1960s Timeline

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Defense Department Prepares To Deploy Intercontinental Missiles

Mar. 23, 1963 - Without fanfare, in fact with as much secrecy as possible, the Defense Department is preparing to deploy at U.S. bases 54 intercontinental missiles of the “doomsday” variety. Many experts think civilization would not survive if they were ever used against Russia. In terms of megatonnage — millions of tons of TNT equivalent — the missiles may pack only a fourth as much power as Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s vaunted 100-megaton bomb. But experts said today

Dec 12, 2022

JFK Hits Boycotts of Merchants Selling Red Imports

Dec. 12, 1962 - President Kennedy today criticized boycotts against American merchants selling Iron Curtain imports as ineffective as an attack on communism. He suggested the John Birch Society and similar groups backing the nationwide drive devote their energies to supporting positive programs against communism. “If they really want to do something about the spread of communism,” the President said at his news conference, “they will assist the Alliance for Progress, for one

Dec 12, 2022

Khrushchev Hits Communist China

Dec. 12, 1962 - Premier Khrushchev declared today the Soviet Union would resist the pressure of “dogmatists” within the Communist world who wanted to risk nuclear war with the West. In a major foreign policy speech before the Supreme Soviet (the Parliament) broadcast to the nation, Mr. Khrushchev condemned only the Albanian Communists by name as “dogmatists,” but the Premier was clearly alluding to the Chinese Communists as well. Mr. Khrushchev struck back at accusations by t

Dec 3, 2022

Dec. 3, 1962 - JFK Award Presentation to Dr. Edward Teller

Dec. 3, 1962 - Here are President Kennedy's remarks today at the presentation of the 1962 Enrico Fermi Award to Dr. Edward Teller. In his speech, the President proudly describes the U.S. as a haven for talented scientists, and he discusses Dr. Teller's contributions to thermonuclear research and the peaceful use of nuclear explosives. #JFK #nuclear #coldwar #history #OTD

Nov 7, 2022

Khrushchev: Soviet Rockets Are Out of Cuba

Nov. 7, 1962 - Premier Khrushchev (pictured today with Marshal Rodion Malinovsky) declared today that the Soviet Union had taken its rockets out of Cuba. In an impromptu toast at a Kremlin reception celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, Mr. Khrushchev said, “We have taken our rockets out, and they probably are on the way.” The remarks of the Premier seemed to indicate that the missile bases had been dismantled and the equipment was being loaded aboard

Oct 31, 2022

Castro Continues Guantanamo Demands

Oct. 31, 1962 - U Thant and a somber group of his top assistants returned tonight from two days of negotiations with Fidel Castro in Havana. The Acting Secretary General of the U.N. gave a qualified prediction that the dismantling of Soviet missiles in Cuba would be completed by Friday. However, sources stated that, despite Mr. Thant’s optimism about the dismantling of the Soviet bases in Cuba, he had made no progress in his effort to persuade Premier Castro to agree to his p

Oct 31, 2022

Khrushchev’s Control Could Be Slipping

Oct. 31, 1962 - Qualified sources suggested today that Premier Khrushchev’s control of the Soviet Government was entering a period of serious and significant strain as a result of his retreat in the Cuba crisis. There are no signs yet that the Premier’s power has been reduced. But the sources have indications that Mr. Khrushchev must watch carefully those associates in the Communist Party Presidium and the Government, led by Marshal Rodion Y. Malinovsky, Minister of Defense,

Oct 30, 2022

U.S. Temporarily Suspends Surveillance of Cuba

Oct. 30, 1962 - The U.S. temporarily suspended its aerial surveillance of Cuba today amid reports that the Soviet Union had halted work on its missile bases on the island. The photo reconnaissance missions were suspended for two days, officials said. The action followed the relaxation this morning for a two-day period of the sea blockade of Cuba. Officials explained that the respite had been ordered to facilitate negotiations by the U.N. in Havana. Premier Fidel Castro and U

Oct 29, 2022

Kennedy Administration Considered and Rejected Surprise Attack on Cuba

Oct. 29, 1962 - President Kennedy (pictured with Gen. Curtis LeMay) and his advisers gave long and serious thought to ordering a surprise air attack on Soviet missile bases in Cuba before deciding that a limited blockade could achieve their objectives. Administration officials recalled that the final decision was made for moral as well as tactical reasons. Grave questions were raised in the President’s inner circle about the blot that an assault on Cuba would place on the U.S

Oct 29, 2022

Europe Hails JFK on Cuban Victory

Oct. 29, 1962 - Western Europe hailed today the Soviet Union’s retreat in the Cuban crisis as a stunning victory for the U.S. President Kennedy emerged in the West as the hero of the crisis, but Premier Khrushchev also received some praise. Such banner headlines as “Back From the Brink,” “Retreat from Danger,” and “End of a Nightmare” reflected a mood of deep thankfulness at escape from nuclear war. The Irish Press of Dublin commented: “Now that the immediate strain is over,

