In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. For nearly two weeks, Moscow and Washington were involved in a tense contest of wills over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev, confronted by Kennedy's nuclear superiority, backed down -- ending the crisis. But both sides were shocked at how close they had come to nuclear war. They set up a "hot line," a direct communications link between the Soviet and U.S. capitals.

Several months later, the Soviet Union, United States and Britain agreed to a Limited Test Ban Treaty, ending atmospheric tests. Nuclear testing would continue, but underground. The race to increase stockpiles continued as well, as the Kremlin -- smarting from the Cuban crisis -- vowed never again to confront America from a position of weakness.

A grim logic was beginning to emerge. Nuclear disarmament was not achievable, yet nuclear war was unthinkable. The White House became convinced that the strategy of MAD, mutual assured destruction, was the only deterrent to nuclear conflict.
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