'Go in There and Frig Around With the Missiles, You're Screwed': The Moment General Mocked JFK Behind His Back at the Height of Cuban Missile Crisis Caught on Tapeby
Daniel Bates
It was the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the nation was supposed to be pulling together. But John F Kennedy’s top generals were actually bad-mouthing him behind his back – whilst standing in the White House. When the former US President left the room Marine Corps Commandant General David Shoup said that Mr Kennedy was doing things ‘piecemeal’ and needed a talking to. He even mocked his Commander in Chief and ridiculed the way he had spoken in front of some of his closest advisors. The disclosures shed new light on the tensions within Mr Kennedy’s office in the run-up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. From 1962 onwards – the year it took place – the President had a high tech recording device put into the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room of the White House. In total he recorded 248 hours of meetings and 17 hours of phone conversations, plus his own private reflections until he was shot dead in November 1963. The recordings show Mr Kennedy agonising over the situation he was in when Russia deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. Mr Kennedy said: ‘We do nothing, they have a missile base there with all the pressure that brings to bear on the United States and damage to our prestige. September 25, 2012
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