 27th October 1963 Robert Kennedy (President Kennedy’s brother) met with the Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. The conversation, which took place, was the solution to the crisis. An ultimatum was given, that if the Russian’s did not remove their missiles by the next day the American’s would destroy them, but if they were removed the American missiles in Turkey would then be removed. The ambassador contacted Khrushchev and on 28th October Robert Kennedy was informed that the missiles would be withdrawn from Cuba and the crisis was over.
President Kennedy’s interventions in the Cuban Missile Crisis did not bring about the end of the Cold War or prevent the fear of a nuclear war ever taking place. He was not solely responsible for saving the western world from the Cuban Missile Crisis turning into a nuclear war but played a part along with others. The Cold War and super-power opposition continued until 1991 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) came to an end under presidency of Mikhael Gorbachev.
