Research the Cuban Missile Crisis. Use this blog to share what you find and respond to the movie "13 Days"-Ideas:
*What was your favorite scene and/or character?
*How realistic was the film? Were there historical inaccuracies?
*How close were the US and USSR to all out nuclear war?
*Who are the heroes of this situation?
*What might it have been like to live in the US/USSR during this time period? Would you have been afraid? What actions might you have taken?
What were your favorite scene and/or character?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character was President John F. Kennedy, and also, the actor who played him was excellent. When U-2 surveillance photos revealed that the USSR was placing missiles carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba, as I think, President Kennedy must be the most frustrated person in the U.S. He had just taken leadership for a year when he met this big crisis. What he faced was a dilemma between the possibilities of being attacked by nuclear weapon or triggering a war. A slight mistake in decision might ruin the country. If I was him, I would have collapsed. He not only didn’t collapse but also calmed down and made a wise decision. The actor showed us a perfect president. I cannot read any emotions through his expression which I believe was very important for President Kennedy at that time. Become if he showed how he thought in front of his advisers, he would be able to get wise advices.
How realistic was the film? Were there historical inaccuracies?
Below is what I find about the accuracies of the movie. (From http://cinemaroll.com/drama/the-accuracy-of-thriteen-days/)
Inaccurate: Several still-living (as of the film's release) Kennedy administration officials and contemporary historians, including Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Special Counsel Ted Sorensen, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, have criticized the film for the depiction of Special Assistant Kenneth O'Donnell as chief motivator of Kennedy and others during the crisis. McNamara reacted in a PBS News Hour interview:"For God's sakes, Kenny O'Donnell didn't have any role whatsoever in the missile crisis; he was a political appointment secretary to the President; that's absurd."According to McNamara, the duties performed by O'Donnell in the film are closer to the role Sorensen played during the actual crisis: "It was not Kenny O'Donnell who pulled us all together—it was Ted Sorensen."
My thought's on the movie 13-Days, that we watched in class was pretty good over all. I don't know if it truly depicted all of the character's nature or even really looked like them as they truly were. But in the Movies Holly Wood can exagerate quite a bit. I don't see JFK as that mild mannered. He was portrayed in the film to be quite timid and relied on his advisers advice more than he probubly had in real life. Although in real life he was far from timid, as a man of integrity, he knew when to pic his battles, but also had a voice and mind in which he was not afraid to use them. The events played-out or portrayed in the film seem relatively close to that of the actual event's. Although with the CIA involved you know there are to be some cover-ups and un-truths, as that is there job.
ReplyDeleteThrough my 12 President's research I found that I had written quite a bit of information about his involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Several month's into his Presidency Kennedy found himself in turmoil with Fidel Castro's Cuba. Which at this time was supported by the Soviet Union. Kennedy approved the CIA to invade Cuba, from a previous plan under Dwight Eisenhower. In a televised address, Kennedy told America that a “Naval Quarantine” or “Blockade”,
was enlisted on Cuba and would remain that way until the Soviet Union withdrew their missiles. He further warned that any missiles launched against any country in the Western World, would be considered an attack on America and would force the United States to respond in Retaliation.
I don't really have a favorite scene, as I really would have to see the entire movie to truly have an actual favorite. I did like the scene when Kennedy went behind the Generals back to keep the fact that the Cubans had fired at the planes was pretty funny proving as to what I had stated earlier on how he had been so underestimated in his Prsidential abilities.
The U.S. and USSR truly came very close to nuclear war, the Soviets for years had been planning these attacks. They waited for President Kennedy to come into office I think because he was depicted as being to soft. As he was clearly under-estimated.
I think that Kennedy and his assistants are the hero’s, as they were smart enough to go around the military, to ensure that they were not going to Jeopardize the whole world, for some ego maniac commanders trying to live out their final military hours in unnecessary combat to boost their own egos. Without the Integrity that JFK stood for we would have probably no-longer been the greatest Nation in the World.
I think in the United States the Ara that surrounded America was a great milestone in history. There were so many things going on, Rock&Roll, Civil Rights, the Wars. Economically we were beginning a new Ara of technology that set the stepping stones to the technology of our today’s society.
As far as living in the USSR I am so glad that I have never had to exsperiance Communism. I have a very free mind and could not imagine my whole life and controlled all under the command of the Government. To not have Freedom on all aspects of Human life is wrong. In-fact I wouldn't call it LIFE if your not able to live it.
