Thirteen Days

Andrew Miglino

American History II

Mr. Benintendi

February 25th, 2024

1. Title- Thirteen Days

2. Name of Movie Production Companies- Beacon Pictures, New Line Cinema, Tig

Productions

3. Date of release- December 25, 2000

4. Producer- Marc Abraham

5. Director- Roger Donaldson

6. Writer(s) of screenplay- David Self, Philip D. Zelikow

7. Main actors/actresses & their roles-

a. Kevin Costner- Ken O’Donnell

b. Bruce Greenwood- John F. Kennedy

c. Steven Culp- John F. Kennedy

d. Dylan Baker- Robert McNamara

e. Henry Strozier- Dean Rusk

f. Frank Wood- McGeorge Bundy

g. Len Cariou- Dean Acheson

h. Michael Fairman- Adlai Stevenson

 Thirteen Days is a historical movie about the Cuban missile crisis from the perspective of

the Kennedy administration, and how they handled the situation of the Russian occupation of

nuclear missiles in Cuba. The conflict started when an American U2 spy plane captured

photographs of medium-ranged nuclear ballistic missiles in Cuba, smuggled in by the USSR.

Nikita Kruschev of the Soviet Union felt justified as the U.S. placed nuclear weapons in Turkey

near the Russian border, and because of his fear of the U.S. invasion of Cuba. The pictures

showed SS-4 Sandal unoperational nuclear warheads; missiles holding 3 megaton blast potential

located 90 miles from Florida, had the potential to kill 80 million Americans, and could arrive at

U.S. soil in a matter of five minutes. These photographs shocked the Kennedy administration,

and for the first six days, the crisis was kept secret to prevent public hysteria.

Two opposing viewpoints on the course of action are developed. On one side are the liberal

pacifists like the Kennedy’s, Kenny O’Donnell, and Adlai Stevenson, those who seek out

alternatives to the proposed air strikes and invasions and believe military use furthers chances for

all-out nuclear war. They believe the best course of action is diplomacy and negotiation.

President Kennedy, Special Assistant to the President Kenny O’Donnell, and Bobby Kennedy

confer outside the initial conference room where the photographs were presented and Bobby is

appointed to find an alternative solution while the president contemplates deeply. He suggests

bringing in Dean Acheson, for his years of experience with Soviet relations. Admiral Acheson

consistently viewed the Kennedys as weak and held doubt towards the family, as he said “Let’s

hope appeasement doesn’t run in the family.”

On the other side are the militaristic Republicans, people like Dean Acheson and Dean

Rusk. These are people who want to “blow up the red bastards.” Acheson repeatedly tries to

convince Kennedy into executing an invasion of Cuba because of his sense of indecisiveness and
weakness along with his failed history, primarily his failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Similarly,

Secretary of State Dean Rusk believes permitting Soviet missiles results in terrible diplomatic

consequences and “Munich all over again.”

Kenny stresses the importance of keeping press secretary to the president Pierre Salinger

out of the loop, because “once Pierre knows, the press knows.” In the conference room, the first

three options presented are to air strike only the known missiles, a larger air strike of Cuba, or an

invasion of the island. Meanwhile, Bobby confers with various military executives, and points

out how the U.S. would look if “a big country blasted a small one into the Stone Age.” His

constant pursuit of alternative scenarios for military use leads to a proposal by Secretary of

Defense Robert McNamara of a military blockade of Cuba. Eventually, the blockade proved to

be the best option, and on Monday, October 22nd, President Kennedy informed the nation of the

presence of missiles in Cuba. With the unanimous vote of the Organization of American States,

the quarantine was placed into effect at 10 am on Wednesday. The first ships, the Gagarin and

Kimovsk approach the blockade and President Kennedy passes a message to a Russian

submarine commanding arrival at the surface. The first twenty ships stopped at the blockade and

six continued to pass the line, however, President Kennedy ordered no action as he assumed the

ships “didn’t get the message.”

As U2 planes continue to reveal additional bombs, JFK meets with Russian Ambassador

Gromoyoko and asks about the missiles. He says they’re in a “defensive nature only” and denies

the existence of said missiles, lying to President Kennedy. Later, a low-level flyover is made over

Cuba, and Kenny orders the commander to “not get shot at.” The commander was fired upon but

lied to the military to prevent public hysteria resulting and necessary military retaliation.
The following day, Adlai Stevenson is scheduled to meet with Russian Ambassador Anatoly

Dobrynin at a UN conference. He is doubted by many including Bobby if he is the right fit

because of his “lack of toughness,” but proves them wrong as he kills it in the conference, by

exposing to the UN the photographs following instigation from the ambassador. Further tension

rises again, as Bobby McNamee gets heated with Admiral George Anderson for firing a flare

over the Russian ship Grozny because they could’ve mistaken the flare for real shots resulting in

unnecessary escalation.

