Cuban Missile Crisis The Edge of War
John F. Kennedy's greatest triumph as President of the United States came in 1962, as the world's two largest superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, edged closer and closer to nuclear war. The Soviet premier of Russia was caught arming Fidel Castro with nuclear weapons. The confrontation left the world in fear for thirteen long days, with the life of the world on the line. In 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, employed a daring gambit. He secretly ordered the placement of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. Earlier the Soviet premier had promised Soviet protection to Cuba ("Cuban" 774). This was the first time any such weapons had been placed outside of Eurasia (Hersh 345). Several explanations for his actions have been offered by historians. One factor in Khrushchev's decision was a strategic one (Hersh 346). A year earlier, the United States had placed several medium-range nuclear missiles in Turkey ("Cuban 774). The missiles were just across the Black Sea from the Soviet Union, within sight of Khrushchev's summer home (Hersh 346). President Kennedy had earlier ignored his advisors and placed nuclear missiles in Turkey. Another factor was a threat by the US to
An Excom meeting was called to order, to draft a reply to Khrushchev's words. 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 (Mills 233). The first medium-range missile site would be completed within the next day and a half. The blockade stopped its first Soviet ship on Friday. Stevenson explained that he was trying to preserve peace, not debate (Mills 245). The crisis was the closest the world had ever come to global nuclear war and could possibly be the reason for Khrushchev's fall in 1964 ("Cuban" 774). Armed parties from two American destroyers boarded the ship and searched. On October 18, photographs revealed that construction on the missile bases was occurring at a faster rate than originally thought. The possibility of an air strike was raised again by some Excom members. Excom, the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, was secretly called. Ninety miles off the coast of Florida, missiles were being prepared (Hersh 348). Their target: the Soviet Union (Hersh 356). Furthermore, the United States had over 3,000 nuclear warheads and nearly 300 missile launchers, opposed to the Soviet Union's 250 warheads and 24 to 44 missile launchers (Hersh 343). Installing the smaller missiles in Cuba was much cheaper than building more ICBMs. In case the blockade failed to get Khrushchev to remove the missiles, military action could act as a backup plan.
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