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CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.

Discusses role of print media and government secret activities. Misleading stories presented to the public. Questions whether government has an obligation to tell the American public the truth. Political agenda of media. Bay of Pigs fiasco. Installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Secret negotiations. The Kennedy government's Cold War policies.

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THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS: MIXED SIGNALS
There are some basic facts to lay out: First, our government is elected by the people, and therefore owes them the facts, unless there is some compelling reason to maintain secrecy, in which case nothing should be said, leaked, or published. Second, there is a wide gulf between the facts in which our governmental leaders are involved and what the public is permitted to know through newspaper or other media stories.
The major question to be looked at in this essay about the Cuban Missile Crisis is whether the government engaged in secret discussions and activities (including, of course, the Bay of Pigs fiasco) and whether it provided misleading stories for the media to publicize. The New York TIMES, often heralding its slogan: “All the news that’s fit to print” may well have been a JFK accomplic

The Milwaukee Journal's editorial begins: "Russia canhave peace, if Krushchev wants it." The Louisville TIMES wrote: "MostAmericans will agree with the President that the risk of incurring anuclear war would have been much graver had the united States failed toact..." However, the American public was never really informed at the timejust how serious and grave that danger was. Either before his arrival or very soon thereafter the Soviet and Cuban governments arrived at a startling decision: that Soviet nuclear missiles were to be secretly installed in Cuba in the fall (Schlesinger 1965 795). XI). Events actually began in the summer. It was notuntil years later that some of the actual facts were released, some throughthe Freedom of Information Act. 22- Oct. To this day, the public is still not certain- nor is there anyspecific proof, why Krushchev decided to provide the missiles and sites inCuba. America, thissignified, was not alone. On July 2, 1962, Raul Castro, the Minister of the Armed Forces, arrived in Moscow. No author listed: "Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath" U.S. Whether this search for the truth (or for a scoop) isgood for the public or not is something that deserves at least an entirebook. Other front page stories included"Vessels spotted" (meaning Soviet merchant ships), and the fact that TheAmerican Republics voted 19- in support of the U.S. GOVERNMENT 'FACTS': The November 1, 1962 meeting of the Executive Committee of theNational Security Council reported: Director McCone...said the admittedly confusing evidence pointed to the conclusion that SAM sites in Cuba are under Russian control...The President authorized low-level flights...over the airbase where IL-28 planes are stationed and over certain MRBM sites...The major reasons...are to make clear that we consider these planes 'offensive weapons' to be removed by the Russians (State Dept. The next day's banner headline wasominous: 'CUBA SPEEDING BUILD-UP, with a story underneath headlined: US,Soviet Diplomats Seek Basis for Negotiation". "He (Castro) insisted to Herbert Matthews of thenew York TIMES in October 1963 that the missile idea was his alone"(Schelsinger 1978 525). He and his advisers decided that the closerties between Russia and Cuba and the arrival of Russian troops and weaponsin Cuba, only ninety miles from the U.S. On October 27, President Kennedy had sent a letter to ChairmanKrushchev making it clear that the Russians need to dismantle and remove"all weapons systems in Cuba capable of offensive use" (State Dept. What was also kept from the public at the time of the crisis, was thatKennedy was determined not merely to disarm the missiles in Cuba, but alsothose NATO missiles in Turkey,. In reading over the now-released State departmentr documents andvarious books that have been published after the death of the KennedyBrothers, it id obvious that secret negotiations went on not merely amongWashington insiders and the Kennedy cabinet, but among the President andRobert Kennedy and top Russian officials, including (but not limited to)Deputy Foreign Minister Vassily Kuznetsov, Andrei Gromyko, the RussianForeign Minister, and Anastas Mikoyan. pledge not to invade Cuba (Medland 1988 146). One unexpected result was that"contrary to the Administration's belief that bold U.S. State Department: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963,Vol. You are in mortal danger. Delegation wanted to talk to me and that it was urgent....The journalist invited me to a party at her home that evening and said it would be the best opportunity to meet Atwood (Lechuga 1995 197).Kennedy had many such "friends" in the media (especially as courted by hispress Secretary, Pierre Salinger) but he needed them all their help [pullstrings now that the perception of his foreign policy expertise was inquestion, following the Bay of Pigs fiasco. These weapons were to be in the hands of Soviet military men (Schlesinger 1965 796).Nevertheless, whoever suggested the installation of the missiles, they weresurely a Russian initiative, and meant for some sort of provocation againstthe U.S.THE U.S. The American press (as seen in excerpts printed in the TIMES the nextday, revealed just how much the press, in general, especially in America'sso-called "heartland" took pains to point out that things are difficult,but not that serious. 