Nassau Agreement - Meeting of Minds

Meeting of Minds

As the crisis grew to a boil in the UK, an emergency meeting between Macmillan and Kennedy was arranged to take place in Nassau, Bahamas. On the night of 18 December, Macmillan and Kennedy had a personal conversation during a walk away from the rest of the group. That morning, in London, 103 conservative members of Parliament, nearly one third of the body, signed a motion urging Macmillan to ensure that Britain remained an independent nuclear power.

The next day, during the opening presentations, Macmillan outlined the UK's contributions to the development of the nuclear bomb, and stated in no uncertain terms that the UK would continue to maintain an independent nuclear force, no matter what the US did to try to stop them. If the US were to pull out of their technology sharing agreements, the UK's force would become entirely independent, precisely the problem that so worried McNamara.

Over the next few days a new plan was hammered out that saw the UK purchase the Polaris, but equipped with British warheads, and lacking the dual-key system. The UK would thus retain its independent deterrent force, although its control passed from the Royal Air Force largely to the Royal Navy. The Polaris, a much better weapon system for the UK's needs, was a major "scoop". The American offer has been referred to as “almost the bargain of the century” and so "amazing" to the British that many refused to believe it. The RAF kept a tactical nuclear capability with the WE.177 which armed V bombers, and later the Panavia Tornado force.

The original US policy of attempting to force the UK into their Multilateral Force proved to be a failure in light of the Polaris decision. Kennedy, stung by the entire issue, commissioned a detailed report by Richard Neustadt on the events and what lessons could be learned from them. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis recalled him reading the initial report and commenting that "If you want to know what my life is like, read this." The report was later declassified in the 1990s and published as Report to JFK: The Skybolt Crisis in Perspective

Following Kennedy's departure Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker arrived for talks with Macmillan. However, the Canadian PM arrived early; Kennedy lunched with Diefenbaker- remarking: 'There we sat like three whores at a christening'.