Poise, Professionalism, and a Little Luck: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

William G. McGowan Theater
Washington, DC

In person and online

For two weeks in October 1962, the world teetered on the edge of thermonuclear war. Earlier that fall, the Soviet Union, under orders from Premier Nikita Khrushchev, began to secretly deploy a nuclear strike force in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States. President John F. Kennedy said the missiles would not be tolerated, and insisted on their removal. Khrushchev refused. The stand-off nearly caused a nuclear exchange and is remembered in this country as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In collaboration with the Army War College and the Naval History and Heritage Command, we present a panel discussion that will illustrate how the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis has changed as new sources of previously classified information have been released in the 60 years since the crisis. Moderated by Jeff Hawks, Education Director at Army Heritage Center Foundation, the panel will include Steven M. Bye, U.S .Army War College, Dr. Frank Jones, U.S. Army War College (retired), and Curtis A. Utz, Naval History and Heritage Command and author of Cordon of Steel: The U.S. Navy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This program will be presented in person at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, and also streamed live on YouTube.