I just finished reading Michael Dobbs' One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War. I learned the following interesting facts about the Cuban Missile Crisis:
1. Premier Khrushchev was really short - only 5'3".
2. President Kennedy swam in the White House pool twice a day for exercise.
3. The Soviet ships carrying the missiles never were "eyeball to eyeball" with U.S. Navy vessels enforcing the quarantine. In fact, Khrushchev ordered them to turn around almost immediately after the U.S. announced the blockade.
4. Kennedy's greatest accomplishment was not facing down the Soviets but his own generals, almost all of whom wanted to launch a massive pre-emptive strike against Cuba.
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