Cuban Missile Crisis

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2022

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In October 1962, the United States confirmed that Soviet missiles were being deployed in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy had to contemplate the consequences of any US response, knowing an escalation of hostilities could end in all-out nuclear war.

What followed was the period of greatest tension during the Cold War. When journalist and historian Sir Max Hastings started writing Abyss, his new book on the confrontation, he thought he was writing about the threat of nuclear war as history. But, as he tells Don in today’s episode, with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it has returned to present day.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Once upon a time in medieval England, there was a young king who would do just about anything for his favorite night.
0:06.5	They were inseparable.
0:08.5	With love at the front of a king's mind, instead of war or ambition, you'd think the kingdom would be in for a golden
0:15.0	era of peace. But England is headed for the most catastrophic collapse seen for hundreds of
0:20.4	years. The saga continues, Join me Dan Jones on This is History, a Dynasty to
0:26.4	Die for. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there it's Don, just jumping in to give you a quick heads up that this episode includes explicit language.
0:40.0	It is October 18th, 1962.
0:45.0	President John F. Kennedy is meeting with his advisors at the White House.
0:50.0	They are discussing the possible consequences of a U.S. invasion of Cuba to remove the nuclear
0:56.3	missiles they know are being deployed there by the Soviets.
1:00.4	Would the U.S.S.R. sees West Berlin in response?
1:03.4	And if so, the President's brother Bobby Kennedy asks,
1:06.8	what do we do?
1:07.8	Go to General War, answers the chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,
1:12.1	General Maxwell Taylor.
1:14.0	Then the President asks the question no U.S. President wants to ask.
1:18.0	You mean Nuclear Exchange.
1:20.0	Guess you have to, comes the reply.
1:22.0	It is one of many tense occasions during the Yes, you have to, comes the reply.
1:22.7	It is one of many tense occasions during the famous 13 days
1:26.5	of the Cuban missile crisis, when the Cold War came closest
1:30.0	to full-scale nuclear conflict.
	...

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