Castro and Khruschev showing closer ties

The Crisis

• Soviets armed Cuba with nuclear missiles

• U2 spy plane photographs sites

• U.S. territory is vulnerable so JFK demanded removal• Khrushchev warned it “could lead to nuclear war”

How should JFK handle this crisis?

• pursue diplomacy (talk with Cuba and S.U.)• blockade Cuba so missiles not fully assembled• have Air Force do an air strike to destroy sites before operational

• JFK placed a blockade on Cuba• warned Soviets of attack if missile fired• brink of nuclear war

JFK announces decision to blockadeCuba to the public on T.V.

Soviets show traditional arms in Havanna, Cuba and send 19 ships w/ materials to finish making missile sites operational

• Soviet ships turned back at the last minute

Soviet ship Poltava on its way to Cuba (CIA photo)

The Compromise

• Soviet missiles removed from Cuba• U.S. promises not to invade Cuba• U.S. removed missiles from Italy and Turkey

Members of ExComm and JFK planning a compromise

• “Hotline” b/t the S.U. and U.S. leaders• Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: no testing of nuclear weapons aboveground• JFK foreign policy success

JFK signs Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963