The Nixon Regime and Foreign Policy

Reading Robert Kennedy’s posthumous account of the momentous Cuban confrontation, I felt a shudder descending my spine. Realizing that the story hinged on the question whether to drive Khrushchev harder or to give him room for maneuver, I could not help wondering with anxiety: what might have happened if, instead of the Kennedys, Richard Nixon had come to that same crossroads? Would he have been as careful as Kennedy to avoid a head-on collision, as accommodating in victory, as prudent not to drive his adversary to despair? I could not help but answer: for all we know about Nixon, he might have felt the need to prove himself; he might have been tempted to exploit the superiority of his forces to a point where his opponent would no...