• “The challenge we face in [Vietnam] today is the same challenge we have faced with courage and that we have met with strength in Greece and Turkey, in Berlin and Korea, in Lebanon and in Cuba.”

Lesson: Soviet aggression and expansionism was at the heart of the Cuban Missile Crisis and future crises during the Cold War.

“The Communist Challenge in Southeast Asia” (speech at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, August 5, 1964).

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•  “There were times when [Khrushchev] was guilty of dangerous adventure. It required great American firmness and good sense -- first in Berlin and later in the Cuban Missile Crisis- to turn back his threats and actions without war.”

Lesson: Crises require “firmness and good sense.”

“Recent Events in Russia, China, and Great Britain,” (radio and television Presidential address, October 18, 1964). [N.B. Speech made after Khrushchev had been removed from power.]

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•  “In this pursuit we have defended against Communist aggression—in Korea under President Truman—in the Formosa Straits under President Eisenhower—in Cuba under President Kennedy—and again in Vietnam.”

Lesson: Syntactically equates the Cuban Missile Crisis with other crises of the Cold War, suggesting American military power defuses crises.

“State of the Union” (speech at U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., January 12, 1966).

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•  “In his announcement of the incursion into Cambodia, he compared himself to Kennedy who, in his finest hour, had sat in the identical room in the White House and made the great decision that removed the missiles from Cuba. Later Nixon used the Missile Crisis to justify his failure to consult Congress over Cambodia. “I trust we don’t have another Cuban Missile Crisis. I trust we don’t have another situation like Cambodia, but I do know that in the modern world, there are times when the Commander-in-Chief…will have to act quickly. I can assure the American people that this president is going to bend over backward to consult the Senate and consult the House whenever he feels it can be done without jeopardizing the lives of American men. But when it is a question of the lives of American men or the attitudes of people in the Senate, I am coming down hard on the side of defending the lives of American men.” (p. 189)

Lesson: Crises necessitate quick action that, at times, may mean acting quickly without input of other influential individuals.

“Richard Nixon’s Cambodia Incursion Address,” (radio and television presidential address, April 30, 1970), as cited in Arthur Schlesinger Jr., The Imperial Presidency (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973).

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•  “The most dangerous moment of the 45 year history of the Cold War took place in the early 1960s when we had the Cuban Missile Crisis. Where the Soviet Union threatened to move nuclear weapons into Cuba and President Kennedy recognized that that was totally unacceptable to the United States and he communicated that very forcefully to the head of the Soviet Union, and the net result was any Soviet actions that put nuclear weapons into Cuba was stopped. But if there hadn't been a negotiation on ending that action, by the Soviet Union, you could have had a serious military exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. Because under no circumstances could the United States have permitted the installation of long range nuclear weapons in Cuba, 90 miles from the shores of the United States and when President Kennedy forcefully challenged Mr. Khrushchev on that issue, the Soviet Union withdrew I should say the action that they contemplated at one time.”

Lesson: Crisis management requires a combination of strength and diplomacy during negotiations with an adversary.

Interviewed by George Washington University National Security Archive, Washington, D.C., February 7, 1999.

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•  “In the 1960s we met the Soviet challenges in Berlin, and we faced the Cuban Missile Crisis. And we sought to engage the Soviet Union in the important task of moving beyond the Cold War and away from confrontation. And in the 1970s three American presidents negotiated with the Soviet leaders in attempts to halt the growth of the nuclear arms race. We sought to establish rules of behavior that would reduce the risks of conflict, and we searched for areas of cooperation that could make our relations reciprocal and productive, not only for the sake of our two nations but for the security and peace of the entire world. In all these actions, we have maintained two commitments: to be ready to meet any challenge by Soviet military power, and to develop ways to resolve disputes and to keep the peace.”

Lesson: Engagement with adversaries and honoring past promises are necessary for crisis management.

“State of the Union” (speech at U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., January 23, 1980).

