Essay about The Cuban Missile Crisis

Thirteen days. For some, it seemed like a lifetime. Thirteen days. For others, it was the scariest moments of their lives. Just thirteen short days to prevent a nuclear war. After Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government, he turned Cuba into a communist regime. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics decided to provide Cuba with Soviet aid. Soon after, The United States found evidence of nuclear missiles. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an important time in both Cuban and American history. Castro’s Cuba was just the beginning, things then started to intensify with Soviet aid, and culminated with the United States responding to end it all.

In 1962, Cuba was convinced that the USA was planning to attack them and asked the Soviet Union for military assistance. The USSR sent Cuba materials to build missile bases and launch sites. When President Kennedy realized that Cuba could launch missiles into America, he demanded that the USSR remove its weapons and troops. The Americans formed a naval blockade as the world stood nervously on the edge of a nuclear war. The USSR removed its weapons despite protests from Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

“Do everything in such a way that the U.S. public opinion will not be aware of this until November 4th or after November 4th…The Americans are going to have to swallow this the same way we have had to swallow the pill of missiles in Turkey,” stated Premier Nikita Khrushchev. He wanted to keep this a secret until the missiles would be operational. The Soviet Union eventually brought 45,000 troops, 80 missiles, some bombers, and several SAM sites to Cuba by sea, which were meant to shoot down U-2 planes that routinely flew over Cuba, so they would not discover the offensive missiles (Eubank 20-24). On October 15, a U-2 plane discovered offensive missiles and this was reported to President Kennedy the next morning at 9:00 AM. Kennedy didn’t seem too shocked. He simply discussed plans with his advisors, also known as the ExComm, about solutions including an invasion, air strikes, withdrawing missiles from Turkey, and blockades (Eubank 36-41). Kennedy finally came to a decision and decided to reveal it to the public through a speech on television. Kennedy’s speech on October 22, 1962 addressed the fact that he wanted Khrushchev to remove the missiles from Cuba and that Khrushchev claimed that there were no offensive missiles in Cuba. Kennedy further explained the fact that there was evidence from photographs that U-2 spy planes took over the island of Cuba. Additionally, Kennedy announced that a naval quarantine or blockade would take place on Cuba to stop ships from bringing in any offensive weapons (“Presidents Grave”). Everyone rushed to the supermarkets and stocked up on food in panic (Cullough). Soviet ships continued towards Cuba even after the speech. One of the members in the ExComm, McCone, stated, “Mr. President, we have a preliminary report which seems to indicate that some of the

During this time Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR during this time, and John F. Kennedy, the president of the US also during this time, were scared of the thought too. As said in Document A it states, “We are willing to remove from Cuba the [missiles]” this means that Mr. Khrushchev wouldn’t have made this claim unless he didn’t want any conflict with the US. See if he did want conflict he would have kept the missiles in Cuba. This is extremely vital to the idea of the Cuban Missile Crisis not ending in an incident because if Mr. Khrushchev didn’t remove the nuclear missiles then a nuclear World War III would’ve broken out. We would be living in a nuclear wasteland. If we would be alive that

Kennedy had given a speech to the American people where he has said “We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction… Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. We must secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere” (Doc 6). President Kennedy was trying to calm the society by explaining they will be prevent the use of the missiles by withdrawing the Western Hemisphere. During the year of 1962, October 27 Premier Khrushchev stated in a message “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes. We have supplied them to prevent aggression against Cuba … With respect and confidence I accept the statement you set forth in your message of October 27, 1962. You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union” (Doc 8). This message was sent to the U.S after ordering a blockade of all offensive military equipment being sent into

This was a problem for Kennedy because Cuba was within a 90 mile radius from the United States, easy sticking distance. The United States had missiles in Turkey, which were in striking distance from the Soviet Union, which Khrushchev used as a weighing option when deciding to place missiles in Cuba. Kennedy saw the missiles that were being held in Cuba as almost an act of war from the Soviet Union. Khrushchev assured President Kennedy that the missiles were not an act of war, but yet only a defense for Cuba, who was feeling Having Soviet Union missiles this close to the mainland was a problem for the United States. Kennedy decided that the only way to stop the Soviet Union from fully equipping Cuba with enough missiles to destroy the United States, was to stop the missiles from getting to Cuba. To stop them Kennedy dispatched U.S. warships into the Atlantic, which was able to prevent the Soviet missile fleet from reaching Cuba. Unfortunately there were already missiles in Cuba from earlier fleets and they were

Each meeting among the Executive Committee members was essential to the case and had a great impact on the final outcome. President Kennedy deliberately composed the group of men with various positions and alternate viewpoints. The President’s intended to receive as many options and counter-arguments as possible before making a catastrophically uninformed decision again, referring to the Bay of Pigs debacle. Instead of a public relations defeat and loss of life among Cuban exiles, complete nuclear annihilation was on the table, which upped the ante of this decision enormously. President Kennedy relied heavily on the opinions of his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, whom adamantly supported the blockade option of which President Kennedy ultimately aligned with.

