What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Basically, through photographic evidence convened through U-2 flights over Cuba, the US discovered that the Soviet Union was deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis began on October 14th, 1962, and lasted for 38 days. It is regarded as the time when the Cold War came the closest to an actual nuclear confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union; it could have developed into WWIII.

With the news of this confirmed evidence, President Kennedy called together a special group of senior advisers to meet secretly at the White House to help him come to a strategy as to avoid nuclear destruction of the United States. At this point in time, at the Cuban missile base, the Soviets were capable of hitting any city in the United States sans the far reaches of Washington state. This group created by Kennedy came to be known as the ExComm, or Executive Committee of the National Security Council. These officials discussed the various options, such as an immediate bombing strike or an appeal to the United Nations, both of which were dismissed early on. The real options for ExComm were only military- either a naval blockade and an ultimatum, or a full-scale invasion. The blockade was eventually chosen, even though a few of the officials of ExComm, notably Paul Nitze and Generals Curtis LeMay and Maxwell Tayler, pushed for more aggressive actions.

In the end, it came down to the wire. Soviet ships threatened to break the blockade and, at the last moment, turned back. The Soviets removed the missiles- under the condition that the US removed their own missiles from Turkey. President Kennedy ordered an end to the quarantine of Cuba on November 20th.

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First answer by Karen arthur06hotmail.com. Last edit by ID416948877. Question popularity: 85 [recommend question]