What if the Cuban missile crisis had gone badly?

[John_W.Kennedy]

@Northern_Piper

Do you have a cite for that? It’s been well-known since Thirteen Days came out in 1969. Are you arguing that American historians ignore this point?

As I said, I was 15 years old in 1963, and I knew it at the time.

[Frank]

@silenus

We lived all of 3 miles from an Air Defense Command Headquarters and MAC base. Curling up under my desk would have saved me, wouldn’t it? Maybe? Sorta?

Yeah, I spent all my childhood on or near important Navy bases. The risk of surviving into a post nuclear holocaust world wasn’t very high.

@marshmallow

Even if America, Europe, and the Soviets completely destroyed each other, which isn’t really feasible, that still leaves South America, Africa, Australia, all of Asia, the Middle East, etc. Plus Canada and Mexico, though they may want to take a vacation.

Canada was (and is) a member of NATO, and there were U.S. defense installations in the north of the country.

[Senegoid]

@Elendil_s_Heir

Not all national or subnational leaders are rational, of course, and such weapons may someday be purposefully used by people so driven by religious, ethnic or political hatreds that they won’t mind - and indeed may even embrace - suicide.

Or, to state the obvious that Elendil’s Heir so tactfully tip-toed around here, if I may paraphrase Tom Lehrer . . .

We’ll try to stay serene and calm, [good luck with that] *
When Islamic Caliphate gets the bomb!*

[Kolak_of_Twilo]

@Northern_Piper

Do you have a cite for that? It’s been well-known since Thirteen Days came out in 1969. Are you arguing that American historians ignore this point?

@John_W.Kennedy

As I said, I was 15 years old in 1963, and I knew it at the time.

I would suggest this isn’t widely known among folks under 50. I was born in '62 and didn’t hear about it until I was in high school in the last 70’s. Given some of the more jingoistic attitudes young folks have today, I would be curious whether it is mentioined in common history courses or textbooks. On the rare occasions this topic comes up, the narrative seems to be how Kennedy stared Khrushchev down. The idea the US blinked or reached an accomodation goes against that narrative. YMMV

[RaffArundel]

@Kolak_of_Twilo

I would suggest this isn’t widely known among folks under 50. I was born in '62 and didn’t hear about it until I was in high school in the last 70’s… On the rare occasions this topic comes up, the narrative seems to be how Kennedy stared Khrushchev down.

Slightly younger myself, but this is pretty much my experience. However, I think there are two caveats that should be included.

First, until high school, the Cuban Missile Crisis was that thing they said in the news - generally like “another Cuban Missile Crisis brewing” every time one side did anything provocative. It wasn’t until high school (the 80s for me) that I got a bigger and/or more nuanced picture of the Cold War and the maneuvering of the times. I’m not sure that it would be taught any earlier - don’t recall how far we got in junior high history but definitely not as far as Vietnam, but then it was barely history at that point. I’m not sure it was in textbooks of the time.

Second, my experience wasn’t rah-rah USA but rather an extension of the Camelot mythos where JFK was the greatest president since Lincoln. There was definitely a vibe of JFK saved the country (single handedly, multiple times) *because *he was JFK. Since we spent more time on JFK’s Civil Rights talk than LBJ’s actual actions, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that JFK gets the “great man history” version of stopping the evil Soviets at Cuba in the textbooks of the time. High school textbooks aren’t exactly known for going into detail about complicated subjects.

Anyone know what *is *currently in textbooks about the Missile Crisis? When do kids typically cover the Cold War now - still high school?

[Chronos]

Quoth silenus:

We lived all of 3 miles from an Air Defense Command Headquarters and MAC base. Curling up under my desk would have saved me, wouldn’t it? Maybe? Sorta?

Well, maybe. There were certainly missiles aimed very close to you, but then there’s the question of how accurate the missiles were. If they missed by a large enough margin, you just might have ended up in the band where duck and cover makes a difference.

[bfranklin]

I’m sure this is just a coincidence, but we were prepared to invade Cuba in 1962.

I was in the Army Infantry at this time. We had just completed amphibious maneuvers training in Virginia. Other units had been training for months before us. We had loaded our vehicles on railroad cars, and sent them to Florida.

We had been preparing for over a year, and we were prepared to land on Cuba and march from one side to the other. Lord, what a mess that would have been.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@Kolak_of_Twilo

I would suggest this isn’t widely known among folks under 50. I was born in '62 and didn’t hear about it until I was in high school in the last 70’s.

I was taught it in junior high in the '80s, and have heard about it since.