On October 22, 1962, after receiving information gathered by
high-altitude spy planes, United States president John F. Kennedy made one of
the most dramatic presidential addresses ever delivered to the American people.
Kennedy revealed that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had
delivered missiles with nuclear warheads to Cuba. He announced a naval blockade
to prevent the USSR from making further missile deliveries. Kennedy’s demand
that Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev remove the missiles already in place
suddenly made nuclear war a nightmarish possibility. Herbert S. Parmet
Kennedy's Cuban Missile Broadcast
Good evening, my fellow citizens:
This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest
surveillance of the Soviet military build-up on the island of Cuba. Within the
past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of
offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The
purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike
capability against the Western Hemisphere. Upon receiving the first preliminary
hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9 a.m., I directed that
our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed and completed our
evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this
Government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in full detail.
The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate
two distinct types of installations. Several of them include Medium Range
Ballistic Missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more
than 1000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of
striking Washington, D.C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any
other city in the Southeastern part of the United States, in Central America or
in the Caribbean area.
Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed
for Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles—capable of travelling more than twice
as far—and thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western
Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson's Bay, Canada and as far south as
Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are
now being uncrated and assembled on Cuba, while the necessary air bases are
being prepared.
This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important
strategic base—by the presence of these large, long-range and clearly offensive
weapons of sudden mass destruction—constitutes an explicit threat to the peace
and security of all the Americas, in flagrant and deliberate defiance of the Rio
Pact of 1947, the traditions of this nation and Hemisphere, the Joint Resolution
of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, and my own public
warnings to the Soviets on September 4 and 13. This action also contradicts the
repeated assurances of Soviet spokesmen, both publicly and privately delivered,
that the arms build-up in Cuba would retain its original defensive character,
and that the Soviet Union has no need or desire to station strategic missiles on
the territory of any other nation.
The size of this undertaking makes clear that it had
been planned some months ago. Yet only last month, after I had made clear the
distinction between any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles and the
existence of defensive anti-aircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly
stated on September 11 that “the armaments and military equipment sent to Cuba
are designed exclusively for defensive purposes,” that “there is no need for the
Soviet Union to shift its weapons ... for a retaliatory blow to any other
country, for instance Cuba,” and that “the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets
to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for
them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union.” That statement was false.
Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive
build-up was already in my hand, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko told me in my
office that he was instructed to make it clear once again, as he said his
Government had already done, that Soviet assistance to Cuba “pursued solely the
purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba,” that “training by
Soviet specialists of Cuban nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no
means offensive,” and that “if it were otherwise, the Soviet Government would
never become involved in rendering such assistance.” That statement also was
false.
Neither the United States of America nor the world
community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on
the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only
the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation's
security to constitute a maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive, and
ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of
their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a
definite threat to the peace.
For many years, both the Soviet Union and the United
States—recognizing this fact—have deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great
care, never upsetting the precarious status quo which ensured that these weapons
would not be used in the absence of some vital challenge. Our own strategic
missiles have never been transferred to the territory of any other nation under
a cloak of secrecy and deception; and our history—unlike that of the Soviets
since World War II—demonstrates that we have no desire to dominate or conquer
any other nation or impose our system upon its people. Nevertheless, American
citizens have become adjusted to living daily on the bull's eye of Soviet
missiles located inside the USSR or in submarines. In that sense, missiles in
Cuba add to an already clear and present danger—although, it should be noted,
the nations of Latin America have never previously been subjected to a potential
nuclear threat.
But this secret, swift and extraordinary build-up of
communist missiles—in an area well-known to have a special and historical
relationship to the United States and the nations of the Western Hemisphere, in
violation of Soviet assurances, and in defiance of American and Hemispheric
policy—this sudden, clandestine decision to station strategic weapons for the
first time outside of Soviet soil—is a deliberately provocative and unjustified
change in the status quo which cannot be accepted by this country, if our
courage and our commitments are ever to be trusted again by either friend or
foe.
The 1930's taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct,
if allowed to grow unchecked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war. This
nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving
objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this
or any other country, and to secure their withdrawal or elimination from the
Western Hemisphere.
Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as
befits a peaceful and powerful nation, which leads a world-wide alliance. We
have been determined not to be diverted from our central concerns by mere
irritants and fanatics. But now further action is required—and it is underway;
and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not prematurely or
unnecessarily risk the costs of world-wide nuclear war in which even the fruits
of victory would be ashes in our mouth—but neither will we shrink from that risk
at any time it must be faced.
