Introduction

Asked to participate in a conference on television and the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, first said, "I'm afraid I can't help you. I don't think I turned on a television set during the whole two weeks of that crisis."^{Part One examines how
U.S. television coverage of news and world affairs has changed. Part
Two traces the effects of that coverage on presidential decision making in
foreign crises during this period. Part Three offers lessons that can
be extrapolated from this experience for the modern-day president.}