Khrushchev's Involvement

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Nikita Khrushchev played a key role in keeping the world from a nuclear war. In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of Russia.  Russia had nuclear weapons, but they weren’t as advanced as America’s and couldn’t reach the US.  The US had nuclear installations in Turkey and could easily strike Russia. So Khrushchev made a deal with Cuba’s dictator, Fidel Castro, to install Military bases in Cuba.  When America found out about the Military installations, Khrushchev and the President of the United States, John F Kennedy, had many discussions. Khrushchev’s main fear was to start a war over the missiles. Khrushchev sent Kennedy two letters concerning terms of agreement. Khrushchev wanted the United States to dismantle its military installations in Turkey, and in return, Russia would dismantle their installations in Cuba. Cuba also wanted America to not invade if the installations were dismantled.  The US agreed, and the 13 day nuclear crisis had ended (Hansen). Khrushchev played a key role in keeping the peace, and without his cooperation, the world could have saw its first nuclear war.