ve nuclear missile sites, with missiles capable of reaching most major U.S. cities. This realization sparked a massive government operation to discover everything possible about this new threat, and at the same time to cover it up for the nonce so as not to cause a general panic. Since the Bay of Pigs incident, Kennedy no longer blindly followed the advice of his military advisors, but instead decided to rely on the advice from the more intellectual minds of the nation. He then formed these minds into the ExComm council, which was to prove vital in all areas of the crisis, and essential to the successful outcome. The level of security levied on this group was so great that even their wives were not to be told of anything. Potentially the greatest advice this group of advisors gave Kennedy kept the U.S. out of what could have turned into a global disaster. They strongly advised against the military’s option of a direct air bombardment of the missile sites and/or a Marine invasion of the island of Cuba. This would have been a total disaster on all fronts as the 10,000 Soviet soldiers thought by CIA and military intelligence to be stationed on Cuba turned out to be closer to around 40,000. Also these troops had possession of tactical nuclear weapons, and the authority to use them on invading U.S. military forces as well. Instead Kennedy decided to use the ExComm’s recommendation of a “quarantine” of Cuba (really a blockade) to prevent further Soviet supplies from reaching Cuba. After this, the tensions continued to rise until negotiations with Khrushchev began to be established. Utilizing the advice of the ExComm, and weeks of tact and diplomacy (and the occasional bicycle riding Western Union letter carrier to send Khrushchev terms and updates of events) Kennedy negotiated with Khrushchev mutually beneficial trade-offs. The U.S. would lift the “quarantine” and also give “assurances aga...
