Cold War, Communism and Cuban Missile Crisis

Lasting from 1947 to 1991, the Cold War was a post-World War II period of geopolitical tension between former allies the Soviet Union and the United States. In America, the threat of Communism—often fueled by volatile political rhetoric—permeated daily life as school children across the country practiced “duck and cover” drills. Fallout shelters were designated and government agencies offered guidance on how to survive a potential nuclear war. Early in his presidency, John F. Kennedy suffered an embarrassing political setback with the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, a secret plan intended to overthrow Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro. A year and a half later, the Cold War reached its peak over thirteen days in October 1962 when President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev became locked in a dangerous standoff regarding the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Through secret negotiations and remarkable leadership, nuclear war was prevented. In 1963, former U.S. Marine and onetime Soviet defector Lee Harvey Oswald expressed deep admiration for Castro. His actions in the summer and fall of 1963 have inspired conspiracy theories suggesting that Cuba and the Soviet Union were involved in the Kennedy assassination.