Kept Secret for Half-a-Century Documents Show RFK’s Role in the Cuban Missile Crisis
“Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy played a crucial role in the peaceful resolution of the crisis, and researchers and the public are keenly interested in the information and insights contained in these documents.” – David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States
BACM Research, a publisher of historical primary source documents through its distribution channel PaperlessArchives.com, has published a collection, Cuban Missile Crisis: Robert F. Kennedy Papers, which contain 3,584 pages of documents produced or accumulated by United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, while acting in his role as an advisor to President John F. Kennedy concerning the Cuban Missile Crisis. It can be downloaded at:
https://downloads.paperlessarchives.com/p/AZ2O/
According to the head of the National Archives, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy played a crucial role in the peaceful resolution of the crisis, and researchers and the public are keenly interested in the information and insights contained in these documents.
The coverage contained in these files are of events, deliberations, and actions, usually outside of the scope of the jurisdiction and responsibilities of the Attorney General. However, Robert Kennedys special relationship as both the brother of and special advisor to President Kennedy made him the closest man to JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
One folder of material maintained by Attorney General Kennedy included copies he kept of memos written to the President about meetings RFK had with Russian ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, copies of correspondences to and from President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and draft copies of speeches made by President Kennedy concerning Cuba.
Highlights from this collection of documents include:
A 1962 Letter from Premier Khrushchev to President Kennedy
A handwritten note made by Robert Kennedy on October 16, 1962, listing the Hawks and the Doves during the Cuban Missile Crisis
A letter to Fidel Castro from the Department of State drafted at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis
An October 25, 1962, State Department memo titled Political Path, outlines several options. One option is for a direct meeting between Khrushchev and President Kennedy. Another option listed was to put under United Nations control both the Soviet missiles in Cuba and the American missiles based in Turkey.
BACM Research/PaperlessArchives.coms collection can be downloaded at:
https://downloads.paperlessarchives.com/p/AZ2O/
