Chairman Khrushchev replies indignantly to President Kennedy's October 23 letter stating in part:

"You, Mr. President, are not declaring a quarantine, but rather are setting forth an ultimatum and threatening that if we do not give in to your demands you will use force. Consider what you are saying! And you want to persuade me to agree to this! What would it mean to agree to these demands? It would mean guiding oneself in one's relations with other countries not by reason, but by submitting to arbitrariness. You are no longer appealing to reason, but wish to intimidate us."

Read record of action of third ExComm meeting

Read text of Premier Khrushchev's letter