Reconnaissance image from the Cuban Missile Crisis. Wikimedia Commons.
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For thirteen days in October 1962, the United States and Soviet Union confronted the possibility of nuclear war. American reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba, close to the United States. President John F. Kennedy rejected an immediate air strike and instead announced a naval “quarantine” to prevent additional offensive weapons reaching Cuba. Behind public confrontation, secret communications explored compromise. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ultimately agreed to remove the missiles in return for a US pledge not to invade Cuba; the United States also secretly agreed to remove Jupiter missiles from Turkey. The crisis encouraged later efforts to improve direct communication and manage nuclear risk.
