10/16/2026
in 1962 — Thirteen Days on the Brink
On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy received photographs that would begin one of the most dangerous confrontations of the Cold War.
U-2 reconnaissance flights had photographed Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba, approximately 90 miles from Florida. Kennedy and his advisors now faced an extraordinary decision: pursue diplomacy, launch airstrikes against the missile sites, or attempt to stop additional Soviet weapons from reaching Cuba.
Kennedy chose a naval quarantine.
What followed were 13 days of intense negotiations, military preparations, and uncertainty as the United States and Soviet Union moved closer to direct confrontation. U.S. Strategic Air Command eventually went to DEFCON 2, one step below maximum readiness.
Behind the public confrontation, negotiations continued. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met secretly with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin as both sides searched for a way out of the crisis.
On October 28, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev announced that the missiles in Cuba would be dismantled and removed.
The Cuban Missile Crisis ended without a direct military confrontation—but for 13 days in October 1962, the world had come frighteningly close to nuclear war.
