Chapter 18: I Don’t See How We’ll Have a Very Good War

I Don’t See How We’ll Have a Very Good War reconstructs October 27, 1962, the most critical day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when nuclear war seemed imminent and the world stood at the precipice of catastrophe. Michael Beschloss reveals the intense deliberations within the Executive Committee as President Kennedy confronted multiple simultaneous crises: confirmed Soviet missile installations in Cuba, the unexpected downing of a United States reconnaissance aircraft over Cuban airspace, and an escalating series of communications from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that contradicted each other in troubling ways. Military leadership within the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff aggressively advocated for immediate air strikes and invasion operations, viewing diplomatic negotiations as dangerously naive given the stakes involved. Kennedy and his brother Robert, serving as Attorney General, pursued alternative strategies that might defuse the tension without triggering direct military confrontation. The chapter illuminates the critical role of backchannel communications, particularly Robert Kennedy's covert discussions with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, through which the administration signaled willingness to address Soviet security concerns regarding American missiles stationed in Turkey while maintaining public posture of refusing to negotiate under pressure. Beschloss documents how miscommunication between Washington and Moscow, combined with the unpredictable actions of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the competing institutional pressures within both governments, created a situation where events could spiral beyond anyone's control. The narrative emphasizes how Kennedy's decision to reject military escalation in favor of careful diplomacy, combined with strategic ambiguity about American intentions, ultimately permitted both superpowers to step back from the brink. The chapter demonstrates how thin the margin between survival and annihilation truly was during this defining moment of Cold War tension.