Book Review: Thirteen Days by Robert Kennedy
Thirteen days is a book based on the actual thirteen days between October sixteenth and October twenty eighth in the year nineteen sixty two. It is a period of time when the world stood at the blink of nuclear war that could have caused total obliteration of the Earth. This period was branded with the name ‘Cuban missile crisis of nineteen sixty two’. President John F. Kennedy selected a team of specialist to manage the tense situation created by this threat. The book offers an in-depth account of the meetings of this Executive Committee (ExComm) as told by Robert Kennedy. He was the Attorney General in his brother’s administration at the time.
Spy planes from America discovered nuclear sites in Cuba built by the Soviet Union only ninety miles away from Florida. The Soviets were constructing a site in Cuba for medium range missile attacks on the United States. Written by the president’s brother, the book isn’t an idea of the events of the time. It is a profound insight of the behind-the-scenes Executive committee strategizing activities. It offers the reader an unmatched portrayal of event in the days that followed the discovery of nuclear activity only ninety miles away from Florida.
This book was released in nineteen sixty nine, only one year after Robert Kennedy was assassinated. It gives in-detail accounts of the daily meetings of the Executive Committee. In his book, Robert portrays his brother as a calm and composed leader who was involved but not controlling. Most times he (the president) chose to withhold his views to avoid biasness where people would support his ideas just because he was the president. The committee was divided between diplomatic and military reactions to this threat.
The book is written in uncomplicated, clear and concise way where even the non-politicos can understand. Unfortunately, Robert did not have the chance to put final touches to his book since he was assassinated a year before it was published. Non-the-less the book is still considered weightier and more analytical thanks to contributions by Arthur Schlesinger and two other outstanding historians.
The Cuban missile crisis came to a rather rounded conclusion. It was a grand day when the Soviets and the Americans came to an agreement on October twenty eighth. Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviets, relented and decided to turn back the ships carrying additional arms and take away those already in Cuba. In response to this gesture, the United States made a promise not to attack Cuba. Although this did not mark the end of the Cold War, it put in motion the initial cautious steps towards détente.
Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Washington: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008.
Kennedy, Robert F. Thirteen Days. Washington: W. W. Norton & company, 1969.
