The Cuban Missile Crisis took place in October of 1962. It was the closest that anyone ever came to a all out nuclear war. Both the U.S. and Soviet Union were on there toes, both at a high state of readiness.
In 1962 America was behind in the arms race. Russia had the ability launch missiles at Europe but not all the way to America, while Americahad the ability to reach any part of Russia with our missiles. So, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev decided to build an arsenalof intermediate-range nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba.Fidel Castro was worried of a U.S.invasion of Cuba ever sincethe failed Bay of Pigs invasion, so of course he allowed Russia to place missiles on Cuba. This kindof leveled the playing field.
On October 15, 1962, U.S. recon photos discovered Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. President Kennedy was informed of the missiles early the next day, and he organizedthe EX-COMM (Executive Committee), a committee of 19 top advisers that wouldhelp him make decisions through the crisis. After a week of intense discussionwith his advisors, Kennedy decided to impress a naval quarantine around Cuba. This was meant to make sure no more offensiveweapons would be delivered to the island. On October 22, Kennedy made thecrisis public and announced that any missile launch from Cuba would be considered an attack on the U.S. by the Soviet Union,and he demanded that all weapons be disarmed and removed.
Tensions began to rise. Kennedy ordered low-level recon missions every two hours. On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine lines back and put the military readiness onDEFCON 2. The next day EX-COMM got a letter from Khrushchev saying that hewould remove all weapons and personnel from Cubaif the U.S. promised neverto attack Cuba.
October 27, was the climax of the crises. An American U-2 plane was shot down over Cuba, killing the pilot, and EX-COMM received a second letter from Khrushchev sayingthat if America removed theirweapons from Turkey then hewould remove his weapons from Cuba.EX-COMM ignored the second letter and agreed with the terms of the first.
After that things started to settle down a bit. On the 28th Khrushchev announced we would disarm and remove the weapons in Cuba,thus expressing trust that the U.S.would not invade Cuba.
Sources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html
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