Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Edwin Martin seeks a resolution of support from the Organization of American States. Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson lays the matter before the U.N. Security Council. The ships of the naval quarantine fleet move into place around Cuba. Soviet submarines threaten the quarantine by moving into the Caribbean area. Soviet freighters bound for Cuba with military supplies stop dead in the water, but the oil tanker Bucharest continues towards Cuba. In the evening Robert Kennedy meets with Ambassador Dobrynin at the Soviet Embassy.

Left: October 23, 1962: President Kennedy signs Proclamation 3504, authorizing the naval quarantine of Cuba.

Read Robert Kennedy's account of his meeting
Read minutes of first ExComm meeting
Read meeting minutes of second ExComm meeting

Above: Original copy of Proclamation 3504, signed by President Kennedy on October 23, 1962, authorizing the US Naval quarantine of Cuba, courtesy National Archive and Records Administration.

Left: After the Organization of American States endorsed the quarantine, President Kennedy asks Khrushchev to halt any Russian ships heading toward Cuba. The president's greatest concern is that a US Navy vessel would otherwise be forced to fire upon a Russian vessel, possibly igniting war between the superpowers.

Read Text of President Kennedy's letter

Below: Nikita Khrushchev responds to President Kennedy's address.

Read text of Premier Khrushchev's Letter