Would I have been afraid? YES
I would have hoped that if I had lived then that my family had a bunker. Not gonna lie I love to Live!
As far as what I would have done?, I guess I probably would have did what the “duck & cover” film says. You know they still use that same method in school for Tornado’s? But if with what I know now about chemical war-fare I would build a bunker or find an abandoned one
Tried to post a comment, got thrown off, lost the whole thing. I'm PO'd.
ReplyDeleteThe historical truth: O'Donnell had nothing to do with the defense, he was a political advisor;
Russia put missiles in Cuba in response to the US putting missiles in Turkey; the solution of the crisis involved the US removing their missiles from there. Russian military strategy at that time was strictly defensive, it did not become agressive until late 60's - early 70's, with the development of tactical nuclear weapons. Even then Russian agressive strategy did not spread outside Europe.The strategy of "preemptive strike" is a product of early 80's (remember Reagan's "Star Wars"?)
Details: U-2 in the movie does not look anything like real U-2, "loaded" Russian ships sit high in the water, SAM's shown in the movie (so-called "Complex 125") did not come out until late 60's; I think the whole episode about low-flying recon mission is not true, but I may be wrong.
I remember how scared everybody was of the possibility of another war. People were whispering, my mom put an icon on the wall, despite my dad's protests. Don't forget, Russia lost 26 million people in WWII, and it was not too far behind yet; the memories were still fresh.
None the less, not a bad movie. My favorite character was Bobby Kennedy. He was the AG, but according to the movie, he was his brother's closest advisor and supporter.
While researching John F. Kennedy and his impact on the Cuban Missile Crisis, I came upon this website:
ReplyDeletehttp://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/
It is an online exhibit from the JFK Presidential Library & Museum that is called: World on the Brink: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. I found it interesting because it has the events that took place on each of the thirteen days as well as documents that support the events. When I compared it to the part of the movie that we watched in class, it seemed to me that the movie was pretty close to what actually happened during those thirteen days.
My favorite scene is when Kenny went to where the operators were working and watched and listened to them until he found an operator (I forget her name.) who had an attitude. She was smoking a cigarette and being nasty to the callers. I found it funny considering the time period, as well as the idea that she was speaking that way while working for the White House. It is scenes such as this one that makes me wonder what actually was happening during this time. Did somebody tell the writer about an incident such as this, or was this a made-up scene written to incorporate some humor into the movie? I am sure that a lot of the drama that was depicted throughout the film was made-up in order to keep the viewers interested. However, if it were possible, I would love to sit and have lunch with Kenny and ask him to tell me what actually happened. I am sure there were moments that were actually funny and interesting even though those thirteen days seemed incredibly stressful for President Kennedy and his team.
I also believe that it was President Kennedy and the ExComm team who should be considered the heroes. They were able to stick to their instincts and not allow for any “BS” to go down. They remained cautious, demanding and powerful and were able to prove, once again, the unity and power of the United States of America. I sound like a true patriot, huh?
I posted a blog.. and yet it got deleted.. once again.. don't want to bother posting it again.. it had lots of information on there
ReplyDeleteI posted the blog yesterday.. nowhere to be found
ReplyDeleteHere it is again..
ReplyDeleteProducer Roger Donaldson maintained critical attention to historical accuracy in making the film. However, several members of the Kennedy administration who were still living at the time the film was released took exception with the depiction of Kenny O'Donnell's role during the crisis. In a PBS interview, Robert McNamara stated that O'Donnell had no role in the crisis, and that it was in fact Ted Sorensen who pulled the administration together.
There are other historical inaccuracies in the film, such as the ones I listed below. You can locate more errors or "goofs" from this film on this website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146309/goofs
Factual errors: One sequence of a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command B-52 Stratofortress shows it to be armed with four Douglas AGM-48A Skybolt air-launched ballistic missiles. This weapons system was in development in 1962, and would be recommended for cancellation by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on 21 November 1962. President Kennedy concurred, and the project was canceled in December 1962, having never entered operational service.
In the movie, Kruschev's acceptance of peace contains the line "you and I should not now pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied the knot of war, because the harder you and I pull, the tighter the knot will become..." The quote goes on at some length and can be seen in the message coming in over the teletype. The trouble with this is that the quote appeared in Kruschev's first letter, dated October 26, 1962, in which he proposed the terms of peace. It did not appear in his October 27, 1962 acceptance of the American conciliation terms.
