7. The American people were unaware of the crisis for its first week
On October 18, 1962, the Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko, arrived at the White House for a scheduled meeting with the President, during which he informed Kennedy that the concerns expressed by the Americans over the summer about the installations of SAMs were unfounded, and that the missiles were for defensive purposes only. Kennedy chose not to inform the Soviet minister that he knew he was lying. Instead he met again with EXCOMM and the Joint Chiefs, who continued to push for an invasion, and absent that action a bombing attack on the missile sites. Air Force Chief Curtis LeMay assured Kennedy that a bombing mission would eliminate all of the missile sites in one strike. By October 19, at least four of the sites were labeled as operational by analysts.
On October 21, still brushing aside arguments for invasion, Kennedy came down in favor of a blockade of the island by the US Navy. Since technically a blockade is an act of war according to international law, Kennedy opted to call the operation a quarantine, ordering the US Navy to stop all ships approaching Cuba and deny passage to any containing any military stores. Because the quarantine was designed to take place in international waters, where during peacetime ships can only be stopped under extraordinary circumstances, Kennedy quietly obtained the endorsement of the Organization of American States for the operation. The next step was to inform the American people, and the rest of the world including the Soviet Union, that the Americans were about to engage in using their Navy to stop the Soviets on the high seas.