The Cuban Missile Crisis - Research Paper Example This contest had been going on since the conclusion of World War II in 1945 (The Belfer Center, 2012). This variable game of “one- upsmanship†continued, resulting in the Soviet government successfully launching Sputnik into space and being the first to put a man into orbit. This outcome terrified Americans. They feared that the Soviets had gained the advantage in technological advancements and that the Russians were winning the Cold War. This only heightened the United States’, nearly, universal fears concerning communism (Thompson, 2010). Tensions were already high when John F. Kennedy came to the office of President of the United States in 1961 and would soon find himself in a crucial position while nuclear war hung in the preverbal balance. In early October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane was able to capture photographs showing a potential Soviet missile base on the island of Cuba.
