Existing comment:
President Kennedy's reading copy of his address to the nation, October 22, selected pages.
On October 22, 1962, at 7:00pm, President Kennedy interrupted the nation's Monday night television programs with this public address. In a speech that lasted 17 minutes, he explained that the Soviet Union was in the process of installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. He said that the presence of these missiles so close to the United States would pose a mortal threat to the nation and upset the balance of power between the two superpowers, and that they must be removed. He outlined the steps he was taking in response.
He did not shrink from disclosing the gravity of the threat, but he withheld details of the nuclear strike's full horror.
Excerpts from the President's televised address are shown on the monitor at left. |