Cybar Missile Crisis Textbook Passage
After the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet Union gave Cuba more weapons. In October 1962, President Kennedy leamed
that the Soviets were secretly building missile bases on the island. If the bases were completed, atomic missiles could
reach American cities within minutes. Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship carrying
missiles. The world waited tensely as Soviet ships steamed toward Cuba. At the last minute, the Soviet ships turned back.
“We're eyeball to eyeball,” said Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and I think the other fellow just blinked." Kennedy's
strong stand led the Soviets to compromise. Khrushchev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba. In turn, the United
States promised not to invade the island. Still the Cuban missile crisis had shaken both American and Soviet officials. In
all the years of the Cold War, the world never came closer to a full-scale nuclear war|
Source: The American Nation, Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2003, p. 823.
1. According to the text, why did the Soviets pull the missiles out of Cuba?
2. Who does the text most credit with ending the crisis?