In once scene a fleet of US Navy Ships is shown for the blockade of Cuba,, one of the ships the USS Sylvania FS-2 was not commissioned until July 11, 1964, which is long after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The US and the USSR were very close in engaging in a nuclear war, which would also cause, I think, a WWIII. This war was meant to create competition between the countries as to who had the upper edge on nuclear weaponry. Threats were exchanged throughout, but no serious acts of conflict was made between the two countries.
My favorite character/hero was Kennedy. Stressing enough, he finds himself pulled in multiple directions. He rejects the path of pure diplomacy advocated by U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, who is seen by most as weak and politically irrelevant. Conversely, still remembering the Bay of Pigs fiasco, he mistrusts the hawkish advice of his generals, especially Air Force chief Curtis LeMay, who disdains the eventual solution, a block of Cuba by the Navy. The stakes were obviously high, since almost any military action against Cuba will provoke a Soviet response in West Berlin, requiring a response by NATO which will probably lead to all out war. Many tough decisions and responsibilities were made by a young president, and doing so accordingly, created successful outcomes in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
One way to mitigate the problem of disappearing posts is writing on Microsoft Word, or whatever you prefer, and then post it to the blog. I always save a copy of my blogs, just in case they disappear.
ReplyDeleteI liked the character Kenny O’Donnell, played by Kevin Costner. It is interested that we get to watch events in the movie unfold through the eyes of this presidential aide. He is our “everyman,” the common guy’s point of view in a world of giants. I never heard of the man before I watched the movie. The movie implied that Mr. O’Donnell was incredibly important to the success of diffusing the “Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Before I go on, I want to let you know this was the second time I had watched this movie. The first time I saw it was in the spring of 2001 in the movie theater. I had a good understanding of history at that time, but I did not have a good appreciation of the characters until I went to college at Penn State Behrend and Mercyhurst. Now when I watch this movie for the second time, I actually know who all the major players are and watch they have meant to US policy before and after the “Cuban Missile Crisis.” Many of the characters were altered is some way to fit the movie around Mr. O’Donnell, but we get the gist of the people well. However just as before, I wondered about who this Kenny O’Donnell guy. I still knew nothing about this man. I assumed the movie gave him a greater role than he ever played in real life. That would be typical Hollywood for you.
I checked numerous websites and they all said O’Donnell never called the Navy in Florida and have them pretend they were never shot at. In reality a U-2 plane was shot down and a reconnaissance plane was seriously damage in antiaircraft fire. Neither incident was mentioned in the movie. Mr. O’Donnell most likely played a small advisory role in the whole thing as noted in the link I have provided.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5428
Another big scene in the movie was making the Americans believe they were 100% sure that the Soviet Union had nuclear missiles in Cuba. In reality, the United States was not sure and that is one of the reasons of the escalation in the crisis. The U.S. only had proof of the medium range missiles, not of the nuclear weapons.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/brenner.htm
I do think the filmmakers achieved a commendable sense of the tension that some of the key U.S. players felt at the time. I liked how the movie showed Kennedy's flexibility in finding a secretive way to trade the outdated missiles in Turkey for the missiles in Cuba. One thing the movie doesn’t mention is Fidel Casto. He is another winner in this crisis. From early 1959 and until the missile crisis, the U.S. was constantly trying to overthrow that communist regime. The U.S. was responsible for the Bay of Pigs fiasco, assassination attempts, and other destabilizing efforts led by the CIA. After the crisis the U.S. backed off of Castro.
FYI, in 1962, the Soviet had fewer than fifty bombers and missiles that could hit the United States. We had more than five hundred. The missile gap Kennedy exploited in his 1960 campaign was real, except that it was in the U.S. favor, not the Soviets. The devastation would have been horrible, just imagine if we went to nuclear war in the 1980s when there over 40,000 nuclear weapons! Most people did not know the United States had more nuclear weapons than the Soviets, well into the 1970s.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nuclear_arms_race.htm
From a civilian point of view, it would have been a scary time. One only knows what is going on by watching television or listening to the radio. Those would have been a very long 13 days. It is not a surprise that this time period is considered a turning point in our culture. It was the end of innocence and belief that our federal government will always do what is right for us. By the end of the decade everything changed.
