Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, in which revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro overthrew General Fulgencio Batista’s government, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower quickly recognized Cuba’s new national government. Relations between the two nations soon soured, however, as a result of the Castro government’s new policies, particularly the nationalization of industry.

The deterioration of US-Cuban relations continued into the 1960s, culminating in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, which began on April 15, 1961. The invasion, spearheaded by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and fought by CIA-trained counter-revolutionaries, was intended to overthrow the new Castro government. The first portion of the invasion consisted of aerial bombing runs before escalating into a full-scale ground attack, with counter-revolutionaries landing at several sites, most notably the Bay of Pigs. Ultimately, the counter-revolutionaries were overtaken by Castro’s troops, who took over one thousand prisoners. The release of these prisoners was later negotiated for in exchange for Cuban monetary and resource aid given by the United States.

Following the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, tensions between the United States and Cuba drastically increased. Castro became involved with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, and in July 1962 the two nations reached a secret agreement that would allow for the placement Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. A few months later, construction began on several missile sites, which US intelligence agencies eventually discovered. US officials proposed several responses of differing degrees to the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba, with President John F. Kennedy ultimately deciding to implement a naval quarantine of Cuba. The quarantine began on October 22, 1962, and both Kennedy and Khrushchev took strong public stances condemning the actions of the other. Privately, however, the two exchanged more subdued messages, eventually reaching an agreement under which the Soviet missiles would be removed from Cuba under the supervision of the UN, and the US would guarantee that it would not attack Cuba. The agreement was announced to the public on October 28, 1962. The US also agreed to remove its own missiles from Turkey, although this information was kept secret.