Why did Kennedy want consensus?

[shawshank62]

During the Cuban Missile crisis, why did kennedy want a consensus on whatever decision was made?

[shawshank62]

i was thinking along the lines of, if something went wrong, and nuclear war started, he wouldnt be held soely responsible. but this is just a hypothesis. no one else?

[Chuckiechan]

I wonder why he didn't go to the UN?

I think the only concensis he was concerned about was in his cabinent. He was probably worried about a shooting war erupting and going nuclear. Our intelligence gathering wasn't nearly as good as it is today, so there were many wild cards in play.

[pickel]

I wonder why he didn't go to the UN?

Would you ????????

[daveleau]

I have not studied this period so mine is just conjecture, but I'd think it had to do with two things:
1) CYA The more people involved the more evenly the blame can be spread
2) This situation's outcome had huge ramifications on the quality of life on earth for decades. He needed absolute assurance from the rest of his cabinet.

While I generally consider Kennedy as one of the most overrated presidents, I think he did a good job and this was the highlight of his presidency.

[Chuckiechan]

J/K about the UN!

I think the way to look at it is that Cuba was believed to posses nuclear weapons supplied by the Russkies. Flight time to Washington DC was like 10 minutes. Russia and Cuba were hostile to the USA and it was not known who was actually on the trigger, Russia or Cuba. It was presumed to be Russia, but Cuba was talking the talk. There was a real threat of a nuclear war if Russia chose to walk Cuba's talk. This close proxmity to Washington made a "de-capitation" strike a tempting possibility for a world rival to attempt. This was a gauntlet thrown down that Kennedy could not ignore. Washington would be in flames before he could get the Joint Chiefs on the phone.

It's funny how we look back at this and go "Whew, that was close", and yet many are still unwilling today to find relevant reasons to stop pre-nuclear nations from becoming nuclear powers.

[daveleau]

How quickly we forget, Chuckiechan, how quickly we forget. That's why republicans have an elephant as their symbol and democrats have a jackass, I mean, donkey.

[mdroth]

Kennedy was notorious for not acting until he was completly satisfied that everything was as it should be (when the worlds focus was on him). Guess he was a little nervous after the Bay of Pigs. He always wanted to hear what everyone else thought on the subject and gather as much intel as possible. Also, as stated before all Kennedy's believe first and formost in CYA.

mike

[shawshank62]

While I generally consider Kennedy as one of the most overrated presidents

no arguement there.

Guess he was a little nervous after the Bay of Pigs.

Actually, i think the country sort of bannded together and supported him after bay of pigs.....i forget where i read that....i could be wrong though.

not to mention, he never had a clear mandate. If nixon where to have contested, he probably would have won. but he did the smart thing and that made him look like the good guy, and democrats didnt stand a chance in the '68 election, so his stepping down pretty much propelled him to the presidency.

[mdroth]

Originally posted by shawshank62




Actually, i think the country sort of bannded together and supported him after bay of pigs.....i forget where i read that....i could be wrong though.

that is because most of the country wasn't aware of what really went on during the BoP invasion and Kennedy and Mcnamara did one heck of a job spinning it to their advantage.

mike