Oct 28, 2022

Attorney General Links Cuban Crisis to Racial Turmoil

Oct. 28, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said tonight that the tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union over Cuba were linked to the struggle against racial and religious discrimination at home. The confrontation between this nation and the Soviet Union, Mr. Kennedy asserted, is “in reality a confrontation of all people who believe in human dignity and freedom” against those who believe in the supremacy of the state. Addressing a dinner of the American Jewish Cong

Oct 28, 2022

McNamara Finally Goes Home after Sleeping at Pentagon for a Week

Oct. 28, 1962 - Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (left) left the Pentagon tonight to go home and sleep in his own bed for the first time in a week. Mr. McNamara has been sleeping in his office since last weekend, when the Cuban crisis was building toward a climax. He left the Pentagon at 6 p.m. for his home in northwest Washington. A spokesman said that, except for an hour or so at home to eat dinner Tuesday, the Secretary had remained in the Pentagon since last Sunday

Oct 28, 2022

JFK and Democrats May Gain from Cuban Crisis

Oct. 28, 1962 - President Kennedy and the Democratic party have probably gained a political windfall as a result of Premier Khrushchev’s proposals for a Cuban settlement. The full realization of the benefits may not come until President Kennedy’s 1964 campaign for reelection, but there are advantages that should be applicable to the elections coming Nov. 6. Ever since 1952, when the frustration of the Korean War stalemate gave the Republicans the opening to attack the Democra

Oct 28, 2022

Castro Continues Tantrum Over Guantanamo

Oct. 28, 1962 - Premier Fidel Castro demanded today that the U.S. evacuate its naval base at Guantanamo Bay. This was taken in Washington as a major point in evidence that Cuba’s revolutionary leader was struggling to salvage his prestige at home and in the rest of Latin America. U.S. officials and Latin-American diplomats believed the provisional accord between Washington and Moscow on the withdrawal of nuclear missiles from Cuba left the Castro regime a substantial loser in

Oct 28, 2022

U.S. Plane Wanders Over Soviet Territory, JFK “Regrets” Incident

Oct. 28, 1962 - A U.S. plane flew over Soviet Far Eastern territory today, but both President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev sought to avoid tension over the incident. The President told Mr. Khrushchev that the incursion resulted from a navigational error. “I regret this incident and will see to it that every precaution is taken to prevent recurrence,” Mr. Kennedy declared. Premier Khrushchev disclosed the incident in his letter to President Kennedy on the Cuban crisis. He re

Oct 28, 2022

🚨Cuban Crisis Appears Over as JFK and Khrushchev Reach Agreement

Oct. 28, 1962 - President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev reached apparent agreement today on a formula to end the crisis over Cuba and to begin talks on easing tensions in other areas. Premier Khrushchev pledged the Soviet Union to stop work on its missile sites in Cuba, to dismantle the weapons, and to crate them and take them home. All this would be done under verification of U.N. representatives. President Kennedy pledged the lifting of the Cuban arms blockade when the U.N

Oct 27, 2022

Nixon Backs JFK on Cuba

Oct. 27, 1962 - Richard M. Nixon (pictured with Fidel Castro in 1959) fully endorsed President Kennedy’s “strong action” on Cuba tonight. He urged the rejection of a Soviet proposal to dismantle Cuban missiles if the U.S. gave up its bases in Turkey. To give up bases in Turkey would mean destroying the “anchor of NATO,” Mr. Nixon said in a televised speech. He seconded the President’s decision to turn down the Russian offer, which he likened to a “horse for a rabbit” trade th

Oct 27, 2022

White House: Cuba Crisis “Escalating”

Oct. 27, 1962 - President Kennedy revealed tonight that Premier Khrushchev had offered an acceptable solution to the Cuban crisis and then pulled away from it. In a letter to the Soviet leader tonight, President Kennedy called on him to stand by an offer made in a private communication last night to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba under U.N. supervision. At the same time, the President brushed aside, as he had earlier today, a subsequent proposal from Premier Khrushchev offe

Oct 27, 2022

Pickets and Counter-Pickets in Front of White House

Oct. 27, 1962 - Pickets and counter-pickets paraded before the White House today urging President Kennedy to get tougher with Cuba and, conversely, to keep the peace at any price. Both sides seemed agreed at midday that an exchange of U.S. bases in Turkey for Soviet bases in Cuba, as Premier Khrushchev had proposed, probably was as good a solution as any they could think of. The President’s reply in mid-afternoon, rejecting the plan until the Soviet Union halts the building o

Oct 27, 2022

U-2 Reconnaissance Plane Down in Cuba

Oct. 27, 1962 - A U-2 reconnaissance plane is missing and presumed lost over Cuba. Other unarmed planes on surveillance missions over Cuba have been fired upon, apparently by Cubans and not Russians. Measures will be taken to “insure that such missions are effective and protected,” the Defense Department warned. This indicated that armed escorts would be supplied for photo reconnaissance aircraft. The Pentagon identified the pilot of the missing plane as Major Rudolf Anderson