27, 1962(microfichecollection) The point in the weeks' TIMES issues was that thePresident and his advisors had the backing of all the American nations intheir push to remove Russians and their weaponry from Cuba. S. The crisis had political overtones, since Kennedy was attempting tofind some reason not to appear war-like. 1Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Co. Sorensen, T.: (1965) Kennedy New York: Harper & Row Stokes, W. action in thecrisis would strengthen credibility among its allies and NATO, the oppositetranspired" (Medland 1988 147).THE PRESS AND THE PUBLIC Much of the American press had had an "Eisenhower honeymoon", and whilesome, like the New York TIMES and the Washington POST, supported Kennedyover Nixon, the Bay of Pigs fiasco quickly soured relations with the press.However, the Administration could still call on friends to deal withproblems, including the Cuban Missile crisis during social occasions. THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS: MIXED SIGNALS There are some basic facts to lay out: First, our government iselected by the people, and therefore owes them the facts, unless there issome compelling reason to maintain secrecy, in which case nothing should besaid, leaked, or published. Schelsinger, A., Jr. D.: (1997) The Kennedy Tapes: Inside theWhite House During the Cuban Missile Crisis Cambridge MA: HarvardUniversity Press Medland, W.J. References Hunt, M.N.: (1996) Crises in U.S. From these and other taped conversations it is obvious that there wasmuch more at stake, and far greater danger to a nuclear conflict than thepublic believed at the time. Vol. (1988) The Cuban Missile Crisis opf 1962: Needless orNecessary New York: Praeger Publishers Schlesinger, A., Jr.: (1965) A Thousand Days: John F. Second, there is a wide gulf between the factsin which our governmental leaders are involved and what the public ispermitted to know through newspaper or other media stories.The major question to be looked at in this essay about the Cuban MissileCrisis is whether the government engaged in secret discussions andactivities (including, of course, the Bay of Pigs fiasco) and whether itprovided misleading stories for the media to publicize. Whether it was the USSR's idea, or Castro's, or a combinationthereof, no one now knows for certain. What the public was not aware of (until much later) was the fact thatthere was candid talk about "news as 'part of the weaponry' available tothe government in the cold war and Cuban missile crisis, including theright if necessary to lie to save itself' from nuclear war- meaning 'theright to lie to our enemies in statements also heard by our citizens"(Sorenseen 1965 321). The TIMES seldom had large eight-column headlines, exceptfor the most vital world events. Kennedy in theWhite House Boston Houghton, Mifflin & Co. "Cuba" Encyclopedia Americana Yearbook: 1962New York: Americana Publishing Co. James Reston's columnson the editorial page continue to praise Kennedy, as if it were a fact that"President Kennedy's diplomacy in Cuba is highly personal." The TIMES, oncesounding ominous, now made it appear that it was Kennedy and Kennedy alonewho made Krushchev back down, and thus removed the blockade and saved theworld. The 28th banner headline:"SOVIET OFFER TO EXIT CUBA...and, Monday, October 29: KENNEDY ACCEPTSKRUSHCHEV OFFER", and underneath: "Russian Accedes". Again, it seems thatone of the major areas that the TIMES wanted to get out to its readers wasthat the U.S. There were also talks among UNAmbassador Adlai Stevenson and the UN secretary-general U Thant, and secretletters between Kennedy and Krushchev. Foreign Policy New Haven CT: YaleUniversity Press Lerchuga, C.: (1995) In the Eye of the Storm New York: Talman Press(distr.) May, E. The lead story, written by Seuymour Topping fromMoscow, finally informed the American public that it was Russia, not Cubathat was the nmain antagonist here. The same issue is filled with ancillary stories,from Amabasador Stevenson's UN Speech where he "charges...Cuba is SiovietBridgehead" (byline, Thomnas J. (Of course, this never was realized.) Tapesreleased much later have the President and his advisers in the Cabinet Roomon Saturday, October 27 discussing how to deal with Turkey: RobertMcNamara, Secretary of Defense is quoted as saying: What I would say to the Turks is 'Look here, we're going to have to invade Cuba. Hamilton), to pictures of naval aviuatorsarriving in Guantanamo, and another inside story about the Navy and Marinesholding up discharges, and one about military maneuvers near Puerto Rico.There was also an inside story, byline, Joseph Carter, that "2 AirlinesHaklt Runs to Havana...Flights discontinued from Miami on order of Cuba." Wednesday, October 24, featured a lengthy editorial "The SovietChallenge in Cuba", and a column by the TIMES' chief Washingtoncorrespondent, James Reston "Krushchev's Misjudgment on Cuba." TheEditorial, clearly on the side of the President included the following:"President Kennedy and the American people are fully aware of the hazardsof the course that now have been forced upon us." However, it is difficultto perceive that the American people really were fully aware. This may not be accurate, since Castro told a Cuban audience that itwas a soviet idea, then later, told Herbert Matthews of the New York TIMESthat it was a Cuban idea. would make not only a reasonableand disturbing event to bring before the world (the UN, the Congress, andthe American public) There were 4,5 Soviet servicemen in Cuba, 15 surface-to-air missile sites were under construction and three missile sites of a different nature were also