The closing prompt leaves the counterfactual open and makes no claim about what Burke would have done. Extending his tenure to 17 August 1963 would place him, instead of George Anderson, in the CNO post during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It asks readers to weigh Burke's political skill and deterrence thinking, including his approach to designing forces for crisis management, against Anderson's historical role. The unanswered prompt tests the preceding argument against a real Cold War crisis.
Notable Point · 57:17-58:28
Counterfactual: Burke in the Cuban Missile Crisis
The closing question asks whether an eight-year CNO tenure would have changed the naval advice President Kennedy received or the operations run during the Cuban Missile Crisis.