Curtis LeMay the US Army and Navy frequently suffered budgetary cutbacks and program cancellations by Congress and Secretary McNamara. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, LeMay clashed again with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Defense Secretary McNamara, arguing that he should be allowed to bomb nuclear missile sites in Cuba. He opposed the naval blockade and, after the end of the crisis, suggested that Cuba be invaded anyway, even after the Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles. Kennedy secretly agreed to remove US missiles from Turkey and Italy. Unknown to the US, the Soviet field commanders in Cuba had been
Cuban Missile Crisis and Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, José Antonio Mora to brief them on the US intelligence and their proposed response. All were supportive of the US position, except Macmillan who advocated appeasement. Shortly before his speech, Kennedy called former President Dwight Eisenhower. Kennedy's conversation with the former President also revealed that the two were conspiring during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two also anticipated that Khruschev would respond to the Western world in a matter that was similar to his response during the Suez Crisis and would possibly wind up trading off Berlin. On October 22 at 7:00