As A Participant Writer, As Medland Categorises Him, Sorensen's Account Can

As a participant writer, as Medland categorises him, Sorensen's account can be expected to defend Kennedy's stance in the crisis. Whether or not Kennedy believed Khrushchev's pledge at the time, a pledge described by Sorensen as 'hollow and tardy', Kennedy felt the Soviets had acted in an underhand fashion. His response was to out Khrushchev publicly and regain the political initiative.
The claims of Kennedy's recklessness appear to rest primarily upon his approach to the crisis in forcing the issue into the public domain. However, his reservations about pursuing offensive courses of action counter the accusation of recklessness. He played a diplomatic game in refusing to back down publicly but acquiesced with Khrushchev's demands to remove the Turkish missiles, through the use of the very private and domestic channels that opponents claim he ignored by choosing the televised address. 'Reckless' implies no consideration to danger whatsoever, Kennedy's actions fall far short of this. The policies were deliberated, considered and essentially effective.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
The Times, London, 24th October 1962.
The Times, London, 25th October 1962.
Articles
Bernstein, B, 'The Cuban Missile Crisis', in Miller, L and Pruessen, R (eds), Reflections on the Cold War: A Quarter Century of American Foreign Policy, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1974, pp.121-125.
Medland, W, 'Cuban Missile Crisis. Evolving Historical Perspectives', The History Teacher, Vol. 23, No. 4, August 1990, pp. 433-447.
Nathan, J, 'The Missile Crisis', World Politics, No. 27, 1974-5.
Paterson, T and Brophy, W, 'October Missiles and November Elections: The Cuban Missile Crisis and American Politics, 1962', The Journal of American History, Vol. 73, No. 1, June 1986, pp. 87-119.
Steel, R 'Review of Thirteen Days' in New York Review of Books, No. 13, March 1969.
Online Resources
Hyper Dictionary, www.hyperdictionary.com/search.aspx?define=recklessness, (Accessed 19th February 2005).
Kennedy, J, Speech of October 22, 1962, http://www.jfklibrary.org/j102262.htm, (Accessed 20th February 2005).
Books
Allison, G, Essence of Decision, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1971.
Ambrose, S, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy since 1938, Penguin, New York, 1978.
Chayes, A, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1974.
Divine, R, Foreign Policy and U.S. Presidential Elections, New Viewpoints, New York, 1974.
Garthoff, R, Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Brookings Institute, Washington, 1989.
Mayer, G, The Republican Party 1854-1964, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1964.
Paterson, T (ed.), Kennedy's Quest for Victory, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989.
Schlesinger, A, Robert Kennedy and his Times, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1978.
Sorenson, T, Kennedy, Harper and Row, New York, 1965.