Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)

Interesting story. Not as dramatic as I had expected, based on the movie, but it adds a little texture. I appreciate that Kennedy tried to draw lessons from the experience. Perhaps some are debatable, or self-serving, but it is all very relevant (and scary).

As a child born in the 1950's, I now realize how scary times were. My mother was very interested in politics, and I listened to her times with friends round the kitchen table. I distinctly remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. When reading this book, I realized that my mother and friends had a reason to be so concerned.

This was also during the times of "duck and cover." We had small wooden desks at school. There were regular drills when the teacher told us to go under our chairs and stay show more there.

Told by Robert Kennedy, the book is a well-written chronicle of the reaction of President John F. Kennedy and his very competent team of leaders. Step by step, day by day, as the Russian's insisted in building an arsenal of atomic weapons on Cuban soil, it would have been very easy for the president to over react.

President John F. Kennedy was indeed an incredible leader. Knowing that the destiny of the world was in his hands and those of his leadership team, he methodically listened to differing opinions. This book outlines the letters that flew back and forth from Khrushchev and Kennedy, each one taking a firm stance. As the Russian ships approached Cuba, Kennedy drew a line of demarcation. He and his team spent grueling time, with little sleep hoping that Russia would realize the United States was not backing down and therefore there needed to be a workable solution before the bombs were sent to their targets.

As I read this book, I wondered what would have happened if this situation would have presented itself to leaders of today. Would egos become involved? Would there be an overreaction to "push the button?"

This book is filled with the details that eventually lead to a peaceful negotiation. show less

I enjoyed this insider's recollection of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis as largely told from RFK with a length afterword by political scientists Richard E. Neustadt and Graham T. Allison. RFK was assassinated before his manuscript was complete and, to be sure, he could not have been completely forthcoming in 1968. Still, it is riveting tale of how close we came to nuclear war. Also here in the appendices is relevant documents including JFK pronouncements and correspondence between the show more President and Khrushchev. It is that discursive, even poetic, and at times contradictory set of Russian letters that makes me think there is a real story to be told of what was going on in the Kremlin. Hopefully, that will come out, some day. show less

5451. Thirteen Days A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis, by Robert F. Kennedy (read 10 Mar 2017) This book was not published till after Bobby's death on 6 June 1968. It tells well of the tension-filled days in October 1962 when the world could have been changed irrevocably if JFK had listened to those advisers who recommended a Pearl Harbor-like attack on Cuba. The book is naturally written to show Jack and Bobby in a favorable light, but it also includes JFK' speeches to the Ameican People show more and the letters of he exchanged with Khrushchev and Khrushchev's letters, as well as those of the U.N. Secretary-General, all of which are well worth reading in full. I read on 10 March 2001 the book One Hell of a Gamble, by Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali--probably the definitive work on the crisis--and reading this book re-ignited in me the tension I experienced living through the crisis and while reading the other book. show less