Presently I am reading "A Question of Character: A Life of JFK" by Thomas C. Reeves.

In 1960, everybody knew a US invasion of Cuba was going to happen: newspapers, activists, DOD, Congress, and most importantly, Fidel Castro.

Under "Ike," Cuban ex-patriates were being trained by CIA in Guatemala ("Brigade 2506") and the "secret" was a sieve.

The only unknown was when the attack would take place and the precise location in Cuba.

The US was to provide no uniformed personnel or equipment, so CIA and USAF planes were disguised and the operation would therefore be a purely Cuban "counter-revolution."

The Bay of Pigs was unwisely chosen and Fidel's tremendous, well-motivated, and well-equipped army was ready for Brigade 2506.

The always victorious JFK had to suffer his first public black eye as POTUS and he furiously wanted to dismantle CIA, "casting it into the four winds."

Hi Doc Sarvis

I read Essence of Decision years ago about the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I'm sure you read or heard of.

After JFK made a televised speech about the potential of an "atomic war" with the USSR, people began buying nuclear fallout shelters and some built their own.

Ted Sorensen, the wordsmith behind JFK, made it all sound so patriotic, that JFK's approval rating increased after this speech about a potential apocalypse.

Time permitting later tonight, I'll post an OP with some factoids from "A Question of Character: A Life of JFK" by Thomas C. Reeves, as I did with Sinclair Lewis' 1927 tome Elmer Gantry.

Indeed, Doc Sarvis. My friend is a Cold Warrior who flew USAF missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also shook hands with JFK, MLK, Jackie Robinson, and a galaxy of other plenipotentiaries.

"V.C." relates the same kind of stories to me and it's always a treat when he relates his firsthand eye- and ear- witness details.

In these past 63 years the US straggled away from a potential nuclear apocalypse to today's certain economic Armageddon.

Remarkable.