Invitation

You are ordered to attend an

Explosively Entertaining

Dinner Party

Guests:

1- John F Kennedy - President John F. Kennedy was in office during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  The crisis was about the stationing of mid-range nuclear weapons in Cuba by the Soviets.  A thirteen day period of tension occurred, with both sides of the conflict threatening nuclear war.  They came to a diplomatic conclusion, however if there was no agreement, there would have complete nuclear destruction to both parties, like in Doctor Strangelove.

2- Stanley Kubrick - He is the director of Doctor Strangelove, a military, political satire, and dark comedy movie about the dangers of nuclear weapons.

3- Herman Kahn - He is the inspiration for the character doctor Strangelove within the movie of the same name.  He was also the leading nuclear strategist at the time and a leading scientist in the development of the hydrogen bomb.

4- Nikita Khrushchev- He is the man who lead the Soviet Union during a portion of the Cold War, and is most famous for his involvement in the Cuban missile crisis.  He is the one who instigated the crisis by stationing the missiles in Cuba.

5- Jon von Neumann - Jon von Neumann was a contributor to the Manhattan project, the government project to develop the nuclear bomb, and later the hydrogen bomb.  He was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Ballistic Research Laboratories.  He is able to give insight on the strategic use, and the creation of the bomb, and how it was discussed in government.
6- Dwight D. Eisenhower - President Eisenhower was the president to reject the idea of using nuclear weapons to achieve atomic diplomacy.  Instead of this, he attempted to use alternative methods of diplomacy.  This shows that he could tell the other side of the conversation about the use of nuclear weapons to gain a political advantage.
7- Michael Mosettig - He is a reporter who tells his story about the Cuban missile crisis.  He is able to given an honest opinion about the view of the general public during a nuclear crisis.
8- President Truman - Truman was the first president to use atomic diplomacy, which he use against the Soviets to scare them into being more lenient about the action the US was taking.  The Soviets were nervous about the weapon, even though Truman did not even directly threaten the Soviets.  This is side of the atomic diplomacy conversation that both parties in the movie exercised, unlike president Eisenhower.