Fifty years after his presidency came to a violent end, John F. Kennedy basks in a mostly golden light of popular memory. Most Americans alive today were not yet born on that fateful day in Dallas, but his name still resonates–the popular memory of JFK is very much alive and well. The historical nostalgia runs […]
When Anastas Mikoyan and his son visited Havana in the immediate aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, they found a very different city than they had seen on their first visit less than three years earlier.
A summary of how much material has been redacted from the publicly released JFK and LBJ Telephone tapes.
The Kennedy family dinner table has generally been described by historians more as work than an opportunity for family bonding.
Thanks to JFK’s efforts to clamp down on leaks, we have a remarkable window into the kind of access reporters had in the Kennedy White House.
With hundreds or even thousands of appearances of a presidential campaign, it’s a practical necessity that the candidate has a stump speech or two to fall back on. JFK often started with a joke at Nixon’s expense.
In this 2007 article, I address the issue of the tactical nuclear weapons (especially the FROGs/Lunas) during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Trying to work out now how much the Cuban missile crisis cost would be practically impossible. For one thing, you would have to try to untangle personnel costs from State, CIA, the White House, and other government departments and agencies involved in one way or another. Who was working the problem, and how was it […]
This Gallup poll from September 1962 illustrates how prominently Cuba figured in American public opinion before the Cuban Missile Crisis.
A list of the Secret Service code names used in JFK’s White House, including the first family, staffers, locations, and vehicles.
Some presidents look like they’re being tortured during press conferences. JFK had a knack for making it look effortless. But that didn’t happen without doing some homework.
JFK’s average approval rating throughout his presidency was the highest of any post-World War II president. But the trends were heading steadily downwards.
As we come up towards the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, there are several new books coming out. Here are some of them.
The U.S. naval quarantine of Cuba took effect at 2PM GMT on October 24, 1962. The CIA was watching the movements of Soviet ships very closely.
Ben Bradlee wrote of the “harrowing experience” of playing golf with JFK in 1963.
Hitting high points that would make Madison Avenue proud, this Life Magazine ad copy promises rather a lot. Just one dollar to win the Cold War.
CIA reports on the location of Soviet ships a day after the Cuba quarantine went into effect during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
An interactive map showing the location of U.S. ships and support forces for the naval quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
On the even of the U.S. naval quarantine of Cuba going into effect, the CIA was tracking closely the movements of Soviet ships enroute to Cuba.
As President Kennedy went on national TV to announce the naval blockade of Cuba, this was the latest information on where Soviet ships were.