Acting, therefore, in the defense of our own security
and that of the entire Western Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to
me by the Constitution as endorsed by the Resolution of the Congress, I have
directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately:
1) First: to halt this offensive build-up, a strict
quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being
initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port,
will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This
quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We
are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets
attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.
2) Second: I have directed the continued and increased
close surveillance of Cuba and its military build-up. The Foreign Ministers of
the OAS in their communique of October 6 rejected secrecy on such matters in
this Hemisphere. Should these offensive military preparations continue, thus
increasing the threat to the Hemisphere, further action will be justified. I
have directed the armed forces to prepare for any eventualities; and I trust
that, in the interest of both the Cuban people and the Soviet technicians at
these sites, the hazards to all concerned of continuing this threat will be
recognized.
3) Third: It shall be the policy of this nation to
regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western
Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States requiring a
full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.
4) Fourth: As a necessary military precaution, I have
reinforced our base at Guantanamo, evacuated today the dependents of our
personnel there and ordered additional military units to stand by on an alert
basis.
5) Fifth: We are calling tonight for an immediate
meeting of the Organ of Consultation under the Organization of American States,
to consider this threat to hemispheric security and to invoke Articles 6 and 8
of the Rio Treaty in support of all necessary action. The United Nations Charter
allows for regional security arrangements—and the nations of this hemisphere
decided long ago against the military presence of outside powers. Our other
allies around the world have also been alerted.
6) Sixth: Under the Charter of the United Nations, we
are asking tonight that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be convoked
without delay to take action against this latest Soviet threat to world peace.
Our Resolution will call for the prompt dismantling and withdrawal of all
offensive weapons in Cuba, under the supervision of UN observers, before the
quarantine can be lifted.
7) Seventh and finally: I call upon Chairman Khrushchev
to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world
peace and to stable relations between our two nations. I call upon him further
to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to
end the perilous arms race and transform the history of man. He has an
opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction—by
returning to his government's own words that it had no need to station missiles
outside its own territory, and withdrawing these weapons from Cuba—by refraining
from any action which will widen or deepen the present crisis—and then by
participating in a search for peaceful and permanent solutions.
This nation is prepared to present its case against this
Soviet threat to peace, and our own proposals for a peaceful world, at any time
and in any forum—in the OAS, in the United Nations, or in any other meeting that
could be useful—without limiting our freedom of action. We have in the past made
strenuous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. We have proposed the
elimination of all arms and military bases in a fair and effective disarmament
treaty. We are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on
both sides—including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to
determine its own destiny. We have no wish to war with the Soviet Union—for we
are a peaceful people who desire to live in peace with all other peoples.
But it is difficult to settle or even discuss these
problems in an atmosphere of intimidation. That is why this latest Soviet
threat—or any other threat which is made either independently or in response to
our actions this week—must and will be met with determination. Any hostile move
anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are
committed—including in particular the brave people of West Berlin—will be met by
whatever action is needed.
Finally, I want to say a few words to the captive people
of Cuba, to whom this speech is being directly carried by special radio
facilities. I speak to you as a friend, as one who knows of your deep attachment
to your fatherland, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice
for all. And I have watched with deep sorrow how your nationalist revolution was
betrayed—and how your fatherland fell under foreign domination. Now your leaders
are no longer Cuban leaders inspired by Cuban ideals. They are puppets and
agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against your friends
and neighbors in the Americas—and turned it into the first Latin American
country to become a target for nuclear war—the first Latin American country to
have these weapons on its soil.
These new weapons are not in your interest. They
contribute nothing to your peace and well-being. They can only undermine it. But
this country has no wish to cause you to suffer or to impose any system upon
you. We know your lives and land are being used as pawns by those who deny you
freedom.
Many times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to
throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty. And I have no doubt that most
Cubans today look forward to the time when they will be truly free—free from
foreign domination, free to choose their own leaders, free to select their own
system, free to own their own land, free to speak and write and worship without
fear or degradation. And then shall Cuba be welcomed back to the society of free
nations and to the associations of this Hemisphere.
My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a
difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can foresee
precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred.
Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead—months in which both our
will and our patience will be tested—months in which many threats and
denunciations will keep us aware of our danger. But the greatest danger of all
would be to do nothing.
The path we have chosen for the present is full of
hazards, as all paths are—but it is the one most consistent with our character
and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of
freedom is always high—but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall
never choose is the path of surrender or submission.
Our goal is not the victory of might but the vindication
of right—not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here
in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will
be achieved.
Source: National Archives and Records
Administration.
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