| − | [[Khrushchev]] and [[Castro]] went too far in 1962, secretly setting up medium range [[missile]]s in [[Cuba]] equipped with [[nuclear war]]heads that threatened the southeast [[United States]]. In his greatest moment, Kennedy rejected invasion plans but imposed a blockade and demanded the missiles be removed immediately. Khrushchev publicly backed down, but privately got Kennedy to agree to removing the older U.S. Jupiter missiles from [[Turkey]]; while Castro secured the promise that the United States would never invade his island. Realizing how close they had come to [[war]], Kennedy and Khrushchev became much friendlier in public. In 1963, they signed a [[Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)|test ban treaty]] which eliminated nuclear testing above ground or in space; the [[treaty]] was further designed to hobble [[China]] and other countries trying to build their first bombs. The [[Cuban missile crisis]] reversed Kennedy's image of ineptness in [[foreign policy]], but his quiet, [[escalation]] of [[military]] involvement in [[Vietnam]] set the stage for the whirlwind reaped by his successor. | + | [[Khrushchev]] and [[Castro]] went too far in 1962, secretly setting up medium range [[missile]]s in [[Cuba]] equipped with [[nuclear war]]heads that threatened the southeast [[United States]]. In his greatest moment, Kennedy rejected invasion plans but imposed a blockade and demanded the missiles be removed immediately. Khrushchev publicly backed down, but privately got Kennedy to agree to removing the older U.S. Jupiter missiles from [[Turkey]]; while Castro secured the promise that the United States would never invade his island. Realizing how close they had come to [[war]], Kennedy and Khrushchev became much friendlier in public. In 1963, they signed the [[Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)|Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] which banned above ground nuclear testing which contaminates the [[atmosphere]], or in space; the [[treaty]] was further designed to hobble [[China]] and other countries trying to build their first bombs. The [[Cuban missile crisis]] reversed Kennedy's image of ineptness in [[foreign policy]], but his quiet, [[escalation]] of [[military]] involvement in [[Vietnam]] set the stage for the whirlwind reaped by his successor. |