The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion did not keep the United States from plotting new plans to get rid of Castro -- even assassination was carefully weighed. Cuba, meanwhile, looked to Moscow for military support. Nikita Khrushchev offered to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. After initial resistance, Castro accepted. By July 1962, the CIA had noticed an increase in Soviet ships heading for Cuba. By mid-October, U-2 spy planes flying over Cuba brought back pictures of ballistic missile sites.

With nuclear warheads less than 100 miles from the United States, the Soviets had the ability to strike without warning. Kennedy formed a special inner cabinet of advisers -- the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, or ExCom -- to weigh the options. Under consideration: a military invasion to topple Castro and "surgical air strikes" against the missiles bases. But taking either step without warning risked turning world opinion against the United States.

Another solution was devised: The U.S. Navy would stop and search all ships heading for Cuba. Washington called it a "quarantine."
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