CubanMissileCrisis-KW

The Cuban Missile Crisis happened on October 14, 1962, when a US spy plane took pictures of a Soviet missile base under construction in Cuba. The photos were shown to Kennedy on October 16. This was a serious nuclear threat to the US. Kennedy had a problem: If he went in to Cuba to stop the construction of the base, he risked a nuclear war with the Soviets. But if he didn't do anything, the Soviets might attack first, which would be devastating at that range.

Military officials and Cabinet members kept trying to get Kennedy to perform an air attack on the missile sites, but instead Kennedy sent the navy to quarantine and search all ships going in to Cuba. Then he gave the Soviets a choice: Either destroy all the missile bases, or face naval quarantine. A week later, he and the Soviet leader, Khrushchev, reached a deal. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles if the US publicly promised never to invade Cuba and to quietly take their missile bases out of Turkey. << Back