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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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021389
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02138900.036
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1990-09-17
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NATION, Page 40The Presidency"I'm Staying Right Here"
By Hugh Sidey
John Kennedy really was in the cross hairs of nuclear history
in 1962. Last week's reminder of the Cuban missile crisis showed
more clearly than ever the world's close call.
The U.S., of course, had a raft of contingency plans in case
of a nuclear attack. One called for the emergency evacuation by
helicopter, from the South Lawn, of the President and the 50 or so
people who made up the heart of the Government. They were to be
whisked to the Blue Ridge Mountains and secreted in a command post
under 600 ft. of stone, from there to run the war and the nation.
Some newsmen were to be included to send out dispatches on
presidential decisions, should any printing presses or broadcast
facilities be left standing. We were ordered to stay within 20
minutes of the White House and near a phone. I brooded for a couple
of days over the prospect of leaving a wife and three small
children behind, and decided I could not do it. I asked to be taken
off the pool. I felt the moment was so unreal that none of us knew
for sure what we were doing.
When the crisis had passed, a Kennedy insider told the
following story: When the President and his inner circle were
briefed on the plans to hurry to the South Lawn for the helicopter
lift, one aide was deeply troubled. This fellow went to the
President and told Kennedy that he did not plan to leave the White
House and his family, attack or not. Kennedy reportedly looked up
with that wry smile on his face and said, "That's O.K. Neither do
I. I'm staying right here." So much for the doomsday scenario.
The participants who trickled back from the Moscow conference
last week confirmed Kennedy's state of mind. Robert McNamara
recalled hearing Kennedy say something just like those words. And
McGeorge Bundy, J.F.K.'s National Security Adviser, said that no
one he recalled had any intention of leaving the White House.
Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, who did not go to Moscow
for the conference but followed it closely, added his agreement,
then explained it in his tough, clear fashion. "Evacuation under
those circumstances is psychologically impossible," he said. "There
is no way you are going to get people to leave their families and
intimate friends and colleagues. I've thought about this a good
deal, and I think there should be an alternate Government
designated out around the country, perhaps using the Governors."
A good idea. May there never be the need.