WHICH LEADER HANDLED THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS BETTER WAS IT
KENNEDY OR KHRUSHCHEV?
In 1962 during the Cold War the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, this event has been sighted by many historians as the peak of the Cold War due to the increased levels of tensions that it caused between the USA and the USSR. In many ways the Cuban Missile Crisis can be viewed as a victory for both countries, as their concerns were addressed during this event. The USSR felt they had achieved as they forced Kennedy to make concessions and reach a compromised by removing the Jupiter’s from Turkey. Meanwhile the USA had made concession to remove the Jupiter’s from Turkey this action gained them immerse popularity throughout the world as this was a clear indication
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None the less Khrushchev, felt victorious as he had forced Kennedy to make concessions – by removing the Jupiter’s from Turkey and the promise from Kennedy not to invade Cuba delighted Khrushchev. Khrushchev's scheme of introducing missiles in Cuba paid off as this action constrained Kennedy into making concessions that under normal circumstances he would not have considered let alone made. It was at this point that Khrushchev had figured out how to maintain a strategic distance from direct meeting with the USA, he did this by declaring that the Cuban missiles served as prevention to US intrusion, which we now know that it was actually a feign. Defending Cuba was not critical to the USSR Khrushchev did not believe that it was worth sacrificing the USSR for Cuba. He was also very aware that they had a huge disadvantage in that the USSR’s military strength was considerably inferior to the USA. Therefore Khrushchev victory was due to the fact that he managed to achieve concessions and compromise with Kennedy, without the situation developing into …show more content…
Although members in the Soviet government were unhappy with this decision and questioned his ability and leadership. They were of the opinion that this action would lead to the USSR being considered weak when faced with USA. Their attempt to challenge the USA had failed and Khrushchev was blamed for it, he lost support in his government, and his decline from power commenced. In 1964 Khrushchev was removed from his post and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. This was the complete opposite from the USA, Kennedy’s power and prestige increased tremendously following the