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Voices from the Brink: The Cuban Missile Crisis
| Length: | 25 min |
| Released: | 2003 |
| Ages: |
College Adult |
As the threat of "weapons of mass destruction" looms, this video, made in the late '90s, becomes disturbingly relevant.
The closest the world came to a nuclear war in the twentieth century was the Cuban Missile Crisis which played itself out over thirteen days in October, 1962. Remarkably, the behind-the-scenes debates were unobtrusively recorded on tape; these were not de-classified until the late 90's. In this film, we hear on tape President John F. Kennedy and the people around him preparing to confront the Soviet Union in Cuba, in the episode considered the climax of the Cold War.
The tapes demonstrate how Kennedy stood up to relentless pressure to go to war. His own generals, congressmen and friends warned him that "appeasement" could lead to disaster; he must not appear "cowardly." The issue of "pre-emptive strike" was considered. In the film, Robert McNamara, the former U.S. Defense Secretary and Gen. Maxwell Taylor, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urge an attack on Cuba with the goal of destroying the Russian missiles. Opposing them are Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Assistant Secretary of State George Ball, who felt that a surprise air strike would be a terrible political error. Sergei Khrushchev, the son of the Soviet premier, recalls his father¹s shock at learning his military had, without authorization, shot down an American U-2.
For all the calmness displayed on these tapes by the President and his key advisors, we now know that some of their calculations were shockingly mistaken. They had no idea of the dangers the country was really facing. The world was much closer to nuclear war than anyone knew.
The closest the world came to a nuclear war in the twentieth century was the Cuban Missile Crisis which played itself out over thirteen days in October, 1962. Remarkably, the behind-the-scenes debates were unobtrusively recorded on tape; these were not de-classified until the late 90's. In this film, we hear on tape President John F. Kennedy and the people around him preparing to confront the Soviet Union in Cuba, in the episode considered the climax of the Cold War.
The tapes demonstrate how Kennedy stood up to relentless pressure to go to war. His own generals, congressmen and friends warned him that "appeasement" could lead to disaster; he must not appear "cowardly." The issue of "pre-emptive strike" was considered. In the film, Robert McNamara, the former U.S. Defense Secretary and Gen. Maxwell Taylor, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urge an attack on Cuba with the goal of destroying the Russian missiles. Opposing them are Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Assistant Secretary of State George Ball, who felt that a surprise air strike would be a terrible political error. Sergei Khrushchev, the son of the Soviet premier, recalls his father¹s shock at learning his military had, without authorization, shot down an American U-2.
For all the calmness displayed on these tapes by the President and his key advisors, we now know that some of their calculations were shockingly mistaken. They had no idea of the dangers the country was really facing. The world was much closer to nuclear war than anyone knew.
"the conclusion of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in my mind, is that the indefinite combination of human fallibility and nuclear warheads will lead to destruction of nations. We ought to get rid of nuclear weapons."
Robert McNamara (in hindsight)
"Highly recommended for junior high through adult... compelling...places the viewer at the heart of the conflict, with a sense of immediacy artfully supported by period footage." Scott Smith, Associate Library Director, Lorette Wilmot Library, Nazareth College of Rochester, for Educational Media Reviews Online
Robert McNamara (in hindsight)
"Highly recommended for junior high through adult... compelling...places the viewer at the heart of the conflict, with a sense of immediacy artfully supported by period footage." Scott Smith, Associate Library Director, Lorette Wilmot Library, Nazareth College of Rochester, for Educational Media Reviews Online