On Friday evening, a member of the press urgently informs President Kennedy of his

back-channel connections with Alexander Fekliovsky, aka Fomin, who is suspected to have

direct connections to Nikita Kruschev. Fomin is supposedly a top KGB spy and carries the

message that if missiles in Cuba are dismantled within 48 hours and the UN is allowed to

inspect, the US would guarantee zero invasion of Cuba. Further FBI inspection temporarily

proves Fomin’s legitimacy as he and Kruschev were “war buddies,” but Bobby Kennedy thinks

he’s stalling time for the completion of the missiles.

On Saturday, the cabinet gets word that the Soviets completed the first missile, and the rest are

set to be completed in 36 hours. Kenny calls Major Anderson, the pilot of the upcoming

high-altitude flyover, and tells him that the situation is getting worse and orders a pilot for the

second time not to get shot down. Unfortunately, he gets shot down and killed and JFK wants

confirmation of an accident before military engagement. His death is not broadcast to the

American people out of necessity to avoid public outrage.

Because of two letters sent by what's believed to be Soviets, McNamara suggests they have

“one more round of diplomacy,” but at high risk. Bobby is chosen to meet with Soviet

Ambassador Dobryrin because he has the most history with him. That same evening Kenny
drives Bobby to the meeting; Bobby doubts himself but Kenny reassures him and they resolve

their previous disagreements. Bobby offers private assurance to Dobryrin that the US will

remove our missiles in Turkey in six months if Russia immediately stops missile construction

and removes all missiles. The following day, Kenny is relieved as the sun comes up and the TV

broadcasts that Kruschev ordered the dismantling of the nukes. To conclude the film, President

Kennedy writes to the parents of Major Anderson, the lost pilot, and gives a speech to the

American people saying “I don’t think we should be gloating; it was just as much of a victory for

them as it was for us.”

Kenny O’Donnel, played by Kevin Costner, is the special assistant to President Kennedy

and is accurately portrayed as strong, loyal, and pragmatic. In the first few minutes of the film,

he debates with his secretary that in general, votes and politics are more important than the

success of an organization itself. His straightforward approach to instantly getting on top of new

issues as they arise is key to his success. For example, after a long few days of dealing with the

quarantine, UN conferences, and back-channel Russian communications to Kruschev, he returns

home to have a brief moment with his wife at 2:30 A.M, thinking Kruschev confirmed the deal,

down only to be interrupted by a phone call from Bobby. His quickness to drop everything and

head to the white house shows his loyalty to his job and the Kennedys. Another moment that

shows this is when McGeorge Bundy tries to convince Kenny into talking President Kennedy

into striking a deal out of doubt for his “moral toughness.” He defends him by saying “You're in

the white house right now because of the Kennedys, now they may be wrong, they’ve made

mistakes, but they’re not weak. You’ve never understood our kind. Our whole lives we’ve been

fighting with each other our whole lives but nobody ever plays us off each other, and nobody
ever, EVER, gets between us.” His loyalty and pragmatism make him a hero of the Cuban

Missile Crisis.

President Kennedy has many important characteristics, but his most important to be

discussed is his decision-making and toughness. Oftentimes when he is presented with new

information, he recites exactly what was just said to him, and then takes time to make a decision.

For example, the initial presentation of the missiles results in him saying “We must figure out

what we’re gonna do and then figure out how we’re gonna do it” which takes him one week to

decide upon the blockade. In a situation where time is of the essence, this can be viewed as one

of his downfalls. However, his strength is shown when Strategic Air Commander Thomas

Powers ordered Defcon 2 without presidential approval, as he enrages and asserts his dominance,

reminding him who the president is. Another one of his strengths is his wisdom, as at various

times throughout the film he quotes various sources to aid his decision-making. For example, he

quotes Sun Tzu saying “Wars are moral contests and they are won in temples before they’re

fought,” along with “Guns of August '' when he talks about technologies developing from war to

war. His wisdom, key decision-making moments, and strength make him a hero, although he has

moments when he fails to fulfill his duties.

Bobby Kennedy is viewed as a strong, brilliant, diplomatic figure in the conflict.

Frequently, his presence is often needed by the president for mental stability. For example, right

when the photographs are introduced, John asks for Bobby, showing how needed he is by the

president to make his best decision. Also, his drive to find a pacifist solution shows his moral

side, as he tries desperately to avoid the use of sneak attacks and unnecessary violence.

Furthermore, his negotiation with Antoloy Dobryrin is the epitome of his diplomacy skills, as he

defends his country by clearly and strongly defining the demands for immediate construction
pause and removal of the missiles in Cuba in exchange for private assurance that the US will

remove missiles in Turkey in six months. Although it was extremely tense at the start of the

meeting, Dobrynin concludes by saying the Kennedys are good people and have a positive

attitude about Kruschev’s upcoming response. Overall, his negotiation skills, strength, and

contagious confidence and morality make him a hero of the Cuban missile crisis.

