On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave, arguably, the most frightening announcement a president has ever given: the imminent threat of nuclear war. Kennedy informed a television audience the Soviet Union had worked with Cuban President Fidel Castro to place nuclear warheads on an island 90 miles south of Miami. In an 18-minute speech, Kennedy said these medium-range missiles were near operational and capable of reaching Washington, D.C. As a result, Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and plans to defend American allies should a provocation occur.
“It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” Kennedy said.
In private meetings, the Joint Chiefs of Staff urged Kennedy to use military action, including airstrikes and a ground invasion, but the president wanted to resolve the crisis peacefully. He feared an armed conflict in Cuba would threaten West Berlin, a city Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev had long sought.
For the next six days the crisis escalated. U.S. forces around the world were placed on DEFCON 2, the highest military alert in the postwar era. Meanwhile, American and Russian leaders negotiated as the likelihood of war increased.
Kennedy’s peaceful resolve began to erode on October 26, but was persuaded to step-up the diplomatic pressure. Later that day, the Soviets proposed removing the missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba. However, Khrushchev, under pressure from his military leaders, raised the stakes and called for dismantling U.S. missiles located at bases in Turkey and Italy. After a series of back-and-forth communications, Khrushchev agreed to remove all the missiles in Cuba in exchange for the U.S. ending the blockade, pledging not to invade Cuba and removing missiles in Turkey.
After Russia removed its missiles, the blockade ended on November 20, 1962 and the ICBMs in Turkey were quietly taken out in April 1963.
The Cuban Missile Crisis strengthened Kennedy’s image domestically and internationally, while Khrushchev was criticized at home for starting a crisis, then shying away. Following the showdown, a direct telephone link between the White House and the Kremlin was established, better known as the “Hotline.” The USSR and the United States also began to reconsider the nuclear arms race and took the first steps in agreeing to a nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
For more information on the Cuban Missile Crisis, check out One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War, by Michael Dobbs, 2008.
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[…] John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22 by an assassin’s bullet. His body was transported back to Washington D.C., with his young widow, Jacqueline, by his side. Mrs. Kennedy, a student of history, modeled her husband’s funeral after President Lincoln. Three days later, Mrs. Kennedy met her husband’s coffin at the U.S. Capitol where she led the procession down Pennsylvania Avenue and past the White House. More than 800,000 lined the streets to pay their final respects to the fallen president. President Kennedy’s caisson was led by four horses, as well as a riderless horse named Black Jack. The procession headed towards St. Matthew’s Cathedral for a Funeral Mass. Over 53 heads of state attended the funeral. In addition, former presidents Truman and Eisenhower were present. […]
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