Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was an outstanding clash of the goals and ideals of three leaders; Kennedy of the United States, Khrushchev of the USSR, and Castro of Cuba. Both the U.S. and the USSR the most powerful coutnries in the world with very differing governmental beliefs that caused both nations "to construe the other as inevitably hostile and, indeed, evil. (p. 7) Cuba, a country that had entirely adapted communist beliefs once under the rule of Castro, served as a major 'front' in the Cold War.
President John Kennedy was inaugrated on January 20th, 1961. His belief was that liberal democracy was the ideal government and his goal was to expand this form of government to other countries so that it could be practiced globally. Approximately a month earlier, Castro proclaimed Cuba's "full solidarity with the socialist bloc." (p. 15) Kennedy was threatened by Cuba's communist government because it had the potential to affect the U.S. government by causing American citizens to convert to communist beliefs. Throughout his presidency, he would give orders that executed attempts to quell Castro's political influence on Cuba. These attempts begun with the Bay of Pigs; a horrible fiasco of a military assault on Cuba early in Kennedy's presidency. Attacks were then executed more covertly, but as none of the clandestine operations were successful, the CIA planned an Operation Mongoose; an open military attack on Castro's regime.
The leader of the USSR, the U.S.'s threatening rival in the Cold War, was Premier Nikita Khrushchev. His country practiced socialism and a command economy and he, like Kennedy, was a very strong believer that his country's government would best suit the world if practiced globally. Because of this belief, he gladly accepted Castro and Cuba's conversion to communism. Now that Castro was in power, Khrushchev took him under his wing. The two quickly became very reliable allies to each other and the USSR support Cuba in exports, imports, and military defense . Khrushchev was very critical on the U.S.'s attacks on Castro and believed that "Kennedy was bent on destroying the Cuban Revolution." (p. 24)
The best way to define Prime Minister Fidel Castro is as a very strong Cuban nationalist. He is the most interesting figure in the Cuban Missile Crisis because, even though his country sparked the U.S. and USSR to the very brink of war, everything that he did was purely for the benefit of Cuba. Therefore, his beliefs were entirely dedicated to do what he thought was best for his country. Ultimately, this was to rid the country of U.S. influence, but before he proclaimed Cuba as a communist country Castro "kept his distance from communism" in order to "cultivate American support." (p. 14) It wasn't until after he gained the allied support of Soviet Russia when he began "to reduce US economic and political influence in Cuba." (p. 15) As for Castro's views on government, his true belief is not entirely known. However, it is widely thought that the main reason for Catro's acceptance of communism was to "enlist the Soviet Union's aid,... to co-opt certain communist groups that might eventually have oppposed his rule." (p. 14, Was Castro A Communist?)
There are many reasons why Khrushchev could have placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. Reasons vary from repairing the 'missile gap' between the U.S. and the USSR, so that nuclear power could be equal to defending Cuba from the U.S.'s planned invasion to the U.S.'s deployment of missiles in Turkey. However, in his memoirs, Khrushchev writes that his "primary motive in deploying missiles to Cuba was to deter an American invasion." (p. 23) He also writes that another motive was because the deployment "equalized the balance of power." (p. 24) Khrushchev's decision can be justified through his motives, especially if it was a retaliation to the U.S. placing missiles in Turkey or to defend their ally, Cuba. However, his decision seems too spontaneous and not well-thought of at all. It is written that Khrushchev did not "consult anyone in the Soviet intelligence community who followed American politics closely." (p. 28) His inability to consider the effects or consult any critics of the plan makes the decision very unreasonable.
All three of the leaders that contributed to the "collosal mistake" (p. 31) were ignorant of each other's views and beliefs and "miscalculated the consequences of their own actions." (p. 31) The Cuban Missile Crisis is the epitome of how extreme situations can become if political and military actions and consequences are not well-thought.