What Is The Cuban Missile Crisis

892 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: American Foreign Policy in the Cold War

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962
On October 16, 1962, a huge scare was brought to the attention of President Kennedy. An American U-2 spy plane flew over Cuba and found nuclear weapons being built at a Soviet nuclear missile base. Since the United States had missiles in Turkey that could bomb the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev wanted to install nuclear weapons in Cuba so that he could catch up to the missile advantage that the US had over them. Cuban leader Fidel Castro quickly agreed to install the nuclear weapons in Cuba when Khrushchev asked.
Because millions of Americans could’ve died as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy was considered a hero by stopping Cuba and the Soviet Union and protecting …show more content…

A U- 2 spy plane took pictures of a Soviet nuclear missile base being built in Cuba on October 16, 1962. President Kennedy had many long discussions about the issue with a group of important government men that he put together called the Excomm. President Kennedy was faced with two difficult choices: an air strike over Cuba or a blockade. He had to think quickly but carefully about his decision because “within a few minutes of their being fired eighty million Americans would be dead” (Kennedy, 35 – 36). The sooner that he made his decision, America could take action and restore peace between the countries. President Kennedy finally decided to put up the blockade to have as little violence as possible. By having a blockade, they could stop the Soviet Union from bringing any more supplies into Cuba. The President did have a backup plan of using the air strike just in case the blockade was not effective, although it …show more content…

After Kennedy and Khrushchev kept going back and forth with deals, they finally agreed on a solution that gave both countries initially what they had wanted. President Kennedy agreed to end the blockade and never to invade Cuba once the missiles were gone. Robert Kennedy, part of the Excomm, also added in at the bottom of President Kennedy’s letter to Soviet leader Khrushchev that after only a few months, America’s missiles would be removed from Turkey. Khrushchev agreed to the solution and affirmed the United States that the missiles would be removed from Cuba. Both countries were satisfied with the deal. Their deal restored peace between the Soviet Union and the United

Show More
Related

  • John F Kennedy Ethos Appeal In Jfk Speech

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    He stated that if the Soviets execute a “hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, [it] will be met by whatever action is needed” (source). Respectively, war was not the President’s first choice. President Kennedy declared that he himself and government officials “are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides, including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny” (source). During the Cuban Missile Crisis, America desired peace without war in the Western Hemisphere, but President Kennedy made it clear that the U.S. would fight for it if necessary. Throughout his address, President Kennedy utilized the logos appeal wonderfully to gain the trust of the American and Cuban

    Read More

  • Containment Dbq Essay

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    In January of 1959 , Communist dicator Fidel Castro took over Cuba. The United States in 1961 tried to overthrow Fidel by arming rebels and attempting to support them. This was the failure known as the Bay of Pigs. In October of 1962 , The US finds evidence that medium range nuclear sites had been installed in Cuba. They annonce that on the twenty-third that a quatntine was being Cuba and that any ship carrying offensive weapons to Cuba wasn’t allowed. Five days later , the crisis was averted when the Soviets began to remove the

    Read More

  • What Were the Repercussions of President Kennedy and his Executive Committees decisions Made During the Cuban Missile Crisis?

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    The public was kept in the dark about several courses of action, including the removal of American missiles and many other surprising judgment calls that may be a cause for international security between the two country’s today. A frequently used source is The Kennedy Tapes by Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, as well as others. This book in particular delves into the tape recordings during those thirteen days between President Kennedy and his advisory committee, revealing information that could provide insight into what really happened in October, 1962. B Summary of Evidence President Kennedy was informed at 9.00 AM on Tuesday, October 16, 1962 that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Sierra del Rosario, Cuba. This confirmation was made by an authorized U-2 flight over the area on October 14.

    Read More

  • Thirteen Days by Robert F. Kennedy

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    1 The missiles were being brought to Cuba by Russian leader, Nikita Khrushchev, who guaranteed President Kennedy that the missiles would never be used as a weapon against the United States. This is a lie. Khrushchev fully intended to use the missiles as a mechanism of defense against the United States and as a way to further pursue a relationship with Fidel Castro, who was the President of Cuba at the time. The United States needed to find a way to stop the development of missile sites without causing a break out of violent warfare.

    Read More

  • Kennedy's Fixation with Cuba by Thomas G. Paterson

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ity of the blame went onto Kennedy's record as not being the one that had planned it out and not giving the go ahead for the second air raid. It was later proven that no matter what the outcome of the second air raid would have been, it would not have mattered. The CIA also released a document taking the full responsibility and blame for the incident at the Bay of Pigs. The Cuban Missile Crisis not only worried the U.S. but also worried the rest of the world as to how it would turn out. The Soviet's backed Cuba as an ally and fed them missiles and the supplies to build the missile silos in Cuba. The Soviet's said they did this as a counter measure incase we did in fact invade Cuba. Between these two major conflicts of the time, it can be said that the two countries were not battling over Cuba in itself, but more or less battling over the belief of Communism.

    Read More

  • The Legacy of John F. Kennedy

    1907 Words  | 4 Pages

    May, Ernest R. “John F Kennedy and the Cuban MIssile Crisis.” BBC News. BBC., 18 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • The Miracle on Ice: The US Hockey Team

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Soviet Union and the United States were very distant during three decades of a nuclear arms race. Even though the two nations never directly had a battle, the Cuban Missile Crisis, amongst other things, was a result of the tension. The missile crisis began in October of 1962, when an American spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union in Cuba. JFK did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles, so he made his decisions very secretly. Eventually, Kennedy decided to place a ring of ships around Cuba and place missiles in Turkey. Eventually, both leaders superpowers realized the possibility of a nuclear war and agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would remove the missiles from Cuba if the US didn't invade Cuba. Even though the Soviets removed took their missiles out of Cuba and the US eventually taking their missiles out of Turkey, they (the Soviets) continued to build a more advanced military; the missile crisis was over, but the arms race was not.

