Missile Crisis Ends: Kennedy Lifts Cuba Quarantine
President Kennedy announced the lifting of the naval quarantine on Cuba on November 20, 1962, after the Soviet Union confirmed it was dismantling and removing its medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missile installations from the island. Soviet ships carrying the missiles departed under American aerial surveillance. The crisis had lasted from October 16 to November 20, though the most dangerous phase ended on October 28 when Khrushchev agreed to withdraw. As part of the deal, the U.S. publicly pledged never to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove its Jupiter missiles from Turkey within six months. The crisis led directly to the Moscow-Washington hotline, installed in 1963, and the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed the same year. Both superpowers emerged chastened by how close they had come to nuclear war.
November 20, 1962
64 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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