13. The Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis (1961-1962)
In 1961, the U.S. attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro’s Cuban government through the Bay of Pigs invasion, which ended in failure. In response, the Soviet Union secretly deployed nuclear missiles to Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. This 13-day confrontation brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war, testing diplomatic strategies and nuclear policy. The legacy endures in U.S.-Cuba relations. (jfklibrary.org)
