Archive

The Commander-in-Chief Test: What the Cuban Missile Crisis Tells Us About JFK

Nuclear Standoff

As we watch Obama and Romney wrestle for the presidency, we would do well to remind ourselves of what’s at stake by looking back 50 years to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Historian David Coleman reveals what the transcripts of Kennedy’s secret tapes, collected in Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy, tell us about his leadership.

articles/2012/10/16/the-commander-in-chief-test-what-the-cuban-missile-crisis-tells-us-about-jfk/cuba-missle-crisis-tease_j3uwar
Bill Allen / AP Photo

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.