Why Did Kennedy Blockade Cuba

Kennedy took the decision to blockade Cuba in order to find a non passive, yet non aggressive solution to the problem of the Cuban missile crisis. There were many positives in choosing the blockage; a ban on the Soviet Union bringing in any further military supplies to Cuba, enforces by the US who would stop and search Soviet ships. And a call for the Soviet Union to withdraw what was already there. It was chosen by Kennedy as he believed it would show that the USA was serious, but it would not be a direct act of war. He believed it would put the burden on Khrushchev to decide what to do next. The USA had a strong navy and could still take the other options if this one did not work.

Another reason for Kennedy’s decision was that the ExComm group set up in order to deal with the crisis had limited down the choices available. The officials had discussed the various options - an immediate bombing strike was dismissed early on, as was a potentially time-consuming appeal to the United Nations. The real options for the ExComm were only militarily, the diplomatic ones barely considered and dismissed on the first day before even the real discussions