The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 is the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The Soviets had installed nuclear missile silos in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. U.S. armed forces were put at their highest state of readiness. Soviet field commanders in Cuba were authorized to use nuclear weapons if invaded by the U.S. The fate of millions literally hinged on the ability of two men, John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, to reach a compromise.
In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khr
For the U.S. the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when our planes spotted Soviet missile silos under construction. President Kennedy formed a group of key advisors called EX-COMM. We quarantined Cuba to stop delivery of more missiles.
Never before this incident was photo recconaisance as important. The Cubans and Soviets were denying having missiles in Cuba. U.S. airplanes with special cameras documented they did exist. President Kennedy had the Armed Forces on alert. On October 22, Kennedy addressed the nation. He told them the details. U.S. aircraft continuously watched the Cubans.
Tensions began to ease when Khrushchev announced he would remove the missiles on October 28th. The U.S. had agreed to discuss removal of their missiles in Turkey only after the missil
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