President Kennedy flinched from a full-scale invasion of Cuba because he feared a nuclear showdown with the Soviet Union.
Perceiving Kennedy as weak, the Soviet Union forced that showdown only eighteen months later, in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In October 1962, U.S. spy planes reported that the Soviet Union was assembling nuclear missile sites in Cuba. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and prepared to invade the island unless the Soviet Union accepted his demand to dismantle the missile sites.
For two weeks, the world hovered on the brink of a catastrophic nuclear war. Then the Soviet Union accepted Kennedy’s demand.
It was clear after the Cuban Missile Crisis that the United States would not be invading Cuba any time soon. The risk of nuclear war was too great.
Cuban exiles settled in for a long, perhaps permanent, stay in the United States.
Related Posts
-
How did the United States government plan to kill Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution and Cuban Missile Crisis?
We may never know all of the ways, but from the ones we do know of, you can certainly see the effect that reading too many James Bond novels had on John Kennedy…
-
What is the difference between “Cuban exiles” and “Cuban immigrants”?
People who left Castro's Cuba for the United States prefer to call themselves Cuban exiles. This term implies that they came to this country not for economic improvement, like most immigrants, but to…
-
How have Cuban Americans changed Miami and Where do Cuban Americans live?
When exiles from Castro's Cuba first arrived in Miami, it was a small, sleepy retirement town. Now it is a thriving metropolis, a center of international finance and trade with a population that…
-
When were Heat Seeking Missiles Invented and How does a Heat Seeking Missile find its target?
Most modern jet fighter planes are armed with heat seeking missiles 9 foot long rocket powered "darts" that pursue enemy aircraft as if they had wills of their own. By staying pointed toward…
-
Who were the Little Rock Nine and How was the Little Rock Crisis important in the African American Civil Rights Movement?
In September 1957, nine black teenagers, Jefferson Thomas, Carlotta Walls, Gloria Ray, Elizabeth Eckford, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattillo, Terrance Roberts, Minniejean Brown, and Ernest Green, tried to enroll at Central High School, an…
-
Who was Jose Marti and How did he contribute to the Cuban struggle for independence?
Jose Marti (1853-1895) was a poet, journalist, and the greatest hero of the Cuban struggle for independence. He was arrested for his revolutionary activities at age sixteen. After his release, he spent much…
