THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

THE BAY OF PIGS

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• Fidel Castro set up his rule in Cuba in 1959.
• Vocally anti-American and relatively close to the mainland
• Eisenhower was scared.
• The CIA trained and supplied a group of Cuban rebels to remove Castro.
• When JFK became president in 1961, he took over the project.

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APRIL 17, 1961

• JFK gave the order to begin the invasion.
• 1200 Cubans invaded the Bay of Pigs in Cuba.
• They failed terribly.
• Castro became scared, and he requested Soviet missiles.

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CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

OCTOBER 15-28, 1962

• The Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba.
• This put them in a dangerous range.
• JFK found out through military intelligence.
• The US blockaded the country.
• Instead of attacking or accepting the missiles, JFK chose something different.

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• A deal was made.
• JFK would promise not to invade Cuba if the Russians removed the missiles.
• He also secretly promised to remove US missiles from Turkey.
• The Soviets agreed, and the conflict was over.
• Although no one blew anyone up, Cuban-American relations still suffer today.

Interviews
Q. What do you remember of the cuban missile crisis?
A. " I remember that it was what everyone was talking about but I never thought to much of it. I was busy taking care of your mom and your grandma that the last thing I thought about was America fighting with Russia" - Wallace Barwick
Q. What do you remember of the cuban missile crisis?
A. " I was afraid World War III was about to happen, it was scary to think how a nuclear war would affect the world." -Arthur Lewis