Learn how the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Explore the key events, decisions, and communications that led to a resolution of the crisis.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (Spanish: Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (Russian: Карибский кризис, romanized: Karibskiy krizis), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and ...

Learn how the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced a nuclear showdown over Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962. Find out how Kennedy and Khrushchev avoided war and reached a resolution that changed the Cold War balance of power.

Learn how the United States and Soviet Union faced a nuclear showdown in 1962 over Soviet missiles in Cuba. See the key moments, letters and decisions that led to the resolution of the crisis.

Learn about the 1962 standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear missiles in Cuba. Explore documents, audio, video, and education resources from the National Archives.

Why the Cuban Missile Crisis ended peacefully, and what were its consequences, remain relevant questions for historians even 50 years later.

For thirteen days in October 1962 the world waited—seemingly on the brink of nuclear war—and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba.

A collection of resources to study the 13-day crisis in October 1962 when the US and the USSR faced off over Cuba. Learn about the causes, events, and outcomes of the conflict, and how close it was to nuclear war.

October 23, 1962: President Kennedy signs Proclamation 3504, authorizing the naval quarantine of Cuba. Read Robert Kennedy's account of his meeting. Read minutes of first ExComm meeting. Read meeting minutes of second ExComm meeting.