Cuban Missile Crisis and United States History

Many times in the United States’ history, during crises, the citizens looked towards to their president to guide them through the situation. In some cases, the president did a good job and other times they made it worse. The presidents that handled an American crisis well are J.F.K. and F.D.R. on numerous occasions. The crises that Kennedy helped the U.S. citizens through were the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crises that Roosevelt helped the U.S. citizens through were World War II and the Great Depression. The crisis Kennedy helped the U.S. citizens through was the Bay of Pigs Invasion which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy organized anti-Castro forces to go invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. He said he would have the ground fighters protected by U.S. air forces, but then he called them off. The anti-Castro forces got brutally defeated. The degree of effectiveness for this decision ended up horrible considering what this made Castro do. Since Castro was infuriated, he turned to German leader, Krushchev for help. Soviets installed nuclear missiles in Cuba pointing directly at the U.S., and the U.S. installed nuclear missiles in Turkey pointing at Russia. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba, and for 2 weeks the U.S. and Russia were watching each other very closely. Krushchev finally agreed to remove his missiles from Cuba and Kennedy got rid of the blockade. This was the closest time in American history to World War III. One of the crises Roosevelt helps the U.S. citizens through was World War II.