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Friday, October 25, 2013

The Cuban Missile Crisis With Johnson Or Nixon As President

On October 22 the Discovery Channel aired a fascinating program "What if...1962 Armageddon." The show gave the surprising information that John Kennedy barely missed being assassinated in December of 1960 by a suicide bomber. This was supposed to happen one Sunday when Kennedy was on his way to mass. In this instance, Jacqueline got int he car with him. The suicide bomber refused to attack with a woman in the car and the plot failed. Had Kennedy been killed during this assassination attempt, Johnson would have been inaugurated as president. The show talks about what would have happened if Johnson had been president. The worst case scenario was a nuclear exchange with some 120 million Soviet citizens killed and 20 million Americans killed. I have always wondered how Richard Nixon would have handled the Cuban missile crisis,had he been president. I have asked a Nixon scholar this question.

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