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The West Wing: 1950-1974 - Photo 1

The West Wing: 1950-1974 - Photo 1

This photograph by Cecil Stoughton shows President John F. Kennedy in the Cabinet Room with the executive committee of the National Security Council during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was a thirteen day period in October 1962 when Cold War tensions escalated to the brink of nuclear war over Soviet missile deployment in Cuba. Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul H. Nitze; acting Director of the United States Information Agency Donald M. Wilson; speechwriter and Special Counsel to the president, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy; Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson; Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency William C. Foster; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John A. McCone; Under Secretary of State George W. Ball; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric; and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy is standing at far left, President Kennedy is on the right, looking down, with hands on table, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk stand at far right. Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Bromley K. Smith is sitting against the wall near the bookcase.

Photographer
Cecil Stoughton
Date of Work
October 29, 1962
Credit
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA