Sohee Han: JFK and Cuban Missile Crisis

Sohee Han writes: In “John F. Kennedy, Cuban Missile Address,” Kennedy actually had many different ways to react against the Soviet Union. Rather than announce its risk, he could hide it from the public making secret compromise with Castro privately. This raises the question why Kennedy determines to publish such a danger to his people. I can think of two reasons why Kennedy took his action. First, he wants to show that he is not going to pull back from the war if the Soviet Union threats the United States. The United States and the Soviet Union held the major powers during the Cold War. If Kennedy pulled back when the Soviet Union showed some threats, the Soviet Union will belittle the United States and it can even bring worse result such as causing another war. The other reason I could think of is the reputation himself. By sharing such important news with people, citizens will trust him more and likely to follow his decision even though Kennedy may change his mind. The article “John F. Kennedy, Cuban Missile Address” is very interesting documents that makes readers to think why Kennedy takes such an action with taking risk.