Season two Mad Men concludes tonight in an episode titled "Meditations in An Emergency." The book of poetry by Frank O’Hara was first introduced in the season two premiere. Ad executive Don Draper stumbles upon the book and, after reading it cover to cover, drops his copy in the mail to an unnamed recipient.
When season two opened, the series had jumped ahead in time two years - to Valentine’s Day 1962, the night a glamorous Jackie Kennedy conducted the televised tour of the White House.
In episode 2.10, Draper flies to the west coast for an aerospace conference where an industry executive proudly, almost gleefully, introduces the audinece to MIRV’s and the concept of MAD (mutually assured destructed).
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis ended finally on October 28, 1962 after an extraordinary diplomatic cat and mouse game between the White House and the Soviet Union and a U.S. Naval blockade of Cuba. I recall clearly how real fear of nuclear attack rippled through my small town in Iowa.
