CRISIS #1—THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Ever since the end of World War II in 1945, feelings of distrust had been growing
between the United States and the Soviet Union. Each side feared an armed attack by
the other and had embarked on a buildup of military strength: an “arms race” against
each other. Each had highly skilled scientists, atomic and hydrogen bombs, ships,
planes, and missiles, and by the early l950’s each country had the power to kill most of
the people in the other country. Indeed, if war came between the two countries, most of
the people of the world would be killed also.

Part of this buildup of military strength involved building bases for launching missiles. In
addition to missile bases on land, each country had aircraft and submarines to carry
missiles with nuclear warheads aimed at the other country. Since missiles of this era
did not travel as far as those we have today, establishing bases on land became
important for security. The United States made agreements with friendly European
nations to put missile bases in those countries to surround the Soviet Union. Among
other places, we had bases with nuclear missiles in Turkey, just across the Soviet
Union’s southern border, aimed and ready to fire at important Russian cities and bases.
At first it was hard to the Soviet Union to place missile bases close to the United States.,
but then Fidel Castro set up a Communist government in Cuba in 1959, ninety miles off
the coast of Florida. In l961, with authorization from President John Kennedy, the
United States provided training, equipment, and logistical support to Cuban exiles bent
on recapturing their country. The invasion at the Bay of Pigs failed miserably, and as a
result, Cuba turned to the Soviet Union and its leader, Nikita Khrushchev, for help.

In October, 1962, photos taken by an American U-2 spy plane revealed Soviet missile
bases under construction at several sites in Cuba. President Kennedy was informed
that within a week or less, the missiles might be operational, and that they were not
defensive weapons meant to shoot down enemy aircraft flying over Cuba but were
offensive nuclear missiles that could reach most of the cities in the United States.

Kennedy knew he had to act quickly to force the Russians to remove the missiles from
Cuba. An advantage he had was that the Soviets did not know he knew about the
missiles. In fact, they were assuring him that they were not giving Cuba any military aid
at all other than the kind to defend that country against attack. Kennedy called together
key advisors to recommend a solution to this dangerous problem. He wanted the
missiles out of Cuba, but he knew one wrong step by either side could plunge the world
into nuclear war.

What would you advise President Kennedy to do?

CRISIS #2—DRUGS AND THE DICTATOR

Manuel Noriega became Panama’s military leader in 1983. For a while he was paid by
the CIA to be an informant on communist activities in neighboring countries, and he was
also on the payroll of the United States Army from 1955 to 1986. But accusations of
brutality and illegal drug trafficking surfaced in the early 1980’s. Relations grew strained
between the US and Panama. In l987 the US Senate passed a resolution urging
Panama to adopt a civilian government; Panama replied by accusing the US of violating
the Panama Canal Treaty. The Senate then called for cutting military and economic aid
to the country, but with some 35,000 Americans in the area, this would also hurt them.
Panama attempted to restrict US military presence in the country. In February of 1988,
Noriega was indicted in a US court on drug-related charges, but he was not arrested.

The US military stepped up its presence in Panama to provide security for US military
operations as well as the many US civilians who worked there. Officers of Panama’s
Defense Force attempted a coup against Noriega, but failed, and his specially-created
Dignity Battalions began to enforce his power. The US began to bring home military
dependents and civilian diplomats in wake of the unrest. Elections were held in May of
l989, but when the results were not to Noriega’s liking, the Dignity Battalions assaulted
opposition candidates and crowds at victory parties. Noriega voided the results of the
election, which had been won by his opposition by a 3:1 margin.

A second coup attempt against Noriega failed in October, l989. Two months later, on
December 15, he was proclaimed Maximum Leader of Panama and declared a state of
war against the United States. In the days that followed incidents against Americans
increased. A school bus carrying dependents of American personnel was harassed. A
US Navy lieutenant was brutalized and threats and assaults were made against his
wife. When a group of Marines in a civilian car strayed too near a Panamanian defense
installation, one was killed. Conflicting accounts existed as to whether the Marines
were armed; some said they deliberately approached the area to draw a response that
would justify American action.

Although the struggle against Noriega had begun during the Reagan administration, it
fell to President George Bush to decide on course of action. He had to consider not
only Noriega’s misdeeds but the safety of Americans and the neutrality of the Panama
Canal.

What would you advise President Bush to do?

CRISIS #5—THE WHISKEY REBELLION

In George Washington’s first term as President, the national debt had climbed to
$75,000,000. His Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, insisted on honoring the
outstanding federal and state obligations. He wasn’t overly worried about the huge
national debt, believing instead that the more citizens the government owed money to,
the more there would be with a personal financial stake in the success of government.
To raise money, Congress enacted the first tariff law with a low rate of 8% on the value
of imported goods. In l791, Hamilton convinced Congress to seek another source of
revenue by passing an excise tax on whiskey. The new tax was seven cents a gallon
and was borne chiefly by the distillers, farmers who lived on the western frontier.
Lacking in good roads to get their low-priced, bulky grain to market, they were
converting it into higher-priced liquor more easily transported as small loads on
horseback. There was so much whiskey on the frontier that it served as a form of
currency: one gallon equaled one shilling, or about twenty-five cents in the currency of
the day.

The farmers viewed the whiskey tax as a form on class discrimination, unfairly saddling
them with the burden while leaving virtually untouched the wealthy manufacturers of the
East. This was precisely what so many of the frontiersmen feared in the fight to ratify
the Constitution. The tax also appeared to fall more heavily on certain sections of the
country. Much of the whiskey was produced and consumed in the South and
Southwest, while rum, the favorite drink of the North, was only lightly taxed.

The Whiskey Rebellion broke out in southwestern Pennsylvania in l794. The farmers
viewed their whiskey not as a luxury to be taxed but as an economic necessity and a
medium of exchange. Local preachers were even paid in whiskey. In defiance, the
distillers erected “Whiskey Poles” similar to the “Liberty Poles” of the anti-Stamp Tax
movement of 1765. Their rallying cry became “Liberty and No Excise!” When federal
revenue officers showed up to collect the tax, several were tarred and feathered. The
tax went largely uncollected as the farmers staged their little rebellion.

President Washington was alarmed by what he called these “self-created societies,” but
what was the man who had once been a revolutionist himself to do about this open
rebellion against the new government? What would you recommend he do?