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Day 1
President Kennedy is informed of the Soviet Union's plans to create nuclear missile bases in Cuba. No decision is made by ExComm on how to react to the issue. -
Period: to
13 Days - The Cuban Missile Crisis
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Day 2
ExComm meets throughout the day to think about how to respond, the airstrike is the most popular option. -
Day 3
New photographs are taken of the, at least, thirty-two missiles in Cuba. Kennedy meets with Soviet Foreign Minister, where Kennedy doesn't mention his knowledge of the missiles. ExComm gives some recommendations to Kennedy, however, Kennedy tells them to meet again to come up with a solution that they all agree on. -
Day 4
Kennedy is met with pressures to launch airstrikes in preparation for an invasion of Cuba. He later leaves Washington for a scheduled campaign trip. -
Day 5
Us armed forces are put on high alert. Kennedy returns to Washington D.C, where the CIA informs him that the missiles are probably now operational, making the airstrikes very risky. Kennedy decides on a blockade of Cuba to prevent more missiles from arriving, using the word quarantine to reduce military connotations of the action. -
Day 6
Soviet government receives reports of military build-up in Florida and the Caribbean, causing high alert for the Russian military. -
Day 7
Kennedy informs leaders of Congress of the crisis and his decision to initiate a quarantine on Soviet ships. Congress demands a tougher response to it. Kennedy announces the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba and his plans to quarantine the ships to the public. -
Day 8
Kennedy authorises low-level flights over missile sites, even though there is a large chance that they would be shot down. The Organisation of American States votes to condemn the placement of missiles in Cuba and approves the quarantine. Kennedy signs the proclamation for the quarantine to come into effect. -
Day 9
Photographs from the low-level flights revealed that the missiles were not yet operational, but would be in the next few days. At 10 am the quarantine of Cuba came into effect. Excomm later find that twenty Russian ships had stopped or turned around before getting to the quarantine line. By 10 pm, US bombers were ready to launch a full nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. -
Day 10
More fly-over photographs reveal that the missiles are being rapidly assembled in Cuba. US Ambassador to the United Nations confronts Soviet Ambassador over the presence of missiles in Cuba during a televised session of the General Assembly. -
Day 11
Excomm discusses a military response if the quarantine fails, airstrikes and invasion are possible options. Later, at 9 pm, The White House receives a letter from Krushchev that opens the possibility of withdrawing the missiles in return for America to not invade Cuba. -
Day 12
President Kennedy receives Krushchev's second letter, which demands that the U.S also removes missiles in Turkey in return for the withdrawal of Russian missiles in Cuba. Excomm meets to discuss the proposal and learns that a U-2 had been shot down in Cuba, killing the pilot. Excomm ignores the conditions of the second letter, and responds to the first letter, agreeing not to invade Cuba. Robert Kennedy later meets Dobrynin to inform him of the removal of missiles in Turkey in later months. -
Day 13
U.S preparations for an invasion of Cuba continues. The U.S government later receives a message from Krushchev, indicating that he accepts the terms, and missiles will be removed from Cuba in return for a public U.S guarantee that the U.S will not invade, and that the missiles in Turkey would be removed.
