After World War II, the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union began a decades-long fight for superiority. This fight is known as the Cold War. Although the Soviet Union and the United States did not engage in physical combat or directly battle during the Cold War, they continually antagonized each other through political and economic clashes. One of the biggest and most memorable confrontations of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest point that the United States and the Soviet Union came to not only having a military conflict but a full out a nuclear war. It was a 13 day standoff over the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba. It all began on October 14th, 1962, when an
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Instead of rushing into a rash decision as soon as he found out about the Soviet missiles in Cuba he took a more responsible course of action. He was instead patient and took the time to seek the recommendations of trusted advisors. If Kennedy had let the Soviets know that he was aware of the missiles before seeking the advice from the Excom council it could have been a grave mistake. He didn't let his emotions or personal feelings cloud his judgement. His top priority was always the national security of the United States. He kept the American public informed about the situation but he also made sure not to release the information to soon, in case of creating mass panic. He waited until he could give the American people a well thought out plan of action in hopes to keep the chaos at a minimum. Kennedy continued to make these types of well thought out decisions thought out the course of the conflict. When he could have made the decision to attack the Soviets or Cuba, he opted to make a peaceful blockade instead. Lastly his decision to accept Khrushchev’s offer, of promising not to invade Cuba in exchange for the Soviet removing their missiles, was the smartest choice he made to avoid war. He knew that he would have to compromise in one way or another to come to a peaceful agreement with the Soviets. If Kennedy had made rash decisions, and chosen to take a more violent course of action, there would have been a great possibility of a nuclear
Instead of rushing into a rash decision as soon as he found out about the Soviet missiles in Cuba he took a more responsible course of action. He was instead patient and took the time to seek the recommendations of trusted advisors. If Kennedy had let the Soviets know that he was aware of the missiles before seeking the advice from the Excom council it could have been a grave mistake. He didn't let his emotions or personal feelings cloud his judgement. His top priority was always the national security of the United States. He kept the American public informed about the situation but he also made sure not to release the information to soon, in case of creating mass panic. He waited until he could give the American people a well thought out plan of action in hopes to keep the chaos at a minimum. Kennedy continued to make these types of well thought out decisions thought out the course of the conflict. When he could have made the decision to attack the Soviets or Cuba, he opted to make a peaceful blockade instead. Lastly his decision to accept Khrushchev’s offer, of promising not to invade Cuba in exchange for the Soviet removing their missiles, was the smartest choice he made to avoid war. He knew that he would have to compromise in one way or another to come to a peaceful agreement with the Soviets. If Kennedy had made rash decisions, and chosen to take a more violent course of action, there would have been a great possibility of a nuclear