CNN Cold War - Historic Documents: Executive Committee meetings

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October 16 | October 18 | October 27

Click on the highlighted dates for streaming audio and excerpted transcripts of that day's meetings.

For two weeks they met in secret trying to prevent the world's first nuclear war.

On October 16, 1962, the first day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy created a group of advisers known as the Executive Committee of the U.S. National Security Council. Though not officially constituted until October 22, the ExComm was the key decision-making body governing U.S. responses and actions during the crisis period. President Kennedy chaired the committee.

The committee's first meeting was October 16, soon after U.S. spy planes uncovered the construction of nuclear missile sites on Cuba. The final meeting of the crisis took place on October 28 -- the day Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced he would remove the Soviet missiles from Cuba. What follows are extensive text and audio excerpts from three key White House meetings.

Key Players John F. Kennedy President President Kennedy initially appeared inclined to launch an air strike, but was concerned about a possible Soviet response. He established the ExComm to weigh all possible solutions. In the end he opted for a blockade. The crisis ended when he promised not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove NATO missiles from Turkey.
Robert Kennedy Attorney General Robert Kennedy was possibly President Kennedy's most intimate and influential adviser. He met secretly with Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin in an attempt to end the crisis. Lyndon Johnson Vice President LBJ initially favored air strikes to take out the Soviet missiles, but later supported the blockade. Robert McNamara Secretary of Defense McNamara was initially a forceful opponent of an air attack on Cuba, but he pressed for a blockade as a way to keep options open. He supported assuring the Soviets of the later removal of missiles from Turkey. George Ball Under Secretary of State Ball argued for a naval blockade.	Maxwell Taylor Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff A self-described "two-fold hawk from start to finish," Gen. Taylor personally argued for military action against Cuba -- preferably a full invasion. Douglas C. Dillon Secretary of the Treasury A staunch anti-communist Republican, Dillon initially argued for an air strike. He was persuaded to support the blockade but continued to recommend military action if needed. Theodore Sorensen Special Counsel to the President Sorensen advocated the blockade as an initial step in the crisis and wrote Kennedy's speech announcing the presence of the missiles. Dean Rusk Secretary of State Initially Rusk advocated a surgical strike on Cuba. Later, he suggested that Robert Kennedy assure Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin that the United States would withdraw missiles from Turkey.
Not Pictured:
John McCone CIA Director McCone began each ExComm meeting with an update on the status of the Soviet missile bases in Cuba. He advocated a hard-line stance toward the Soviet Union throughout the crisis.	McGeorge Bundy National Security Adviser Bundy unsuccessfully argued for a massive air strike on Cuba.
Other members of the ExComm, both official and unofficial, included: Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, Ambassador-at-Large Llewellyn Thompson, Deputy Under Secretary of State U. Alexis Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Nitze, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, private advisers John McCloy and Robert Lovett, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Adlai Stevenson, Deputy Director of the USIA Donald Wilson, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Edwin Martin, and, on the first day of the crisis, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Charles Bohlen. Information courtesy the National Security Archive. Republished with permission.