JFK Averted a Nuclear Conflict with the Soviets
Kennedy's presidency fell during the tense days of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Kennedy was sworn in as America's 35th president in January 1961, after defeating Richard Nixon in a close presidential contest. Kennedy set records as one of the youngest US presidents at the age of 43.
After a nearly ten-year tenure as a senator, Kennedy decided to run for president in order to lead the United States amid the Cold War. When Kennedy learned that Russia had surreptitiously put nuclear-armed ballistic missiles in Cuba, he intervened in time to prevent America and the rest of the world from experiencing a catastrophic nuclear war. Kennedy made a wise and calm judgment concerning the oncoming danger to end the Cuban Missile Crisis. He accomplished this by imposing a naval blockade that effectively prevented the Soviets from transporting further combat machines to Cuba. The globe lived in fear for more than a week as the world's superpowers engaged in fierce clashes.
An agreement was finally achieved after a series of diplomatic meetings between the Soviet leader (Nikita Khrushchev) and F. Kennedy. The Russians were forced to dismantle their missile bases in Cuba as a result of this. Kennedy also stated that he would not invade Cuba. Additionally, American missiles stationed in Turkey were to be decommissioned. Kennedy's crowning achievement came in June 1963, when he signed the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union.
