The shock of the Cuban Missile Crisis left the world in its tip toes for a week while games of the Soviets strategy were permitted to run free. War game theory had one of its proudest moments. Kennedy believed that the Russians bases in Cuba threatened to upset the peace which had held since WW2. Kennedy addressed the nation, saying the matter was of highest national security. The United states was to achieve two main goals with this crisis.: One was to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. The 2nd was to secure their withdrawal or elimination from the western hemisphere. If the Soviets succeeded with their plan, they would gain an outstanding position in a country near to its enemy, the United States. If any missile was launched from Cuba it would bring a full scale retaliation against Russia.

The United States could legally fall back on the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. This claimed the United States had the right and duty to exercise international power when we disapproved of internal conditions in any state of the hemisphere from non hemispheric powers. This is how the United States became strongly involved. The Cubans didn’t want the United States presence in their country’s problems, but the Americans felt it was our duty to interfere time and time again to restore order. Fidel Castro came into power in 1959. Their different problems began to rise making it even more difficult for the United States to just stand there and watch. However, our involvement and the mistakes we made there, set off a crisis which, pushed the world as close to extinction as it has ever come.

At the end of August Kennedy was sending U-2 spy planes to Cuba. These spy planes found more missile sites that were being built. It was later determined, by U.S experts, that the missiles could be pointed toward Washington D.C., the nation’s capital, and that by early October they could very well be in full operation. Now the U.S was headed into a very serious crisis. In fact, with just the push of a button out nation could be destroyed. What were Castro and Khrushchev master-minding? According to a few historian, this was, undoubtedly, a move on the soviets’ part to pursue further conquest and domination in the western hemisphere. Even though the most serious threat clearly was a missile attack, missiles can be launched from the soviet Union itself or from submarines lying in the oceans. The soviets were basing themselves on land that disturbed the United States most. It was a gutsy move on Khrushchev’s part. The Soviet Union had never before placed missiles beyond its own boarders and it reduced the warning time of nuclear attack of the United States from 15 minutes to two.

Some topics in this essay:
Missile Crisis, Fidel Castro, President Kennedy, Cuba Kennedy, Cuba United, Russians Chinese, WW2 Vietnam, WW2 Kennedy, Bay Pigs, Soviet Union, cuban missile, cuban missile crisis, missile crisis, president kennedy, cold war, western hemisphere, bay pigs, spanish american, american war, war united, fidel castro, spanish american war, cuba president kennedy, president kennedy president, russia cuban missile,