It became Kennedy’s motto during the Missile Crisis. “I think we ought to think of why the Russians did this,” he told his advisors. What is the advantage they are trying to get? he asked, with real interest. “Must be some major reason for the Soviets to set this up.” As Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Kennedy’s advisor and biographer, wrote, “With his capacity to understand the problems of others, the President could see how threatening the world might have looked to the Kremlin.”