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the most terrifying thirteen days in the history of American. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest that the world has ever came to the nuclear war (Boyd). On October 15, 1962, a U-2 found the missiles in Cuba (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). On October 16, 1962, more photos were shown that proves Cuba has long ranging missiles from the Soviet Union. Robert Kennedy meets with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. Gromyko explains to Robert Kennedy that the Soviet Union is helping Cuba in advancing their agriculture. Gromyko also explains to Robert Kennedy that the nuclear weapons are for protection (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). Since Cuba is closer than the Soviet Union to America, it makes more sense for the Soviet Union to keep their nuclear weapons in Cuba. If the Soviet Union had missiles that could launch from the Soviet Union to America, why else would they have them in the Soviet Union. Therefore, the Soviet Union put their nuclear weapon into Cuba. America’s weapons were strong enough to launch from America into the Soviet Union from America. Therefore, America was farther ahead in the arms race than the Soviet Union (Boyd). In the Excomm meeting on October 19, 1962, they member suggest to send ships from the United States to Cuba to stop the Soviet Union (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). They called this act a quarantine instead of a blockade. Since a blockade in used as a war tactic, the Excomm members did not want to call the quarantine a blockade to give people the wrong idea. A simple mistake, like that, could have been enough to start another war (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). In this Excomm meeting President John F. Kennedy was not able to attend. When President John F. Kennedy finds out what the Excomm suggest, he heads back to Washington to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis (“Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the only devastating event in U.S. to ever bring the country into DEFCON-2. Ever since World War 2, the U.S. and the Soviet Union have been rivals(Jeffery, Riley, 4). The Soviets later aligned themselves with the small country of Cuba. It is a small piece of land in enemy territory, but it is very important to them because they have to protect their allies at all times. For this reason, The USSR placed missiles in Cuba to keep them prepared for an invasion. In 1962, The two huge superpowers brought the Cold War to a nuclear crisis in Cuba which led to DEFCON-2, the closest point to a nuclear war(The Choices Program)

On October 22, 1962, in a TV address, President John Kennedy had notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, in the near island not far from the Floridian coast. He had explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear to them that the United States was prepared to use any military force that was necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to the national security. “Following this news, many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.” Of course, when you hear that there is an island close to the United States that is harboring for a country that is communist they had every right to fear for their lives and for the country. Many people were terrified and people began to harbor some much food, water, gas and anything that they thought they needed because the decision president Kennedy made, it ran through every mind the

During the Cuba missile crisis near every newspaper and radio station would talk about how the end of the world on the brink of destruction. Because of this many people around this time lived in fear and felt the world was going to end. The effects of the Cuba missile crisis didn’t just affect the two nations its effects also had major effects on the people of these nations, the world, and the countries themselves. These effects only truly made the world change when it was too late. The effects that the Cuba missile crisis left on the people of these nations consisted of fear, panic, and enough paranoia to scary the entire world. It also affected the world as other counties would do anything

On one of the following days, Kennedy asked if the Air Force could take out all of the missiles in Cuba. The Air Force then told the President that with that process there would be 10-20,000 civilian casualties. Kennedy then decided to set up a blockade around Cuba. US ships prepared for a quarantine. The press then learned about the nuclear missles and questioned them about it, the President asked the reporters not to reveal the news so he could announce it to the American people on TV. The Soviets had instrustion to launch the missiles within minutes of Kennedy’s speech. After Castro listened to the President’s speech he moblized all of Cuba’s military forces.

When speaking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy said, "It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization” (“Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” 1). the Cuban Missile Crisis was a time where these two men, Kennedy and Khrushchev, had the power in their hands to end civilization. In order to understand the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis one must understand, the Cold war drama; the dangerous crisis; and its importance today.

The Cuban missile crisis was a world-threatening event, that was successfully evaded by the two superpowers America and Russia. Most will agree that it was a combination of the actions that the two countries took that barely avoided the world from ending. However, depending on your viewpoint, the actions that each side took and the effects they had can be different. Two sources which have explained the crisis are 13 Days and How My Father and President Kennedy Saved the World. The two sources come from two separate viewpoints, one from that of Robert Kennedy, the brother of the President at the time and the acting Attorney General at the time as well. The other is the viewpoint that of Sergei Khrushchev, the son of Nikita Khrushchev, the acting leader of the Soviet Union at the time. Both sources layout the events of the missile crisis in great detail, focusing on what had occurred on their side of the story, whether American or Russian. However the two sources have some very apparent contradictions, that lead to separate conclusions on what happened during the Cuban missile crisis.