The Cuban missile Crisis, 1962
- American’s supported a corrupt regime under Fulgencio Batista until the Cuban revolution in 1959
- Fidel Castro took over
- Aligned with the Soviets
- The Bay of Pigs (Failed invasion of Cuba)
- 1962 Soviets begin to put Nuclear weapons into Cuba (Noticed by U2 spy planes)
"We're eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked." - Dean Rusk
Fun Fact
- Not everyone in the US was happy about the outcome. General Curtis LeMay called it the worst defeat in US history.
Summary
When Cuba decided to go communism, JFK's first thoughts were to invade Cuba. This invasion (Bay of Pigs) was a fail, because JFK pulled the air support out at the last moment. In 1962, the Soviets put nuclear weapons in Cuba, which caused fear for the US, which they then decided to do a naval blockade.They agreed if US removes its missiles from turkey then the Soviets will leave Cuba. This lead to the Partial Test Ban Treaty.