History+EC

**Thirteen Days**  Thirteen Days is set in October 14,1962 to October 27, 1962 and covers the Cuban Missile Crisis. The main characters in this film are President John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Kenny O'Donnell. The U.S. finds out that there are missiles stationed in Cuba that could kill 80 million Americans in a matter of 5 minutes. Now at the brink of war, JFK, his brother, Bobby, and JFK's special assistant, Kenny O'Donnell, enter a mad race to remove the missiles from Cuba. They are faced with hard decisions and are constantly trying to figure out the motives and intentions of the Soviets and even those in their own cabinet. A thrilling movie that focuses on what went on in the White House.

Thirteen Days taught me many things historically. Viewers were introduced to key people involved in the Cuban missile Crisis including McGeorge Bundy, Dean Rusk, Ted Sorenson, Robert McNamara, General Curtis LeMay, Adlai Stevenson, and Pierre Stalinger. I also learned about the order of events in which the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. First, I learned about the options ExComm proposed to JFK and that many were really pushing for an air strike because they wanted a chance to redeem themselves from what happened at the Bay of Pigs. Many, like General Curtis LeMay tried to convince JFK that missiles was the only option he had and that a blockade would be/look like a weak response. The media didn't know about the Cuban Missile Crisis at first. On Oct 17. JFK didn't want to go to Connecticut but had to, in order to divert media attention. Then, while visiting Chicago, JFK cut his trip short on Oct 20 because he was "sick." The cabinet then finds out the press has the story, so JFK convinces Times to hold it until his public statement on Monday. Kennedy decides on a blockade, but since blockade is an act of war, JFK and his cabinet call it a quarantine. JFK adressess the public Monday and tells them everything. Meanwhile, Kenny tells Adlai to be tough on the Russians, but no one thinks he can. However, Adlai come through and does his job well. On Oct. 24 U.S. forces detect a Russian sub. They contact the White House, and JFK wonders wether of not to force the sub up. He decides to force the sub up, but then russian ships stop, so JFK holds the order, and his cabinet and he watches in amazement as Soviet ships turn around. 20 ships turned around, but 6 continued. JFK ordered defcon3 but later discovers the general Max Taylor and others changed it to defcon2. Kennedy is extremely mad and exclaims in the movie, "I have the authority! I am the Commander-in-Chief of the United States, and I say when we go to war!" On Oct. 26 one Soviet ship breaks the boundary. The admiral orders fire but the secretary quickly orders him to stop. Meanwhile, JFK and his cabinet get close to making a deal with Khrushchev but it fails. Then on Oct. 27 the first missiles in Cuba become operational. JFK sends Bobby (known as ruthless smart one) to talk to russians about the deal, and the Russians agree. The missiles in Cuba are removed with a public statement in exchange for the U.S. to secretly remove missiles stationed in Turkey 6 months later.

I LOVED this movie! I like how it focused on what went on in the White House during these stressful days. Besides having some great history in the movie, the character, setting, and plot was well developed. Some of the quotes were great in the movie. One of my favorites was when the Soviet ships turn around and the actor in the movie who plays Dean Rusk says, " We were eyeball to eyeball and I think the other fella just blinked." However, there were a couple of flaws. I disliked how the movie showed a couple of sections in black and white. It was very weird and didn't make much sense to me. Also, I doubt that O'Donnel's son would have gotten his report card in October. Despite the two flaws, It was an amazing movie that I definitely recommend.