How America Killed the Dream of Nuclear Peace

A story of treaties broken, diplomacy mocked, and peace betrayed. By Nancy O'Brien Simpson The world was on the brink.In the fall of 1962, humanity stood closer to extinction than it ever had. U.S. nuclear missiles sat perched in Turkey, aimed squarely at the Soviet Union. In response, the USSR planted missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, targeting American cities. For thirteen days in October, the Cold War turned hot in the imaginations of terrified citizens and sleepless heads of state. Khrushchev and Kennedy stared each other down while the planet waited. One misstep, one misunderstanding, and it would have all gone up in radioactive ash.