Credit Line: Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. Digital Identifier: JFKWHP-KN-18579.
Secretary of the Treasury Dillon took a hard line during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Initially he favored a military strike but later, along with Thompson, Dillon proposed to begin with the blockade, refuse negotiations, demand removal of the missiles, and threaten further military action. Dillon argued that the President had to show his firm intentions to the Russians and not look as if he were backing down. He first suggested the idea of using the blockade as a way to present the Soviets with an ultimatum to remove the missiles or face military action.