1962 16th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Taylor and the Joint Chiefs developed plans for attacks against missile sites and other military targets.
Cold War · October 1962 · permanent subject timeline
Maxwell Taylor and the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during military planning. This page combines historical context with 6 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database Cuban Missile Crisis archive.
Historical context
Maxwell Taylor and the Cuban Missile Crisis: overview and significance
What happened?
General Maxwell Taylor represented the Joint Chiefs during high-level discussions of air strikes, invasion, military readiness and the risks of Soviet reaction.
Why was it important?
Taylor's role reflects the strong military pressure for decisive action and the importance of civil-military debate inside ExComm.
World History Database records
Maxwell Taylor and the Cuban Missile Crisis timeline
The records below are selected from the 195-record Cuban Missile Crisis archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
1962
1962 18th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Taylor presented military assessments emphasizing that an air strike might have to be followed by a larger invasion of Cuba.
1962 20th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Taylor supervised continued planning for air strikes and invasion after Kennedy selected the quarantine as the first step.
1962 23rd October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Taylor maintained military readiness while the quarantine was implemented and reconnaissance missions increased over Cuba.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Taylor advised on military responses after Anderson's U-2 was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile over Cuba.
1962 28th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Taylor kept United States forces at high readiness while officials awaited evidence that Soviet dismantling had begun.
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database Cuban Missile Crisis records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
FRUS: Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath · JFK Library · U.S. National Archives
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