War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with John Scali, 1986
Description:
John Scali was a reporter for ABC during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and Ambassador to the United Nations from 1973-1975. In the interview he gives a detailed account of his role in the crisis. He describes being contacted by Alexander Fomin (his real name was Aleksandr Feklisov) from the Soviet embassy, who told him that the Soviet Union might be willing to pull its missiles out of Cuba under United Nations inspection, if the U.S. would publicly promise not to invade the island. Mr. Scali reported this to Dean Rusk and Roger Hilsman, who took the information to President Kennedy. Mr. Scali returned to tell Fomin that the Americans were agreeable; however, before a deal could be finalized, reports came out that Khrushchev was pursuing a completely different agreement. After considerable deliberation, Kennedy decided to ignore all other reports and trust that the information from Fomin and Scali was accurate. The President made a speech to that effect, which contributed to the resolution of the crisis. Mr. Scali also explains that even as a reporter he understood that he could not disclose his role as it might humiliate the Soviet Union. Kennedy repeatedly asked him to delay publicizing his account, until eventually Hilsman wrote a book, scooping Scali's story.
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