Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, secretly ordered the placement of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. This was the first time any such weapons had been placed outside Eurasia. Historians have offered several explanations for his actions. One factor in his decision was strategic. A year earlier, the United States had placed several medium-range nuclear missiles in Turkey. Another factor was a threat by the United States to one of the Soviet Union's satellite countries, Cuba. The United States had, in the past, attempted to kill Castro.

In July 1962, the United States found out that nuclear missile shipments were being made to Cuba. US U-2 spy planes flew over the island, bringing back reports of construction and ballistic missiles. On September 4, the Soviet ambassador met with Robert Kennedy to discuss a message from Khrushchev. Accordin

Those thirteen days left the world in awe of the determination and responsibility of the United States and its young president.

On October 20, President Kennedy was told that EXCOM could not reach a decision on what to do. Kennedy was given a choice, give up a naval base at Guantanamo, or pull the Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Both were rejected. Kennedy ordered the blockade to begin.

g to the message, the military build-up was defensive in nature and not militarily threatening. Robert Kennedy informed the ambassador that the United States would closely watch all military activity in Cuba and warned of severe consequences should the Soviets place offensive weapons. President Kennedy did not believe the message. He asks Congress for the authority to mobilize over 100,000 reservists into active duty. The Soviets response was that they could fire rockets from Russia just as easily as from Cuba. Offensive missiles in Cuba, they argued, were therefore unnecessary for an offensive base. Furthermore, the United States has twelve times the firepower of the Soviets. Still, JFK thought that Cuba could become a base for military operations at any given moment. The United States had to be prepared to face it.

On October 14, the CIA reported that construction had begun for medium-range ballistic missiles. Despite the increased state of readiness in the United States, many people did not realize that the Soviet Union had done nothing on its home territory during the crisis. Regardless of what the Soviets said, the United States was still far ahead in the nuclear arms race. ICBMs were expensive to build and the Soviets did not have an abundance of money. Installing the smaller missiles in Cuba was much cheaper than building more ICBMs.

Khrushchev not only secretly placed missiles in Cuba, but also used others to tell President Kennedy that

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Approximate Word count = 1268
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)