The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen day confrontation between The United States and The Soviet Union that was arguably the closest the two countries ever came to a nuclear war during The Cold War. On October 14, 1962, photographs taken by United States reconnaissance planes showed that nuclear missile sites were being built in Cuba. Bypassing private, diplomatic procedures, Kennedy went on national television on October 22 and revealed to the public that nuclear missiles had been found in Cuba and were within range of the continental United States. Kennedy also announced in his speech that the United States would enact a naval blockade on Cuba by putting a ring of ships around Cuba. Kennedy placed this "quarantine," as he called it, to …show more content…
president John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev came to an agreement which during the time created the perspective that the U.S. was the more powerful country in the situation; but later on creating the impression that the U.S. was privately trying to defend themselves. Khrushchev agreed to publicly remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba, while the U.S. agreed publicly to not attack Cuba. Many people believed that this was a greater positive for the U.S. and created the impression that The United States took control situation and was the aggressor in the negotiations. It was not until decades later that it was found and announced that the U.S. had also agreed to secretly remove the nuclear missiles from Turkey. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin and Attorney General Robert Kennedy discussed the possibilities of the resolutions to the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Dobrynin asked Kennedy if the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey would be a possibility, Kennedy responded with, “If that is the only obstacle... then the president doesn’t see any insurmountable difficulties in resolving this issue.” He later said, “The greatest difficulty for the president is the public discussion of the issue in Turkey. Formally the deployment of missile bases in Turkey was done by a special decision of the NATO Council. To announce now a unilateral decision by the president of the USA to withdraw …show more content…
Rodion Malinovsky was a Soviet Defense Minister during the Cuban Missile Crisis. On October 22, as the Soviets awaited President Kennedy’s address, suspecting he would announce an invasion of Cuba, Malinovsky advised against authorizing General Pliyev [commander of the Soviet troops in Cuba] to use nuclear weapons in response to potential U.S. military action, fearing that if such message was intercepted, the U.S. might use nuclear weapons first. If Malinovsky had not advised against The Soviet Union having a nuclear response the two countries may have well entered a nuclear war killing millions of innocent people and changing the world forever. Another very important Soviet leader was Anastas Mikoyan. Mikoyan was the Soviet deputy prime minister during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the spring of 1962 he opposed Khrushchev’s decision to place the nuclear missiles in Cuba. In November 1962 Mikoyan was sent to Cuba and played a key role in convincing Fidel Castro to accept the settlement of The Cuban Missile Crisis. Mikoyan understood the danger tactical nuclear weapons posed if they happened to be left in Cuban hands, and on November 22 Mikoyan persuaded Castro that they must be withdrawn. During this crucial meeting Mikoyan rejected Castro’s pleas to