Global Perspectives on the Cuban Missile Crisis
Kathleen Murphy
Danvers Public Schools
March 1, 2009
Two day lesson for “The Cold War: The United States on the World Stage” course
Abstract
Most history teachers are well acquainted with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The revelation from the spy planes’ film, the initial push to invade Cuba potentially causing nuclear war, the thirteen days of suspense and fear while President Kennedy and his hand-picked advisors struggled to find a middle path. Less known, however, are details of how the leaders of each of the three countries viewed the crisis. Fortunately, much time has passed since the tense days in October 1962 and historians have had the opportunity to discover and publish documents that show some of the thinking, emotions and strategies of the leaders during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This two-day lesson plan is designed to give eleventh grade students in a U.S. history class an opportunity to learn about the three main perspectives of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Students will read letters that reveal the ways John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro were viewing the crisis and how each understood and misunderstood the leaders of the other two countries. This lesson will be part of a larger unit on the early Cold War.
Essential questions: How do leaders make decisions in a crisis?
How did the misunderstandings between the leaders contribute to the crisis?
How might the results of the crisis have been different if each side knew what the others were thinking?
Learning objectives: Upon completion of the lesson, students will know
1). The three leaders,Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro, experienced this crisis differently.
2). The specific points of view of the three main leaders of the crisis.
3). The perceptions and misperceptions of the three leaders and how their actions averted disaster, but could have led to nuclear war.
Learning activities:
Students should come into this unit with an understanding of the Cold War and of the main events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Students will work with primary sources, specifically a selection of letters exchanged between Kennedy and Khrushchev and Khrushchev and Castro.
Day one: Students will form 6 groups of about 4 students each and each group will represent the U.S., Soviet Union or Cuba. So there will be two groups that are the U.S., two that are the Soviet Union and two that are Cuba.
Assignment:
1. Each group will be given letters that pertain to their country. The letters are as follows:
United States groups:
Letter From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev, October 22, 1962
Department of State Telegram Conveying President Kennedy's Reply to Chairman Khrushchev, October 28, 1962
Soviet Union groups:
Chairman Khrushchev's Letter to President Kennedy, October 24, 1962
Letter from Nikita Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, October 30, 1962
Cuba groups:
Letter to Nikita Khrushchev from Fidel Castro regarding defending Cuban air space , October 26, 1962
Letter to Nikita Khrushchev from Fidel Castro, October 31, 1962.
Using background knowledge and the above primary sources, each group should answer the following questions:
- What caused the crisis to occur (from their country’s point of view)?
- What motivated him to make the decisions that he made that have led to this crisis?
- What are the most important national interests/values that your leader feels he needs to protect?
- From your leader’s point of view, what is the best and what is the worst possible outcome of the crisis?
- How did your country’s leader view the other two leaders and their countries?
- What does your leader think about the outcome of the crisis (who won/lost) and how does he feel about the outcome? Why?
At the end of day one, the two U.S. groups, two Soviet Union groups, and two U.S. groups should get together to discuss their letters and compare their answers.
Day two:
Working in the same groups as the day before, students will be responsible for creating some type of propaganda materials to convince the people of their country that their leader is right and that your country is doing what is necessary to protect your country’s interests. Students will need to use the answers to the questions from the day before as the basis of their information. As part of this assignment, it will be essential for students to identify the events from their leader’s point of view, who is to blame for the crisis, why their countries actions are justified and how the outcome affects their country. The propaganda may take the form of any of the following:
- A pamphlet explaining your country’s position for your fellow countrymen.
- A policy speech to be read at a political rally with a poster and slogan.
- A video public service announcement to be broadcast on TV.
- A PowerPoint presentation to be presented to lower level government officials.
- An audio jingle to be heard over the radio.
Remind students that they are working directly for Kennedy, Khrushchev, or Castro and only see the world from their unique perspectives. They know nothing of the world beyond October 1962.
Students will present their propaganda to the class. Their final projects will be assessed for understanding and a grade. The class presentations will allow all students to see this crisis from the three different perspectives.
Following the presentations, the teacher may wish to lead the class in a discussion of the essential questions. Once the students have learned how each viewed the crisis, they should have some ideas about how leaders make decisions in a crisis, how misunderstandings between the leaders contributed to the crisis, and how the results of the crisis may have been different if each side knew what the others were thinking.
Annotated bibliography
A note about sources: Letters exchanged during the crisis between President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev are found most completely on the John F. Kennedy Library website ( However, there are many more than I would use for a two day lesson and they were difficult to isolate for printing, so I took the letters for this assignment from other places on the Internet.
Also, the “American Experience” page on the PBS website includes a number of the letters I used for this assignment, but they print with the PBS banner and with ads. I did include one of these in this lesson because I couldn’t find a better copy anywhere else.
Department of State Telegram Conveying President Kennedy's Reply to Chairman Khrushchev, October 28, 1962. Available from atomicarchive.com, (Accessed 1 March 2009). Also available from In this letter Kennedy confirmed the conditions of the agreement, he explained the U.S. Air Force plane that strayed into Soviet territory, and agreed to continue talks regarding disarmament.
Letter from Chairman Khrushchev to President Kennedy, October 24, 1962. Available from Yale Law School, (Accessed 1 March 2009). Also available from In this letter, Khrushchev expressed anger and frustration at the “ultimatum” that Kennedy issued to force the Soviets to remove the missiles from Cuba.
Letter from Fidel Castro to Premier Nikita Khrushchev, October 26, 1962. Available from George Washington University, (Accessed 1 March 2009). Also available from This letter reveals the degree to which Castro feared a U.S. attack and the degree to which he was sure the U.S. could not be trusted. Readers also see Cuba’s dependence on the Soviet Union as a defender against imperialist aggression.
Letter from Fidel Castro to Nikita Khrushchev, October 31, 1962. Available from History of Cuba.com, (Accessed 1 March 2009). Also available from George Washington University, This letter reveals that Castro felt that he was not adequately consulted during the crisis, and shows his disappointment with the way in which the crisis was resolved. This letter makes clear that Castro would have preferred an attack against the U.S., even the use of nuclear weapons.
Letter from Nikita Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, October 30, 1962. Available from an “American Experience” page on the PBS website, (Accessed 1 March 2009). This letter is an attempt to calm Castro down and explain why the Soviet Union gave in to President Kennedy’s demands. This letter helps to understand why the Soviets agreed to take the missiles out of Cuba while reassuring Castro that he did not abandon Cuba.
Letter from President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev, October 22, 1962. Available from University of Maryland, (Accessed 1 March 2009). In this letter, Kennedy informed Khrushchev of the U.S. position on the crisis and explained the U.S. would like to find a peaceful resolution, but will use force if necessary.