Re: Thirteen Days

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at 3:40:23 PM UTC-4, Pamela Brown wrote:
> On Monday, April 5, 2021 at 6:39:08 PM UTC-5, John Corbett wrote: 
> > Thirteen Days was the title of a book written by (or ghost written for) 
> > RFK about the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was a source material for the made 
> > for TV program The Missiles of October which was essentially a televised 
> > stage play. Several decades later it was made into a major motion picture 
> > of the same name as the book. However there was something curious about 
> > the movie which I still don't understand. Kenny O'Donnell was barely 
> > mentioned in the book and had only one scene in the Missiles of October. 
> > In the movie Thirteen Days, he was made the central character played by 
> > Kevin Costner. Essentially the crisis played out through his eyes. I've 
> > always wondered why the producers chose to go in that direction when it 
> > seemed from RFK's book that he was barely involved in the management of 
> > the crisis. Was there other source material that indicated O'Donnell's 
> > involvement was much greater than what it appeared in the book? If anyone 
> > has an information as to why the movie expanded O'Donnell's role beyond 
> > what the book indicated, I would appreciate it.
> https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-22-ca-15450-story.html

Unfortunately this article requires an LA Times subscription which I don't 
have but gave me the idea to search for other old newspaper articles on 
the subject and I found this one from the guardian.

https://groups.google.com/g/alt.assassination.jfk/c/OxC4lcyr5E0

There seems to be a difference of opinion about Kenny O'Donnell's role in 
managing the crisis but these might be the most intriguing paragraphs"

"Not only has the film perplexed historians by elevating O'Donnell, 
hitherto seen as no more than a backroom White House fixer, to the status 
of key player- "it's like making Rosencrantz or Guildenstern the lead in 
Hamlet", one joked - but it has angered the American military by 
suggesting they tried to corral the Kennedys into all-out war.

The furor has also raised awkward questions about the role O'Donnell's 
family played behind the scenes. His son Kevin, an internet tycoon, helped 
bankroll a buyout of Beacon Entertainment, which made the movie, and 
appears to have been the partial inspiration for promoting his father - 
played by Kevin Costner - to the role of the "ordinary Joe" hero audiences 
identify with."

There is no doubt Kenny O'Donnell was close with the Kennedys, 
particularly Bobby since they were teammates on the Harvard football team, 
O'Donnell being the quarterback while Bobby played end.  For that reason, 
I think if O'Donnell had played as major a role in the crisis as the movie 
indicates, his friend Bobby would have given him more than just a passing 
mention in his book.