The Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved through a process of negotiation and a secret deal involving reciprocal concessions between President John F. Kennedy of the United States and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Initially, the crisis escalated when U.S. intelligence found that Soviet ICBM nuclear missiles had been installed in Cuba. Kennedy responded by demanding the removal of these missiles and set up a naval blockade to prevent further Soviet shipments.

The public narrative for many years was that the crisis was resolved due to Kennedy's firm stance, resulting in Khrushchev removing his missiles from Cuba under pressure. However, it was later revealed that a secret agreement played a crucial role in de-escalating the situation. Kennedy agreed to secretly remove U.S. missiles from Turkey on the condition that this part of the deal remained hidden to avoid political fallout. This reciprocal concession was pivotal in resolving the crisis but was kept secret for many years, only becoming public through revelations at the Kennedy Library years later.

This episode shows the importance of diplomacy and compromise in international relations, contrasting the public perception of a victory through toughness with the actual behind-the-scenes negotiation and mutual concessions that prevented nuclear war 1.