Here is some interesting info I found:
ReplyDeleteBobby Kennedy’s view of the Cuban Missile Crisis from October 25, 1968:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900405-1,00.html
These comments are insightful, lengthy, and enjoyable reads:) Thanks gang!
ReplyDelete13-Day Movie Review
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the movie minus the actor that played Kennedy was not nearly as good looking. There were different things I liked about the movie and others I didn’t like about movie. As previously stated in other reviews, I thought that Kennedy was real reliant on his advisor which I don’t think was relatively accurate. I believe he may have asked opinions but would not have relied on them so heavily. I also like the second round of photos taken for the missile develop scene. I liked how the pilot followed specific orders and stated that they were not fired upon. This situation could have drastically escalated had this not have happened. It is good to know that not all military personal were so war bent. I didn’t like the part where the advisor called home to tell his wife to be ready with the car if need be and they talked about meeting up later. Then a discussion about the family removal plan was just to justify the situation. This actual method would not have happen the way they were designed if something had gone wrong. That was very misleading to the family members. I liked how strong and committed Kennedy was that he didn’t want to go to war. The quarantine was the best option for Kennedy and the Country. We didn’t get to see the whole movie but I believe the movie was as close as it could be to the actual events of that time with a little embellishment for entertainment purposes.
It would have been terrifying to know this was happening. The movie showed that it was keeping a lot of it quite for a while which would have been scary. I believe that the government now keeps a lot of information quite, which is scary but probably for the good of the people. We don’t want to stir up havoc for no reason right???? I would have taken measure to know where my family members were at all times during the crisis and developed a plan if something were to happen. I would at least want to be with my family, together sharing goodbyes and compassion if death was near.
For me, one of the best scenes in the movie is the United Nation. When the Kennedy administration uses a televised United Nations meeting to gain sympathy for the American position. In that meeting, the US Ambassador asks the Soviet Ambassador, “Do you, Ambassador deny that the USSR has placed and in placing medium and intermediate range missiles in sites in Cuba? Yes or No?” The Soviet Ambassador makes some rambling statements, but fails to answer the question. Then the US Ambassador make another statement to the Soviet Ambassador, “Don’t wait for translation, Yes or No? I'm prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over!” Everybody was laughing and the American delegation then presents to the United Nations the photographic evidence of the Soviet missiles in Cuba. This resulted the Soviet to be embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character was President John F. Kennedy. Everybody’s life is depending on Kennedy’s decision. A tiny mistake in decision could bring America to World War III back in the October 1962. Kennedy was under heavy pressure from his military chiefs who want to shoot first and deal with the consequences later. If I was the president, I would faint and resign from being the president because is too risky. However, Kennedy’s performance during the Cuban Missile Crisis showed us his leadership style that was cautious, inclusive yet decisive, and flexible he was throughout the crisis. Kennedy is determined to show that he is strong enough to stand up to the threat. To deal with this threat, Kennedy creates a special Executive Committee (Ex-Comm) made up of senior government. Kennedy maintained his official schedule, meeting periodically with advisors to discuss the status of events in Cuba and possible strategies. There was two principal courses are offered: an air strike and invasion, or a naval quarantine with the threat of further military action. The committee recommends a naval blockade to lessen the chance of nuclear war. For his efforts, the world was forgiven.
How realistic was the film? Were there historical inaccuracies? I found two useful websites on President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. One website is http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct16/ which is the same website that Kristen found and the other website is http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/kennedy_cuban_missile_01.shtml After compared both websites to the movie that we have watched in class, I realized that the film was pretty much follows the historical timeline of events.
The world escaped nuclear war in October 1962 largely because of the prudence and cautious that President Kennedy and the ExComm team had. They had been careful to put off to the last possible moment any action that could result in killing a Russian. They recognized that once blood had been spilled, it would be very hard to keep any crisis under control. Therefore, the heroes of this situation could not be anyone else but President Kennedy and the ExComm team.
Would I have been afraid? Yes, of course I definitely would be afraid. Imagine myself had lived then, the “duck & cover” could not save my life since these weapons have the capability of wiping out most of the Eastern and Southern United States in few minutes if they become operational. Therefore, there is nothing I can do much except praying for me to live longer. I’m regretting that there so much that I want to do but have not done it. This lesson teaches me that sometime life is too short to enjoy things. Not to be regretting in the future, I better do whatever I want to live my worthy life. I really hope that my generation does not have to deal with any war.
