Statement Announcing the End of the Cuban Naval Quarantine November 20, 1962 [The first three sentences of a statement to be made by President Kennedy at his Press Conference at 6:00 p.m. on ...

U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that American reconnaissance planes discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, marking the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis on this day in 1962. What ...

Current leaders would be wise to follow Kennedy’s exemplary rhetorical model when facing and talking publicly about today’s ...

The Soviet missiles in Cuba were a threat to the security of the United States and the Western Hemisphere. As such they endangered the peace of the world. The action undertaken against this threat ...

President John F. Kennedy is seen in this October 23, 1962 file photo after signing a proclamation formally putting into effect the U.S. arms quarantine against Cuba.

Kennedy forcefully addressed the public that evening on television, saying the quarantine would remain in place until the missile sites were dismantled and weapons deliveries to Cuba were halted.

On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy learned that Russia had secretly placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the Florida coast.

President John F. Kennedy is seen in this October 23, 1962 file photo after signing a proclamation formally putting into effect the U.S. arms quarantine against Cuba.