Kennedy received two messages from Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis. McNamara refers to them as the "hard message" and the "soft message." McNamara differentiated the two messages because the first message was informal, and the second message was formal and was broadcast around the world. McNamara stated the first message sounded like it came from a "drunk man or one under a lot of stress." It stated if the United States guaranteed to not invade Cuba, the missiles would be taken out by Cuba. The second and "hard message" stated that if "you States attack we're prepared to confront you with masses of military power."