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Let
us think about a situation that led to a difficult decision for one
of our former Presidents. John F. Kennedy was our President about
40 years ago. In 1962 President Kennedy learned that Russian leaders
were putting nuclear missiles in a country called Cuba which is very
close to the United States (click
here to see a map). Although Russian and the United States are
friends now, they did not get along in 1962. President Kennedy did
not want nuclear missiles close to the United States because they
could have killed almost everyone in our country. In order to protect
the safety of the American community President Kennedy needed to do
something. This was a difficult decision for President Kennedy. He
wanted to convince the Russians to remove their missiles from Cuba
without starting a large war.
Here are some questions you might think about: |
President
John F. Kennedy - 1962 |
1. What sort of things
did President Kennedy have to consider when making his decision?
2. What actions did Kennedy take before making his decision? What was
the ultimate decision that was made?
3. Who helped the president make his decision?
4. Would you have made the same decision as Kennedy? What would you have
done differently?
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