    Read More

  • Thirteen Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis began with a set of photographs taken over Cuba by an American pilot.2 These photographs showed that Russians were building missile bases in Cuba and placing missiles and atomic weapons there that were easily within range of the United States. President JFK and Robert Kennedy were both stunned. From this point a board of advisors was created and called the Ex Comm, who met every day during those thirteen days and debated the various courses of actions, and consequences of each, that the president could take. Kennedy emphasizes the making of this board as a lesson for future government officials because he believes that it "proved conclusively how important it is that the President have the recommendations and opinions of more than one...point of view."3

    Read More

  • The Bay Of Pigs Invasion

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    The errors committed by the United States in terms of inaccurate planning and overconfidence within the Bay of Pigs Invasion rose the confidence of Cuban government in its own people and intelligence services and tactics for future attacks. The Bay of Pigs debacle not only strengthened Fidel Castro's hold on power, but also brought the Soviet Union firmly on to his side, thus increasing Castro’s initiative to implement Communism ideals in Cuba. This is evident in Castro’s strong relationship with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev between 1960 and 1962. The failure of the 1961 Invasion served as motivation for Fidel Castro to start planning a counter attack on the United States Government. Immediately as the Invasion had finished, Castro acted in order to further strengthen the nation in sight of possible future conflicts. To facilitate this, he consequently approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island, something that immediately established a political alliance between the two Communist leaders which was convenient to both. Castro needed Soviet help to protect his regi...

    Read More

  • The Role of John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis

    1743 Words  | 4 Pages

    Perhaps the most critical moment that had occurred to the United States and the world of the last century is the Cuban Missile Crisis. The significance of this event was that it had brought the world to the closest it could ever be to a nuclear war. Millions of lives, cultures and infrastructure would have been lost if it was not splendidly dealt with. Yet, a man was able to prevent this devastation, and he was none other than President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) of the United States. How was he significant to the event? This research paper will discuss it with the points that are based on JFK’s characteristics. Hence, to provide an overview of this paper; the outbreak of nuclear warfare was prevented in the Cuban Missile Crisis specifically by John F. Kennedy’s many distinguished characteristics.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missle Crisis

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis most definitively is known for how it halted nuclear attack on the brink of a hot war. With missiles in Cuba and Turkey pointing at each other, a stalemate was created between the Soviet Union and the United States. A policy of Mutually Assured Destruction was followed in order to prevent either side from attacking the other in fear of mass amounts of death and environmental consequences that would be caused by a nuclear war between the two most powerful countries in the world. The United States had always had weapons in Turkey within the region of the Soviet Union, being threatened by this the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev order for missiles to be sent to the communist ally in the caribbean which was Cuba led by former revolutionary Fidel Castro. After this event had occurred President Kennedy addressed the nation and the world on how the U.S. would respond to such threats. “ This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base--by the presence of these large, long range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction--co...

    Read More

  • Cold War

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    This buildup of weapons by the two countries started The Cuban Missile Crisis (The Cuban). Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet leader of the time, was nervous about the buildup of nuclear weapons in Western Europe and Turkey by the United States. He felt a build-up of missiles in Cuba would level the playing field.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major event in U.S History that almost led to nuclear destruction. It was over a period of thirteen days in which diplomats from the U.S and the Soviet Union were trying to reach a peaceful resolution so that they wouldn’t have to engage in physical warfare. The crisis was the hallmark of the Cold War era which lasted from the 1950’s to the late 1980’s. The Cold War was a power struggle between the U.S and Soviet Union in which the two nations had a massive arms race to become the strongest military force. The U.S considered Communism to be an opposing political entity, and therefore branded them as enemies. Khrushchev’s antagonistic view of Americans also played a big role in the conflict. The Cold War tensions, coupled with a political shift in Cuba eventually lead to the military struggle known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the point of most tension and near collapse causing the Cold War to almost shift from a passive and underground struggle to a violent and catastrophic one.

    Read More

  • Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy's Varying Cold War Policies

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... Cuban attack with all-out nuclear retaliation. In response to the increased Soviet ships coming with weapons, JFK ordered a blockade, which he called quarantine because a blockade is an act of war, around Cuba. For 13 days, the world held its breath as the threat of a nuclear war hung over the world, but the Soviets eventually turned back and Khrushchev agreed to remove weapons from Cuba in exchange for no US invasion of Cuba. Meanwhile in Berlin, the city was in turmoil between the East (Soviet) and the West (US controlled). In order to stop the mass exodus of East Berliners, the construction of the 90-mile Berlin Wall began. Both Kennedy and Khrushchev sought ways to ease the tension between the two groups, establishing a hotline between the White House and the Kremlin, and later this led to the Limited Ban Treaty, which banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Cuban Missile Crisis

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    October 14th, 1962 marked the first day of a two week state of worldwide panic known as the Cuban Missile crisis. This was the most fragile and precarious situation during the cold war, almost resulting in worldwide thermonuclear warfare. It was a necessity to prevent the annihilation of America, but the manner of execution was the issue of debate among the U.S. government. Existing on the brink of extinction, how effective was the U.S. government in employing diplomacy to resolve this crisis?

    Read More

More about What Is The Cuban Missile Crisis

Open Document