Kenny O'Donnell

Overview... Special Assistant to President Kennedy dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy went out and told the country that the Soviets weren't putting missiles into Cuba, and now it looks like they’ve been doing just that. He also just lost the midterm elections. Now O’Donnell and his team have to come up with alternative ways of dealing with this Soviet showdown besides all-out war. The Joint Chiefs are going to be pressing for a military solution soon. America can't afford to let the Soviets ram their agenda down our throats, but war in the nuclear age might mean Armageddon.

Personality... clear-headed, rational, and courageous. Kenny believes that a surprise attack would be counter to what the United States stands for, that it would leave us no room for maneuver, and that the inevitable Soviet response will force America into a war she doesn’t want. A war that, this time, will really end all war – and potentially all life. O'Donnell doesn’t take that responsibility lightly. This is brinksmanship with the highest stakes possible, and to make the Soviets blink first, the Kennedy administration needs to get a step or two ahead on understanding the situation on the ground in Cuba. Accurate information might just be the most powerful weapon of all.