US Presidency
1962

Yet only last month, after I had made clear the distinction between any introduction of ground to-ground missiles and the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11 that, and I quote, the armaments and military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes, that, and I quote the Soviet Government, there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons... For a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba, and that, and I quote their government, the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union. That statement was false.