What I Learned as a Young Diplomat

On a Friday evening we got a message from Khrushchev, which Secretary McNamara described as 12 pages of fluff. And so the United States was, you know, was encouraged because they thought the crisis would be over. But the optimism in Washington was short-lived. The next morning, Saturday the 27th of October, another much tougher letter,. arrived from the Kremlin, demanding a weapons trade. You are worried over Cuba. It worries you because it lies at a distance of 90 miles across the sea from the shores of the U.S. However, Turkey lies next to us. Do you believe that you have the right to demand security for your country and removal of such weapons