Cuban Missile Crisis: How JFK Saved Our Country and the World

For the thirteen agonizing days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the very existence of our nation and the world was in doubt. Listen to rarely-heard tape recordings of secret White House meetings that show how John F. Kennedy rose to the moment and found a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Crucially, JFK gave himself time to weigh his options and then he resisted pressure from military advisers and Congressional leaders to launch military strikes that would likely have set off a nuclear war. Review how JFK's speech to the nation and Adlai Stevenson's at the United Nations turned world public opinion against the Soviets, strengthening America's negotiating position. Learn about recently-discovered evidence that, despite the best efforts of JFK and Khrushchev, ground-level military officials almost accidentally started a nuclear war on two occasions. Up for discussion is what lessons this dramatic episode has for presidential leadership in our own time.