'They handled it exactly the right way': How the Kennedys averted the 1962 Cuban missile crisis

Key Points:

• In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war after US spy planes discovered Soviet nuclear missiles being installed in Cuba, just 90 miles from the US coast.
• President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert played a crucial role in managing the crisis through expert statesmanship, including secret negotiations and careful public communication, which ultimately led to the Soviet withdrawal of the missiles.
• A tense meeting between Kennedy and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko involved strategic restraint, with Kennedy choosing not to reveal the photographic evidence of the missiles, maintaining a delicate diplomatic balance.
• The crisis was further influenced by a mistaken intelligence report overheard by a Soviet agent, which falsely suggested an imminent US invasion of Cuba, prompting Khrushchev to reconsider his stance.
• British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan praised the Kennedys for their combination of understanding the opponent’s perspective and maintaining firm resolve, qualities that he credited with successfully averting nuclear war.