Adlai Stevenson at the time of the crisis was wise and of the older generation. Similar to

the president, Bobby Kennedy, and others view him as too weak to be involved with the state of

politics he was involved in. For example, he was doubted in standing up to Valentin Zorin at the

UN conference but proved many wrongs by handling Zorin’s instigations well and strongly

presenting the photographs of the Cuban missiles. His wisdom is one of his strengths similar to

both Kennedy’s. For example, when lying out all possible options, he reminded the cabinet of a

“third option” which was to strike a deal. Although he knew it was a stupid course of action, he

felt that somebody had to say it. His informing the president that the Times was going to run the

story also saved him from the press leaking the story. His involvement as a wise older figure in

the cabinet is vital to the conflict.

The overall accuracy of this film is very good. For the most part, all major points are spot

on, however, some points are missed and therefore inaccurate. To start, the footage of atomic

bombs being tested is accurate and from a real test in 1951 from a Defense Department film.

Also, in the film it is accurately mentioned that photographs were taken before the ones on

October 14th, 1962, but Kenny informed JFK that there was nothing to be concerned about. The

movie doesn’t show President Kennedy’s warning against the placement of Soviet missiles in

Cuba, even though this is a key detail in the historical timeline. The film should’ve highlighted

the U2 pictures taken before October 14th, and Kennedy’s warning speech on September 4th.
Also, it wasn’t highlighted that the name of the group that met for those two weeks was called

ExComm. These aren’t necessarily inaccuracies, as they are opinions of what could’ve been done

differently.

On the meeting of October 14th, 1962, there are some key accuracies and inaccuracies. A

blunt inaccuracy however was the kind of missile claimed to be spotted by the US. The missile is

claimed to be the NATO-reported SS-4 Sandal, however, according to history.state.gov, they

were Soviet IL-28 bombers and SA-2s. Also, it is briefly mentioned that John A. McCone was

not present at the meeting because he was burying his stepson. This is accurate, as his stepson

Paul Juneau Pigott died on the same day in an auto race. It is also accurate that General Carter

was present, as he is quoted as proposing a high-level flight “designed specifically to photograph

the Banes area” (CIA 132).

The attitude of Dean Rusk after the briefing is accurate; he is quoted as using the phrase

“Munich all over again.” (CIA 128). It is true that the military favors the first-strike policy, as it

is their nature to be more aggressive. It is also true that President Kennedy had a hard time

reasoning a course of action. His decision-making process is true to history in the movie as he is

seen multiple times thinking to himself about potential outcomes (Sherwin). The opinion of

Robert S. McNamara is also true as he wanted to strike first before the missiles became

operational (online).

JFK indeed wanted to keep Pierre Salinger out of the crisis, as he has a history of

inflaming things to be bigger than necessary because he’s affiliated with the press. A more

unrelated fact is when a man while walking through the basement says “I heard Harding used to

get his girls in through here.” According to History.com, this is indeed true. George Anderson’s

feud with McNamara is accurate, as they always had a long time back and forth dislike for each
other. What isn’t shown in the film however is their argument over firing the flares eventually led

to McNamara’s early retirement. A geographical error that was made was when the planes were

taking off for the low-level flyover from Florida, tall mountains were shown in the background

even though there are no such mountains in Florida.

Thirteen Days was a commercially successful film with overall historical accuracy. The

film’s focus on the story of the JFK administration brings light to an often criticized cabinet’s

greatest success which forever changed the course of history. In summary, the film successfully

showed the important events in American history that happened between October 16th and the

28th of 1962.
 Works Cited

US National Government. CIA. Cuban Missile Crisis. CIA Documents on the Cuban

Missile Crisis 1962. October 1962 www.govinfo.gov Accessed 3/6/2024.

Sherwin, Martin. “Inside JFK’s Decision Making During the Cuban Missile Crisis.” Time

Magazine. 16/10/20. https://time.com/5899754/jfk-decisionmaking-cuban-missile-crisis/

Accessed 3/6/2024.

US National Government. Historical Office. Office Of The Secretary Of Defense. Robert. S.

McNamara.

https://history.defense.gov/Multimedia/Biographies/Article-View/Article/571271/robert-s

-mcnamara/ Accessed 3/6/2024.

Klein, Christopher. “The Multiple Scandals of President Warren G. Harding.” History. 23/3/2023

https://www.history.com/news/warren-harding-scandals

Thirteen Days. Roger Donaldson. Kevin Costner. Bruce Greenwood. Steven Culp. Beacon

pictures. 2000.

“Atomic Bomb Tests - 1951.” C-Span. 31/1/1951.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?529939-1/atomic-bomb-tests-1951 Accessed 3/6/24.