At What Price the Truth?

Cuban Missile Crisis

Lesson Plan Using Online Resources

Focus Question: Is honesty always the best policy in foreign relations?

Objectives

Students will:

• Evaluate possible outcomes if there had been no deception involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis.
• Represent visually the evaluations of these imaginary outcomes.
• Examine through classroom discussion the value of honesty in foreign relations.

Standards Met

• National Standards for History – Standards in Historical Thinking
• Standard 2 – Historical Comprehension
• 2D. Evidence historical perspectives.
• Standard – Historical Issues – Analysis and Decision-Making
• 5A.   Identify issues and problems in the past.
• Evaluate alternative courses of action.
• Evaluate the implementation of a decision.

Resources

1. A minimum of two 45-minute class periods (more if you have students work on their comic strips in class).
2. The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History for background information (This online lesson fits best at the end of the Choices unit or could be inserted after Day 1.)
3. Access to Internet and LCD player for "hook" lesson and student research (Although not necessary—the lesson can easily be done low tech with handouts.)
4. Markers, newspapers, magazines, paper, etc.

Handouts

• Cuban Missile Crisis Assignment Explanation (one for each student)
• Cuban Missile Crisis Comic Strip Rubric (one for each student)
• Cuban Missile Crisis—What if? Scenarios (one for each group)
  • Scenario #1
  • Scenario #2
  • Scenario #3
  • Scenario #4
  • Scenario #5

In the Classroom

Day 1

The Hook: Have a student read aloud or play the recording of President Kennedy's speech to the nation on October 22, 1962 in which he reveals how the Soviets have deployed missiles in Cuba in spite of saying that they would not do so. Have students note when Kennedy refers to deception or false statements by the Soviets. Ask the students if they think that President Kennedy had good cause to feel angry at being deceived. Both the text and the recording of the speech are available at the following website: <http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/j102262.htm>

Next show the students via LCD projector or by a handout the Operations Northwoods document Operations Northwoods document <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/northwoods.pdf> (requires Acrobat Reader). Please note especially pages 10-13 of this document which plot different staged events so that the U.S. could be justified in invading Cuba and overthrowing Castro's government, including sinking—"real or simulated"—a boat full of Cuban refugees. This document is dated March 13, 1962. Given the U.S. deception, ask the students now if they feel Kennedy had justification for his anger at the deception of the Soviets. Ask students to begin to consider the results of being completely honest and/or hiding things from other nations. Tell them they will have the opportunity to judge what might have happened if honesty ruled the day in U.S./Soviet/Cuban relations during the missile crisis.

Exploring Outcomes Visually: Break students into groups of two to three students. Distribute the assignment explanation, the rubric, and one scenario to each group (scenarios may be assigned to more than one group). Each scenario relates to either the Bay of Pigs or the Cuban missile crisis. Each student group will create a comic strip or comic book with at least 6 frames that illustrates the imagined scenario as described, using characters of the time, and offers what students think could have occurred.

Note: Requiring students to use the vocabulary terms that go along with the unit and the Cold War in general increases the sophistication in the comics. Students could also use powerpoint and paint programs, photographs, magazine lettering, and already existing comic strip characters to develop their strips. A pilot of this lesson was extremely successful.

Day 2

Sharing Results: After students have completed their comic strips, arrange desks in a circle. Allow each group to briefly present its concept for the comic strip or comic book and how they ended their scenario.

Evaluation and Critical Thinking: Begin the discussion by urging students to give specific examples and prompt them when they forget (this strategy helps to keep the discussion grounded in solid information and forces students to back up opinions with facts). Possible questions follow.

1. Is honesty the best policy in foreign relations? Why?
2. Just what is honesty in foreign relations? How is it different from deception?
3. Did any of the scenarios bear a resemblance to events in today's world? How so?
4. Is deception still used regularly as a foreign relations practice? Why?
5. How does honesty affect one's ability to negotiate?
6. What world problems require honesty in order to reach solutions quickly?
7. Would the world have been safer if the "honest" scenarios had been pursued in 1961 and 1962 (scenarios 4 and 5)? Why or why not?
8. How do students now feel about Kennedy's October 22 speech?

Closure

You may wish to assign students a position paper on the benefits or pitfalls of an "all-truth" foreign policy.

This lesson was developed by:
Don Clark—Dansville High School, Dansville, Michigan
Jesse Esquierdo—Edcouch-Elsa High School, Edcouch-Elsa, Texas
Kristin Hayes—Narragansett High School, Narragansett, Rhode Island
Raymond Screws—Nebraska Humanities Council, Lincoln, Nebraska