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•  “At the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis…it had been relatively easy to stand up to the Soviets: Our nuclear weapons outnumbered theirs almost 10 to one; the Soviets took their missiles out of Cuba and Khrushchev backed down. But the balance of power had all been changed by the early 1980s. The Soviet Union was building missiles hands over fist, and their nuclear forces outnumbered ours.” (p. 295)

Lesson: Nuclear superiority was critical to the success of the United States during Cuban Missile Crisis.

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• “In 1962, JFK stood up to Castro and Moscow and blocked the establishment on Cuban soil of a Soviet missile base capable of hurling nuclear weapons at the U.S. Nevertheless, 20 years later, Cuba was, in effect, serving the very function that had caused President Kennedy to face off against Khrushchev…” (p. 472)

Lesson: A strong stand against an adversary is required in a crisis.

Ronald Reagan, An American Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990).

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•  “Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. As President Kennedy said in October of 1962, 'Neither the United States of America, nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world,' he said, 'where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nations security to constitute maximum peril.'

Lesson: Preemption and force are necessary to solve crisis.

“President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat” (speech at Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 7, 2002).

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• President Bush and the Kennedy's watched Thirteen Days at the White House. “I felt a connection to history as we watched a movie about how his brothers had defused a crisis from the West Wing.” (p. 272-273)

George W. Bush, Decision Points (New York: Crown Publishing, 2010).

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• When discussing presidents who displayed “uncommon courage,” Obama identified JFK. “During the Cuban Missile Crisis, facing intense pressure from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and congressional leaders to bomb and invade Cuba, John F. Kennedy stood firm. With his determined leadership and his calm, rational judgment, he forged a strong path to peace that used aggressive diplomacy backed by military force, and helped bring the world back from the brink of war.”

Lesson 1: Negotiate from strength. Lesson 2: Take time to discuss possible solutions.

“The Contenders: An Admiring Crowd,” Newsweek, May 13, 2007.

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• On the campaign trail, about Iran: “In Montana, Obama said President Kennedy’s willingness to engage the Soviets defused the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Obama asked, ‘Why shouldn’t we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies?’”

Lesson: Talk with adversaries during crisis.

Richard Sisk, “Iran No ‘Tiny’ Threat, Mac Barks at Barack,” New York Daily News, May 20, 2008.

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•  “Obama often quotes JFK’s words from his inaugural address, ‘Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.’”

Lesson: It is necessary to negotiate in crises, but only from a position of strength.

Evan Thomas, “The Mythology of Munich,” Newsweek, June 23, 2008.

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• How Obama and McCain see the world: “Obama himself, in private meetings, has cited Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a model, especially how JFK consulted widely and negotiated directly with the Soviets to defuse an intense situation effectively. Obama admires Kennedy’s steady, cool leadership and his ability to bring many people into the process: Ben Rhodes says that Obama also often cites the successful resolution of the crisis as an example of what can come from negotiations, even if there is no immediate resolution. Only five months before, JFK held a summit in Vienna with Nikita Khrushchev. "JFK had begun to acquire some knowledge of Khrushchev, which not only enabled him to be in touch with the Kremlin during the crisis, but to have a little bit of insight into the guy," says Rhodes. "There are benefits to direct contact with adversaries, even if you don't reach agreement. You get to know your adversary.” (Newsweek, 10/6/08)

Lesson: (1) Negotiation is necessary in a crisis. (2) Access to wide and varied opinions is necessary in formulating a crisis response.

Michael Hirsh, “World’s Apart,” Newsweek, October 6, 2008.

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• During his senior year at Columbia, Obama participated in a seminar on U.S. foreign policy. “The first semester…covered such Cold-War flashpoints as the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

William J. Broad and David Sanger, “Obama’s Youth Shaped His Nuclear-Free Vision,” New York Times, July 4, 2009.

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• About Afghanistan: “Aides said Obama looked to President John F. Kennedy's relationship with the military, in particular how he managed the Cuban Missile Crisis when his military leaders urged a quick strike on the island, an act he resisted. One senior adviser said Obama valued Kennedy's 'think before you shoot' ethos.”

Lesson: Take time to determine a strategy during a crisis: “Think before you shoot.”

Scott Wilson, “The Making of a Wartime Commander in Chief,” Washington Post, January 19, 2010.

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