8.6: John F. Kennedy: Report to the American People on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba (1962)

John F. Kennedy won the 1960 presidential election. Shortly after taking opce, he learned that former President Eisenhower had planned a CIA-supported invasion of Cuba by Cubans who opposed the communist leader of that country, Fidel Castro. Kennedy authorized the invasion, known as the Bay of Pigs, and it turned out to be an enormous failure. In response to the attack on Castro, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev decided to help install nuclear missiles in Cuba. American reconnaissance planes provided evidence of the plan. This led to an international incident known as the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, when the United State and the Soviet Union came perilously close to a nuclear war. During the crisis, on October 22, Kennedy went on national television to inform the American public and demand the Soviets withdraw their missiles.