Question

What options did kennedy have in order to remove the missile crisis from cuba?

Answer 1

Kennedy had several different options on how to react to finding out about Soviet missiles in Cuba. They are as followed:

A) He could not do anything- this was the worst possible move, as he would be seen weak in the eyes of the Soviet Union.

B) Launch an attack/invasion on Cuba- Launching an sort of attack could be very dangerous, as any missiles they do not destroy could be used against the US. Since Cuba is only 90 miles away from the US, any missiles used would kill millions of American citizens.

C) Create a blockade around Cuba- This would prevent any future missiles from entering Cuba. However, this is often seen as an act of war.

In the end, Kennedy does a blockade. After the blockade, he is able to establish a deal with the Soviet Union in which they remove their missiles from Cuba as long as the US removes their missiles from Turkey.

Answer 2

Options considered by the Kennedy administration were:

• Issue warnings to the USSR and Cuba
• Take out all the missile sites and conduct a military invasion
• Run a blockade or quarantine

According to the Office of the Historian of the United States, when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, "Kennedy summoned his closest advisers to consider options and direct a course of action for the United States that would resolve the crisis. Some advisers—including all the Joint Chiefs of Staff—argued for an air strike to destroy the missiles, followed by a U.S. invasion of Cuba; others favored stern warnings to Cuba and the Soviet Union. The President decided upon a middle course. On October 22, he ordered a naval 'quarantine' of Cuba."

In an address to the nation that night (October 22, 1962), President Kennedy told of surveillance that revealed Soviet missile sites were observed as part of military build-up in Cuba.  He said he would demand that the USSR remove all offensive missiles from Cuba or the US would place Cuba under a "quarantine."  A more usual term would be a "blockade," but Kennedy avoided that loaded term and called it a "quarantine" instead,  because calling it a "blockade" could be interpreted by the USSR as an act of war.

It is often stated that the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the USA and the USSR ever came to the eruption of an actual nuclear war between the two superpowers.