Essay on Rfks 13 Days - 619 Words

Thirteen Days is an autobiography written by Robert F. Kennedy. It is based upon the memories of RFK during the Cuban missile crisis. He vividly recalls the thirteen days between October 16 and October 28, 1962. Within these thirteen days, havoc and stress faced the White House, especially to Senator RFK and his brother, President John F. Kennedy. The story is about the handling of the crisis by one brother and the personal account of the other. The two worked together to keep America and the world safe. p The story focuses on the conflict between the two giant atomic nations, the United States and the Soviet Union. On October 16, 1962, the U.S. had suspicion that Russia was placing missiles and atomic weapons in Cuba. It also†¦show more content†¦A suggestion was made to make a deal with the Soviets: if they withdrew their missiles from Cuba, then we would withdraw our missiles from Turkey and Italy and give up our naval base at Guantanamo Bay. RFK and others did no t support this idea, and President Kennedy made his decision in favor of the blockade.p Immense work and painstaking planning followed JFKs approval. Missile crews were placed on maximum alert and troops were moved into Florida. Bomber forcers were ordered into the air fully loaded with atomic weapons. The President also ordered preparations to proceed for a possible blockade of Berlin, the United Nations headquarters.p The U.S. wanted to avoid a major military confrontation at all cost. President Kennedy did not want anyone to fire on any Soviet ships. He said if a vessel refused to stop, the Navy was to shoot at its rudders and propellers, disabling the ship but not to sink the ship or to wound anyone. Not only, were there Soviet ships in the Atlantic but on October 23, Russian submarines were spotted moving into the Caribbean.p That same day, RFK met with Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet Ambassador, to review the past events and the relations between the two countries. Dobrynin said that Russia had not placed any long-range missiles in Cuba and did not intend to do so. The Russians still did not want to admit that there were missiles in Cuba.p In response to Dobrynins lie, President Kennedy ordered that the quarantine