being built...On September 13 (1962) the President warned that the United States would move swiftly toward Cuba to protect its own interests (Stokes 1962 19 ). Vol.XI). While transcripts of letters to and from Krushchev, Kennedy and Castrowere not released to the public, for the most part, until years later, theTIMES headlines on October 26, 27, and 28 sum up the successful end of thecrisis: 'RUSSIA AGREES TO TALKS"... Rises in Castro Dispute" It was the next day, Tuesday,October 23, that the TIMES covered the entire front page about the Kennedy"blockade" decision. Krushchev replied that the Russians had accepted these terms and thatall of these arms were to be dismantled and shipped back to the USSR ordestroyed. was not alone in what it seemed to consider an "invasion" ofthe Western Hemisphere. XI: The New York TIMES: issues from Oct. Fortunately for the world, Krushchev decided to withdraw the Soviet missiles from Cuba...The confrontation was resolved successfully on Sunday morning, October 28, 1962, when Krushchev announced his decision to withdraw the missiles from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the new President, JFK needed some sortof foreign affairs success. President Kennedy then said to his advisors that this was"an effort to materially change the balance of power, a deliberatelyprovocative and unjustified change in the status quo" (Schlesinger 1978529). Yet, "the Republicans, led byKeating of New York and Capehart of Indiana, jeered at the administrationview that Russia was only sending defensive weapons. There is still the continuing argument about the public's "right toknow", and with television and the press scurrying for any sort ofexclusive story, there is more digging, more leaks, more attempts to findsomething a little disturbing or salacious about the way public servantsmanage our nation. It would be years, before we would learn all the machinations, thediscussions, the letters, and the arguments that finally ended thisconfrontation.CONCLUSION: There can be no doubt that, despite arguments from his friendlybiographers (i.e., Sorensen and Schlesinger) Kennedy DID manage news: He would...arrange for 'planted' questions at a press conference.....It is true he informed his friends in the press corps of stories they had written which he liked and stories which he disliked, through phone calls, notes, and staff relays (Sorensen 1965 318).Yet, at the same time, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the President also approved restrictions on Pentagon and State Department news contacts, stressing the willingness to drop them once they appeared to curb the free flow of essential news (Sorensen 1965 321). Both sets to be turned over for disarmamentunder the auspices of the UN. At the end ofSeptember, a House Republican caucus called Cuba 'the biggest Republicanasset' in the approaching election" (Schlesinger 1978 528). Doc. While the headline on Monday, October 22was a "mere" three columns wide, the key in this lead story was "Latin'ssympathy for U.S. We want to reduce your danger while at the same time maintaining your defense...We're putting Polaris submarines along your coast...We'll cover the same targets that your Jupiter missiles did, and we'll announce to the world before we invade Cuba and thereby reduce the pressure on the Soviet Union to invade you (May 1997 547). Still later, Castro spoke with Cyrus Sulzberger, aNew York TIMES foreign correspondent, that "both Russia and Cubaparticipated" (Schlesinger 1965 795). However, Khrushchev told the SupremeSoviet in December 1962: We carried weapons there at the request of the Cuban government....including the stationing of a couple of score of Soviet IRBM<s (intermediate range ballistic missiles) in Cuba. The true crisis came after a U-2 spy plane located missile sites onOctober 15, 1962. (1978) Robert Kennedy and his Times, Vol. The New York TIMES, through its correspondents Herbert Matthews andforeign correspondent Hanson Baldwin, was the "lead" public opinion outlet.The Kennedys and their advisors always figured that the TIMES would betheir propaganda opportunity. Of course, the fact that other nations voted didnot imply that they would have come to the U.S.'s aid, should hostilitiesescalate into warfare. The New York TIMES,often heralding its slogan: "All the news that's fit to print" may wellhave been a JFK accomplice in shading or disguising the truths. R and Zelikow, P. The questions that need to be asked (andthey are as relevant in today's crisis as they were in 1962) whether thereis an obligation by the government to tell the American public the truth,whether it is proper for the media to either not release the whole truth,or to slant situations to their own political agenda, and whether any of itreally matters in the sense that either the government or the media reallyhas a specific responsibility to the public.THE FACTS. Most of these talks andcorrespondence was revealed to the American public until years later. Forexample, in his memoir (1995) Carlos Lechuga, who was Cuba's Ambassador tothe UN during the Missile Crisis writes Lisa Howard, a friend of Kennedy who worked at ABC television and who had interviewed Castro in Cuba came up to me and told me that Ambassador William Atwood of the U.S. In fact, about to send a letter to Krushchev,in a October 27 Cabinet room meeting, trying to figure out how to releasecontents of the letter to the public, someone suggested "Let's give it tothe Times." (May 1997 556) In looking at copies of the TIMES during this crucial period, oneimmediately realizes that the TIMES felt that the Cuban crisis was one ofmajor importance.

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