The Cuban Missile Crisis: 13 days that almost ended the world by Blake Stilwell on Oct 14, 2015, 10:31 AM Advertisement
 In 1946 George Kennan, an American diplomat in the Soviet Union, wrote to the Truman State Department about his view of the USSR's aggression. He thought the Soviets were "impervious to logic of reason… highly sensitive to the logic of force." This outlook became the cornerstone of the United States' "containment" policy of Soviet and Communist expansion, a policy which almost led to the brink of global nuclear war 16 years later. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 and the presence of U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy starting in 1959, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to place nuclear missile installations in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempts by the U.S. and its Central Intelligence Agency to invade Cuba. The CIA was tipped off by Soviet spy Colonel Oleg Penkovsky, who passed on war plans, secret documents, and other human intelligence. On October 14, a U-2 spy plane overflight confirmed the presence of Soviet missiles on Cuba. For thirteen days, October 16 – 28, 1962, the U.S. and Soviet Union faced each other down in a confrontation that would be the closest the world came to nuclear annihilation during the Cold War. SEE ALSO: Breathtaking video brings you aboard Switzerland's Air Force aerobatic team 16 October: President Kennedy is informed about the photographic evidence  The President was notified of the presence and confirmation of Soviet missiles in Cuba and received a full intelligence briefing. Two response ideas were proposed: an air strike and invasion or a naval quarantine with the threat of further military action. The President kept to his official schedule to raising concerns from the public.
17 October: U.S. troops begin buildup in the Southeast  Military units flowed into bases in the Southeast United States as U-2 reconnaissance flights showed continued development of missile sites in Cuba, complete with medium and long range missiles, capable of hitting most of the continental U.S. The President met with the Libyan head of state and then went to Connecticut to support political candidates.
18 October: The Soviet Foreign Minister meets with Kennedy  Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko met the President at the White House, assuring Kennedy the weapons were defensive. Kennedy knew otherwise but didn’t press the issue, instead giving Gromyko a warning of “gravest consequences” if offensive nuclear weapons were on Cuba. 18 October 1962 Kennedy meeting with the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs. (Kennedy Library Photo)
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