Cuban Misile Crisis

18 Pages 4527 Words

was stopped by the quarantine.
The press new about the missiles in Cuba but Kennedy asked them the reporters to remain quiet. He even personally called The Washington Post and the New York Times to ask them to stop their coverage of the missiles in Cuba. On Monday, October 22 preparation was made for Kennedy's 7:00 p.m. (EST) speech to the nation. U.S. Senate leaders were asked to go to Washington for a special meeting. They left the meeting surprised and questioning the capability of a blockade. Most of them wanted an air strike. Kennedy was ready for an attack from Cuba he sent almost 300 Navy ships, three Marine battalions were brought in to strengthen the base, and Twenty planes armed with nuclear bombs were in the air ready to strike the U.S.S.R. At 7:00 p.m. as Kennedy was beginning his speech, jet fighters took off from bases in Florida and headed south for Cuba. If Castro decided to bomb us, they would be ready. For the next seventeen minutes, Americans and citizens around the world sat glued to their TV sets listening to the ...