Kenny O'Donnell: If the sun comes up tomorrow, it is only because of men of good will. And that's - that's all there is between us and the devil.
Kenny O'Donnell: That's going to be tough - you know how these guys are about their chains of command.
President Kennedy: Listen, you tell 'em those chains of command end at one place: me.
Kenny O'Donnell: They look warlike? Jesus Christ, we're lighting off nuclear weapons like its our own private Fourth of July.
Robert McNamara: This is not a blockade. This is language. A new vocabulary, the likes of which the world has never seen! This is President Kennedy communicating with Secretary Khrushchev.
General Curtis LeMay: You're in a pretty bad fix, Mr. President.
President Kennedy: What did you say?
General Curtis LeMay: You're in a pretty bad fix.
President Kennedy: Well, maybe you haven't noticed: You're in it with me.
President Kennedy: Well, who the hell authorized this missile test?
Robert Kennedy: Who do you think? God knows what this is gonna communicate to the Soviets.
Kenny O'Donnell: Communicate with the Soviets? We can't communicate with the Pentagon - and it's just across the goddamn river.
