Sept. 18, 1962 - Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon (pictured in Los Angeles) called today for a quarantine of Cuba to halt the flow of Soviet arms. He urged President Kennedy to take “stronger action” immediately and pledged his personal “unqualified support” to the Administration in such a course. Mr. Nixon suggested that such a program could involve a naval blockade of the island, which is only 90 miles south of the U.S., and the commitment from U.S. allies that their ships would not be used by the Soviets for shipments to Cuba. Mr. Nixon said that “there is always danger of war” in intervening but added that “there is a certainty of war” in delaying. Mr. Nixon said he was not making his statement on behalf of the Republican party, or as its presumptive leader, but merely as a concerned citizen.