What was your favorite scene and/or character?One of the best scenes in the movie is when Kenny O’Donnell having breakfast with his family like a happy family. In the meantime, one of his sons didn’t do well in school and brought his grade report home for guardian to sign. However, this boy was too afraid so he lie to his dad that the paper is the permission slip. Though Kenny refused to sign at first and ask his wife to sign it. Unfortunately, his wife doesn’t have any hand so Kenny had to sign it. Suddenly, Kenny looked at the paper, “ Wait a minute! This is not the permission slip, this is your report card.” Then he asked his wife that have she see these grades but his wife say no. As soon as Kenny about to leave the house he says to his son, “You, I’m talking to you later.” While his wife slaps his son head. I found this scene to be very funny.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scene was when President Kennedy tried to put the navy general (?) in his place when he tried to say that he was going to do things his way. I liked how President Kennedy made it clear that he was the president and he would be making all final decisions. I think it is always important for our leaders to be strong and put their foot down when and where needed. Of course later we saw President Kennedy get angry because some of his instructions were not followed. President Kennedy was my favorite character I liked watching how he re-acted to situations and I also liked the actor who played him in the film. I think that one inaccurate thing about the film was the actors who played some characters. From the sheet that was given to us before watching it I was unable to put names with some of the characters in the movie. President Kennedy was the only actor who I really thought looked like the actual person. One inaccuracy that I found on the website http://www.historyplace.com/specials/reviews/thirteen-days.htm was that President Kennedy did not actually have a strong Boston accent. An accuracy that I found on this [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5428] website is that the character of President Kennedy stayed true to who he was in real life, “a thoughtful, anguished, morally serious president who remained cool under pressure.” This comes from Rhodes College Political Science Professor, Michael Nelson, who was 13 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. An inaccuracy that is listed on the latter listed website is that O’Donnell did not play a huge part in the actual Crisis. In the film however, it is depicted that he did. The US and the USSR were actually very close to a full-on nuclear war. Both countries were very lucky that such a thing did not happen because it would have caused great damage to both. I think that President Kennedy is a hero in this situation because he did everything he could to prevent a nuclear war. By putting his foot down and sticking his ground on not firing when confronted by the navy I think that this did a lot. Another hero (of the film) is the soldier that Kennedy called and ordered not to fire, and that they should not get hit. I think that he showed leadership as well when demanding to the men that they did not get hit. He showed that they needed to refrain from violent retaliation as well. I think that it would have been scary to live during this time period. Not knowing what could happen at any moment or knowing that a nuclear war could break out at any time, with both countries on edge, I would have been extremely frightened. I am not sure what actions I would, or even could, have taken.
ReplyDelete13 Days Blog:
ReplyDeleteAfter reviewing JFK’s Presidency and the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as watching the movie “13 Days” I found it all to be quite interesting. I have to say I really enjoyed the movie and was bummed there was no more time left to finish watching it. Anyways though I think I would have to say my favorite scene from the movie was when the pilot at the air base was given the orders to not only take surveillance photos of the Soviet Union distribution of missiles in Cuba but to not admit that the jets were shot at while carrying on the mission. I understood why they shouldn’t have said they were shot at but it just surprised me that they would come up with the response that a lot of birds were responsible for the damage to the jets.
I feel the movie was very believable and seemed to be quite realistic despite a few tweaks in production and character roles. After researching a little bit more online I discovered an inaccuracy which was that the Special Assistant, Kenneth O’ Donnell, to President JFK had little impact on the President’s decisions and that O’ Donnell actually played a small role in if any in the missile crisis. Honestly the US and USSR were pretty damn close to an all out nuclear war but luckily it was settled and never escalated to mass destruction.
I feel as if the hero of this situation was President Kennedy because he wanted to prevent and stay away from the idea of nuclear war by any means. He wanted to contemplate different plans of action before a decision was made. He was an intelligent man that I feel saved and kept our country safe the best he could by finally coming to the conclusion and decision of ordering a quarantine. I think living during this time period might have been a little chaotic at times especially having to take precautions like duck and cover tactics. Yes, I would have been afraid during this time period because the chance of nuclear war occurring is enough to scare the daylights out of you. I mean if something like a nuclear war were to take place during then I suppose all I could do was follow the directions we all were taught and to try to get through this by praying. In the end though if something were to happen I don’t think too much more than that could be done.