President Kennedy Overreaction Or Textbook Deterrence

President John F Kennedy: overreaction or textbook deterrence? Karen Harte Postgraduate student in Security Studies Macquarie University Research question How does history view President Kennedy’s response to the Cuban Missile Crisis? Rationale In the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis and his subsequent assassination President Kennedy was praised for his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. As time has passed and previously classified documents have been released the opinion of many scholars has changed. The action taken by President Kennedy on advice from the Executive Committee (ExCom) is considered by some to be the ideal response whilst others believe that President Kennedy overreacted by taking the quarantine course of†¦show more content†¦Traditionalists such as Stone argue that President Kennedy did not have time for protracted negotiation and needed to take action that would likely compel President Khrushchev to remove the missiles from Cuba. Steel held a similar view with an acknowledgement that President Kennedy needed the missiles removed prior to the upcoming mid-term elections. The quarantine is also argued by traditionalists as being a course of action that did not force the Soviets to respond with violence. Sorensen holds this view which is summed up by Lebow as â€Å"...it demonstrated resolve without violence and thereby provided the Soviets with room to maneuvre (sic) and a peaceful way out of the crisis†. The Revisionist side of the debate also cite the impending mid-term elections as influencing Presidency Kennedy. Nathan said President Kennedy was focused on â€Å"†¦.his administration’s electoral future, pride and strategic posture.† Additionally, Nathan argued that President Kennedy wanted to appear credible to Soviet President Khrushchev. Adding in a fear of impeachment on the grounds of not taking action and President Kennedy was more focused on his image and electoral future than in the practice of international relations. Bernstein is another author who also focuses on President Kennedy’s concern over his image. Bernstein remarks that acceding the Jupiter missiles in Turkey and private diplomacy would have been a better course of action than to