1962 - Cuban Crisis: President Kennedy’s Address On Cuba. 22Oct62 Pt. 1 of 4
Ext.of White House at night w/ lights set up. Int. w/ newsreel & tv cameras set up; JFK at desk w/ microphones. MCU.
12:07:29 Good evening my fellow citizens: This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9 am, I directed that our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed & completed our evaluation of the evidence & our decision on a course of action, this Government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail. The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of installations. Several of them include medium range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of striking Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area. Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic missiles - capable of travelling more than twice as far - & thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada & as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared.
12:09:40 This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base - by the presence of these large, long-range, & clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction - constitutes an explicit threat to the peace & security of all the Americas, in flagrant & deliberate defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this Nation & hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, & my own public warnings to the Soviets on September 4 & 13. This action also contradicts the repeated assurances of Soviet spokesmen, both publicly & privately delivered, that the arms buildup in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no need or desire to station strategic missiles on the territory of any other nation.
12:10:41 The size of this undertaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months. Yet only last month, after I had made clear the distinction between any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles & the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11 that, and I quote, "the armaments & military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes," that, and I quote the Soviet Government, "there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons . . for a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba," and that, and I quote their government, "the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union." That statement was false. Continued...
Missile Crisis; Cold War; Western Hemisphere; Naval Blockade; Quarantine; 1960s; Presidential Speech; USSR;
NOTE: Any continuous 10 minutes from entire speech, 12:06:52 - 12:25:34, sold at per reel rate.
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1962 - Cuban Crisis: President Kennedy’s Address On Cuba. 22Oct62 Pt. 1 of 4 Ext.of White House at night w/ lights set up. Int. w/ newsreel & tv cameras set up; JFK at desk w/ microphones. MCU. 12:07:29 Good evening my fellow citizens: This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9 am, I directed that our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed & completed our evaluation of the evidence & our decision on a course of action, this Government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail. The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of installations. Several of them include medium range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of striking Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area. Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic missiles - capable of travelling more than twice as far - & thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada & as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared. 12:09:40 This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base - by the presence of these large, long-range, & clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction - constitutes an explicit threat to the peace & security of all the Americas, in flagrant & deliberate defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this Nation & hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, & my own public warnings to the Soviets on September 4 & 13. This action also contradicts the repeated assurances of Soviet spokesmen, both publicly & privately delivered, that the arms buildup in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no need or desire to station strategic missiles on the territory of any other nation. 12:10:41 The size of this undertaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months. Yet only last month, after I had made clear the distinction between any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles & the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11 that, and I quote, "the armaments & military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes," that, and I quote the Soviet Government, "there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons . . for a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba," and that, and I quote their government, "the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union." That statement was false. Continued... Missile Crisis; Cold War; Western Hemisphere; Naval Blockade; Quarantine; 1960s; Presidential Speech; USSR; NOTE: Any continuous 10 minutes from entire speech, 12:06:52 - 12:25:34, sold at per reel rate.