Cuban Missile Crisis

Melissa Estabrook

Professor Staude

Hist 135

July 31, 2014

The Cuban Missile Crisis

In the fall of 1962, the United States, Soviet Union and Cuba brought the world to the closest it has ever been to nuclear war. Deep in the middle of the Cold War which ran from the end of World War I in 1945 to 1991, John F. Kennedy and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev were at a standstill for 13 days after the discovery of Soviet Missiles located in Cuba, a very close 90 miles from Florida. (Frankel 76) A Kennedy-era advisor McGeorge Bundy stated that this period of time has become one of the most studied because “Having come so close to the edge, we must make it our business not to pass this way again.” (Nathan 3)

I. Events that Lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis-

In January 1959, Fidel Castro and his army overtook the Batista government in Cuba. Castro was instrumental in initiating reforms in Cuba which lead to the creation of the socialist regime, this direction in government leadership lead to hostility towards the United States. The rise of socialism and their dependence on the financial support Cuba needed during their revolution helped create an alignment with the Soviet Union. This pairing directed the United States to create an embargo on trade against Cuba in 1961. (Adas 309-310)

President John F. Kennedy led the US attempt to overthrow the Castro regime during the Bay of Pigs invasion during Mid-April 1961. Cuban exiles were used to invade Cuba but were met with overwhelming firepower led by Fidel Castro himself. This was considered a huge failure for the Kennedy administration and led the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to think that JFK was weak and indecisive. (Nathan 4) This contributed to Khrushchev to dominate the meeting in Vienna between the two leaders in the spring of 1961 to discuss what could be achieved in Berlin. (Frankel 68)

Khrushchev was obsessed with the thought that the United States had missiles just over the Black Sea in Turkey,...