Anatoly Dobrynin

Cuban Missile Crisis: The Players Dossiers

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Anatoly Dobrynin

Office: Ambassador to the United States
Age: information not available
Time in Office: 1962-1986
Born: information not available
Died: information not available
Unlike the major U.S. players who were close advisors to Kennedy, Anatoly Dobrynin was not a close advisor to Khrushchev. His role in the resolution of the crisis was, nevertheless, critical. Even before the Missile Crisis began, Attorney General Robert Kennedy had opened a confidential "back-channel" of communication with the ambassador. Through Kennedy and Dobrynin, Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy, could communicate openly. Both world leaders had come to immensely trust the information they received through the channel.
During the crisis Robert Kennedy met with Dobrynin three times: on October 23, 26, and 27. The meetings were held in secret so that both sides could talk freely. Dobrynin and Kennedy discussed the crisis openly and helped work out the details of a solution. After each meeting Dobrynin cabled a report to Khrushchev, telling his superior of new developments in the crisis. Khrushchev valued these reports greatly. Because Dobrynin was able to meet with such an influential American official, he could accurately describe how urgent the situation was. Dobrynin remained calm throughout the meetings with Kennedy carefully analyzing everything he said.
Click here to read Dobrynin's cable to Khrushchev on the night of October 27.
In the end, Dobrynin's role as a trusted middleman proved extremely crucial in resolving the crisis. Had Khrushchev not been able to trust his ambassador, he could not have gotten accurate information on how close the world was coming to nuclear disaster.