Diplomacy at the Edge

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union in October 1962. It began when the US discovered that the Soviets were secretly placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. The US considered this a direct threat to its national security. President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments, and both countries engaged in intense diplomatic negotiations. The crisis was resolved when the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba in exchange for a US commitment not to invade the island and a secret agreement to remove US missiles from Turkey.