The Cuban Missile Crisis—Three Perspectives
Lesson Plan Using Online Resources
Objectives
Students will:
- Understand the viewpoints of actors in the Crisis on Oct. 27th.
- Understand the importance of empathy in foreign policy.
- Work cooperatively within groups to organize effective presentations.
- Evaluate the actual decision-making process of the time.
Handouts
- For Cuban Group
Fidel Castro's letter to Khrushchev, October 26, 1962
- For U.S. Group
Khrushchev's letters to Kennedy, October 26 and October 27, 1962
- For Soviet Group
Fidel Castro's letter to Khrushchev, October 26, 1962
Cable from Soviet Ambassador to the USA - A. Dobrynin to Soviet Foreign Ministry, October 25, 1962
Nikita Khrushchev: Speech to the RFSR Teacher's Congress - on Cuba, Moscow, July 9, 1960
- For Turkish Group
Telegrams from Ambassador Raymond Hare in Ankara, Turkey, October 27, 1962 (posted at www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/docs.htm)
- All Students
In the ClassroomTranscript of audio clip of Excom Meeting - 10/27/62
Audio clip of Excom Meeting - 10/27/62
Note: This lesson plan assumes familiarity with the events leading up to the Crisis. Students could do this lesson well after reading to the top of the second column on page 26 of the The Cuban Missile Crisis: Finding Its Place in Cold War History.1. The Moment of Decision—Play the audio clip: Saturday, October 27, 5:00PM, Cabinet Room, The White House. Invite students to comment on the atmosphere of the discussion at the time. Did it seem as though the President and his advisors well understood the problem before them? What concerns did they have? What options did they consider? Did they understand the perspectives of other countries involved?
2. Planning for Group Work—In order to save time in the classroom, form student groups during the previous class period. You may wish to assign each student a job useful for his/her group, such as spokesperson or historian.
3. Using Primary Sources—Distribute appropriate sets of documents to each group. Inform groups that each will be responsible for providing its perspective on the Crisis to this point, and that each group will explain how it would like the United States to respond to the Khrushchev letters. For instance, the Cubans should explain how to proceed in a way that would most satisfy Castro and other Cubans. Students should use their assigned documents to help them understand the viewpoint of their group. Note that the U.S. group has the difficult task of understanding the two Khrushchev letters.
4. Presenting Viewpoints—Ask students to offer their suggestions for action, and record the major elements of each group's suggestions on the board. Note where differences and similarities occur in the recommendations, and ask students to consider why those crossovers might occur. Ask the class to come to a decision regarding what action the United States should take.
5. Follow-up—Students should read the remainder of Part II in the student text and note how the U.S. decided to respond to Khrushchev's letters. What other options were available? Did the President chose the right one? Would the President's decision have been different had he heard the perspectives of the other countries?
Extension/Extra Challenge—It will be important for the Cubans and the Turks to consider their relationships to their respective "guardians" (USSR & USA). Ask students to think about relationships between "large" and "small" countries. What characterizes these relationships? What makes them difficult? Can students make any connections between these relationships during the Cuban missile crisis and any similar relationships today? How do "large" and "small" countries deal with each other?
Additional materials available at: