Cuban Missile Crisis

On the morning of October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was shown U-2 photographs revealing Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba, just ninety miles from Florida. Within hours, he convened a small, secret group of advisors, known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm), to decide how the United States would respond. You all will step into the room as members of that body, facing incomplete intelligence, deep divisions between military and civilian advisors, and a Soviet adversary whose intentions can only be inferred. Every option carries immense risk, whether an airstrike, an invasion, a naval quarantine, or a negotiated settlement, and the clock is ticking as the missile sites become ready and the secrecy puts everyone on edge. With nuclear war as a genuine possibility and no knowledge of how history will unfold, you all must weigh strategies, alliance credibility, domestic politics, and the survival of millions of lives. This committee is about decision-making under pressure and uncertainty, and how you all choose to speak to one another, to the military, and to those outside the room will shape the future.