The Cuban Missile Crisis in American memory: myths versus reality

History : from reel to real

The template : Robert F. Kennedy's Thirteen days

The real Robert Kennedy

The mythmaking of Robert McNamara

The forgotten voice of Dean Rusk

The erratic expertise of Llewellyn Thompson

The selective memory of McGeorge Bundy

The determined diplomacy of Adlai Stevenson

The Trollope ploy myth

An unanticipated consequence : Lyndon Johnson and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Conclusion : leadership matters

Epilogue : What if?