Jackie’s Cuban Missile Crisis Intervention.
October 15, 1962, was right in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was literally the most dangerous week in human history when nuclear war felt imminent. Jackie Kennedy noticed Jack hadn't eaten in nearly 48 hours and was running on coffee and adrenaline. So she personally made him a roast beef sandwich, walked into the Cabinet Room during a tense meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and set it down in front of him. Jackie said “Gentlemen, the President needs to eat, and you all need to take a ten-minute break because exhausted men make terrible decisions.” Then she stood there until every single advisor left the room.
What's incredibly powerful is that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara later told historians that Jackie's interruption “actually may have prevented catastrophe. We were all operating on fumes and fear. Those ten minutes she forced us to take allowed cooler heads to prevail.” What makes this even more beautiful is that during those ten minutes alone, Jackie sat with Jack while he ate. She didn't ask about missiles or strategy. She told him funny stories about Caroline's antics at preschool and showed him a drawing Caroline had made of their family. Jack's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, wrote in her diary that when Jack emerged from that break, “his shoulders were straighter, his voice was calmer, and he approached the crisis with renewed clarity. Jackie had reminded him what he was actually fighting for. Not abstract geopolitical theory, but his daughter's future, his family's safety, the simple human moments that make life worth protecting.”
Throughout the thirteen days of the crisis from October 16-28, Jackie would quietly appear with food. She pulled Jack away for brief walks around the Rose Garden. This created small pockets of normalcy in absolute chaos. Jack told his brother Bobby, “Jackie's keeping me human when this job is trying to turn me into a calculating machine. Her insistence that I remain a father and husband even while being Commander in Chief is the only thing keeping me sane.”
The most touching detail is that on October 28th, when Khrushchev finally agreed to remove the missiles and the crisis ended, the first thing Jack did was find Jackie in the residence, hug her tightly, and whisper “You saved me this week-not just my sanity, but my soul. Thank you for reminding me that being strong doesn't mean forgetting I'm human.”
It reminds us that sometimes the most important thing we can do during someone's crisis isn't solving their problems but insisting they take care of their basic humanity. Great leadership requires partners who protect our souls when pressure threatens to destroy them.
Small acts like making a sandwich and demanding rest can literally change the course of history.
Placing a candle for democracy in your window may seem a small act. For neighbors burdened by threats to democracy, that light can be a signal of sanity and human spirit. For others who want to do something, your candle may be a positive action they also can do.
Remember, a movement of one is a candle. A movement of millions is a galaxy. The bridge from one to the other is emailing your candle to 4 people you know would love this. Posting a photo of your candle on social media is another bridge from your one candle to a million lights for democracy. Tonight’s the night for galaxies!