What were effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and how did it change the United States?

The Cuban Missile Crisis describes the attempt of the Soviet Union to put offensive missiles in Cuba and our response to this threat. When we discovered that the Soviet Union was building missiles and had placed missiles with offensive capabilities in Cuba, we demanded that the missile sites be dismantled and that the missiles be removed. We placed a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent any ships from the Soviet Union with materials that could aid in the building of these sites from entering Cuba. We would search all ships before letting them pass through the blockade.

Many people feared the United States and the Soviet Union were heading for a nuclear confrontation. It seemed that neither side was willing to budge and that a military option would be needed to resolve this dispute. Many people believed this would include the use of nuclear weapons. Fortunately, both sides realized that compromise was a better option.

The Cuban Missile Crisis helped both the Soviet Union and the United States realize that there needed to be a reduction in tensions so that neither side would get so close to possible nuclear warfare. Tensions did decrease between the countries to some degree. This can be seen in the agreement we made with the Soviets banning the above ground testing of nuclear weapons in 1963. Many Americans also realized how fragile peace could be in the world. Any event could threaten to put us in a state of conflict. Americans realized we needed calm and rational thinking when handling international disputes. Americans realized the threat of nuclear war was a real threat.

The Cuban Missile Crisis impacted us greatly.