The Cold War produced many confrontations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Korea and Vietnam were confrontations between the superpowers in an indirect way because each was supporting a country. Not until 1962 did they really come face to face with one another. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crises, although over Cuba, pitted the U.S. directly against Russia. The decisions between October 14 and 17, 1962 could easily have started WWIII or everyone's fear at the time, nuclear war. But, calmer heads prevailed while both powers were able to claim victory.
             The road to this crises began back in the 1930's. The U.S. had economic and political interest in Cuba, thus not allowing a government to take control that represented the Cuban people. From Franklin D. Roosevelt to Dwight D. Eisenhower the U.S. controlled Cuba in a round about way. When the Cuban military dictatorship of Batista was filled with corruption and looked badly upon, the U.S. was associated with it. When guerrilla warfare broke out in Cuba, the U.S. stopped supporting Batista. Although the U.S. did not openly support a rebellion by Fidel Castro, the U.S. newspapers were reporting Castro's ideas and his democratic plans. No one could have guessed what Castro's real plans were once he was in office. Once his military dictatorship was in power, he looked not to the U.S. for support, but to the Soviet Union. From 1959 to 1961 the Soviet Union sent military and economic aid to support Castro's communist regime and in July 1960, threatened the U.S. with a nuclear attack if it interfered with Cuba.
             1960 was a presidential year for the U.S., so as you can imagine, the Cuban issue was a major factor. The Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy attacked Eisenhower and the democrats by saying that his defense policy was to soft and that there would be a "missile gap" during the early 60's giving the Soviet Union an edge in the nucle...