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The World On the Brink: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis < Previous Page | Calendar | Next Page > THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18 Click on thumbnail images to display a larger picture. View a Reading List on the Missile Crisis |
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President Kennedy is visited by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, who asserts that Soviet aid to Cuba is purely defensive and does not represent a threat to the United States. Kennedy, without revealing what he knows of the existence of the missiles, reads to Gromyko his public warning of September 4 that the "gravest consequences" would follow if significant Soviet offensive weapons were introduced into Cuba. Left: President Kennedy meets with Soviet Ambassador Andrei Gromyko in the Oval Office. The President does not reveal that he is now aware of the missile build-up. |
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Left: By October 18, the president and his advisers weighed only two options: blockade or invasion. |
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