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The Missile Crisis and President de Gaulle1
On October 22, 1962 the US President Kennedy addressed the whole nation, announcing that as the Soviet Union had installed missiles in Cuba, America had decided to impose a naval blockade2 on Cuba. If the Soviet Union did not immediately remove those missiles, America would take military action to destroy them.
Following Kennedy’s speech, the Soviet Union ordered the whole armed forces to be in a state of alert. The situation became very critical.
Before Kennedy made his decision, American envoys3 were sent to all allied countries to inform them of the situation and to seek a common stand. The former Secretary of State Dean Acheson flew secretly to Paris and for secrecy’s sake this American envoy and the American chargé d’affaires had to enter the Élysée Palace by the kitchen door.
General de Gaulle grasped the seriousness of the situation. He assured the American envoy that should war break out, France would stand by America.
On October 27, the new American ambassador who had not yet presented his credentials4 was received by de Gaulle who again repeated the pledge5 he had made to Acheson.
The next day the American ambassador received instructions from home, saying that Khrushchev had written to the American president indicating that if America promised not to invade Cuba, the Soviet Union would withdraw all the Soviet missiles from the island. Washington wanted the ambassador to inform the French president of this situation.
It happened to be a Sunday and de Gaulle was spending the weekend in a place a hundred miles from Paris. The American ambassador contacted the Élysée Palace seeking an audience6 with French president. The answer he got was: General de Gaulle had given orders that during his weekend, he was inaccessible7 to anyone on official matters, whether he was French or foreign. However, all written messages could be forwarded to him via Élysée Palace.
The American ambassador reported the situation to Washington. Both the White House and the State Department were utterly amazed, and were greatly impressed by de Gaulle’s calm and imperturbability8 during a crisis.
注释：
1. de Gaulle [dE5gEJl] 戴高乐（1890~1970，法国总统）
2. blockade [blC5keid] n.封锁
3. envoy [5envCi] n.使节
4. credential [kri5denFEl] n. [~s]（大使递交的）国书
5. pledge [pledV] n. （政府或政党领袖的）诺言，保证
6. audience [5C:diEns] n.觐见，谒见，正式接见
7. inaccessible [7inAk5sesEbl] a.得不到的，不可（或不易）见到的
8. imperturbability [5impE7t:bE5bilEti] n.沉着，冷静
