Presidents at Peace: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense 13 day military standoff that took place in October of 1962, in which leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union courted potential nuclear conflict arising from the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. In a television address on October 22, 1962, President John Kennedy alerted Americans about the presence of the missiles. Following this news, many people worried that the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
In 1959, leftist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro seized power in the Caribbean island nation of Cuba. Fearing US intervention, Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Under Castro, Cuba grew dependent on the Soviets for military and economic aid. In 1962 Castro allowed the Soviets to install nuclear warhead missiles on his island. On October 14, 1962, the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane, making a high-altitude pass over Cuba, photographed a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation.
President Kennedy was briefed about the situation on October 16, and he immediately called together a group of advisors and officials known as the executive committee, or ExCom. For nearly the next two weeks, the president and his team wrestled with this diplomatic crisis. Kennedy was very concerned about the close proximity of the nuclear-armed missiles, which were located just 90 miles south of Florida. From that launch point, they were capable of quickly reaching targets in the eastern U.S.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev placed the missiles to Cuba in order to increase his nation’s nuclear strike capability. The Soviets were uneasy about the number of nuclear weapons that were targeted at them from sites in Western Europe and Turkey. The Kennedy administration had already launched one attack on Cuba, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and Castro and Khrushchev saw the missiles as a means of deterring further U.S. aggression.
Kennedy promptly decided that the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba was unacceptable. The challenge facing him was to orchestrate their removal without initiating a wider conflict, and possibly a nuclear war. Kennedy considered a variety of options, including a bombing attack on the missile sites and a full-scale invasion of Cuba. But Kennedy decided on a more measured approach. First, he decided to use the U.S. Navy to establish a blockade, or quarantine, of the island to prevent the Soviets from delivering additional missiles and military equipment. Second, he gave the Soviets and Cubans an ultimatum that the existing missiles be removed.
In a television broadcast on October 22, 1962, the president notified Americans about the presence of the missiles. He explained his decision to enact the blockade and made it clear that the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. People in the United States nervously waited for the Soviet response. Some Americans, fearing their country was on the brink of nuclear war, hoarded food and gas.
A crucial moment in the crisis occurred on October 24, when Soviet ships bound for Cuba approached the line of U.S. vessels enforcing the blockade. An attempt by the Soviets to breach the blockade would likely have sparked a military confrontation. But the Soviet ships stopped short of the blockade.
This did not end the problem however. On October 27, an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba, and a U.S. invasion force was readied in Florida. (The 35-year-old pilot of the downed plane, Major Rudolf Anderson, was the sole U.S. combat casualty of the crisis.)
During the crisis, the Americans and Soviets had exchanged letters and other communications, and on October 26, Khrushchev sent a message to Kennedy in which he offered to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for a promise by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The following day, the Soviet leader sent a letter proposing that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey.
Kennedy decided to accept the terms of the first message and ignore the second. Privately, however, American officials also agreed to withdraw their nation’s missiles from Turkey. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy personally delivered the message to the Soviet ambassador in Washington, and on October 28, the crisis ended.
Both the Americans and Soviets were strongly affected by the Cuban Missile Crisis. The following year, a direct “hot line” communication link was installed between Washington and Moscow to help prevent similar situations. The two nations later signed two treaties related to nuclear weapons.
In 1959, leftist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro seized power in the Caribbean island nation of Cuba. Fearing US intervention, Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Under Castro, Cuba grew dependent on the Soviets for military and economic aid. In 1962 Castro allowed the Soviets to install nuclear warhead missiles on his island. On October 14, 1962, the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane, making a high-altitude pass over Cuba, photographed a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation.
President Kennedy was briefed about the situation on October 16, and he immediately called together a group of advisors and officials known as the executive committee, or ExCom. For nearly the next two weeks, the president and his team wrestled with this diplomatic crisis. Kennedy was very concerned about the close proximity of the nuclear-armed missiles, which were located just 90 miles south of Florida. From that launch point, they were capable of quickly reaching targets in the eastern U.S.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev placed the missiles to Cuba in order to increase his nation’s nuclear strike capability. The Soviets were uneasy about the number of nuclear weapons that were targeted at them from sites in Western Europe and Turkey. The Kennedy administration had already launched one attack on Cuba, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and Castro and Khrushchev saw the missiles as a means of deterring further U.S. aggression.
Kennedy promptly decided that the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba was unacceptable. The challenge facing him was to orchestrate their removal without initiating a wider conflict, and possibly a nuclear war. Kennedy considered a variety of options, including a bombing attack on the missile sites and a full-scale invasion of Cuba. But Kennedy decided on a more measured approach. First, he decided to use the U.S. Navy to establish a blockade, or quarantine, of the island to prevent the Soviets from delivering additional missiles and military equipment. Second, he gave the Soviets and Cubans an ultimatum that the existing missiles be removed.
In a television broadcast on October 22, 1962, the president notified Americans about the presence of the missiles. He explained his decision to enact the blockade and made it clear that the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. People in the United States nervously waited for the Soviet response. Some Americans, fearing their country was on the brink of nuclear war, hoarded food and gas.
A crucial moment in the crisis occurred on October 24, when Soviet ships bound for Cuba approached the line of U.S. vessels enforcing the blockade. An attempt by the Soviets to breach the blockade would likely have sparked a military confrontation. But the Soviet ships stopped short of the blockade.
This did not end the problem however. On October 27, an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba, and a U.S. invasion force was readied in Florida. (The 35-year-old pilot of the downed plane, Major Rudolf Anderson, was the sole U.S. combat casualty of the crisis.)
During the crisis, the Americans and Soviets had exchanged letters and other communications, and on October 26, Khrushchev sent a message to Kennedy in which he offered to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for a promise by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The following day, the Soviet leader sent a letter proposing that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey.
Kennedy decided to accept the terms of the first message and ignore the second. Privately, however, American officials also agreed to withdraw their nation’s missiles from Turkey. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy personally delivered the message to the Soviet ambassador in Washington, and on October 28, the crisis ended.
Both the Americans and Soviets were strongly affected by the Cuban Missile Crisis. The following year, a direct “hot line” communication link was installed between Washington and Moscow to help prevent similar situations. The two nations later signed two treaties related to nuclear weapons.