The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was one of the turning points of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time the two superpowers came close to war, possibly with nuclear weapons; after it, both countries began to seek ways to adjust to each other, in particular, to prevent the use of nuclear weapons. The events of the Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated the maturity of the U.S. intelligence …showed first 75 words of 499 total…

…showed last 75 words of 499 total…intelligence such as photography and human sources, had pinpointed Cuba as a grave threat to the United States. The arms buildup and the defensive improvements spelled trouble, and focused the president and military leaders on the threat from Cuba long before the crisis erupted. In the middle of crisis, the intelligence system gave the president the information he needed to extricate the nation from its most dire crisis since the end of World War II.