Gwamnatin Kennedy ta ci gaba da neman hanyoyin korar Castro bayan mamayewar Bay of Pigs, inda ta yi gwaji da hanyoyi daban-daban na taimakawa da hambarar da gwamnatin Cuba a boye.Ana sa rai sosai kan shirin hare-haren ta’addanci da sauran ayyukan tada zaune tsaye da aka fi sani da Operation Mongoose, wanda aka yi a karkashin gwamnatin Kennedy a shekara ta 1961. Khrushchev ya samu labarin aikin a watan Fabrairun 1962, kuma an yi shirye-shiryen shigar da makamai masu linzami na Tarayyar Soviet a Cuba don mayar da martani.A firgice, Kennedy yayi la'akari daban-daban halayen.A ƙarshe ya mayar da martani ga shigar da makami mai linzami na nukiliya a Cuba tare da katange na ruwa, kuma ya gabatar da wani jadawali ga Tarayyar Soviet .Khrushchev ya ja da baya daga wata arangama, kuma Tarayyar Soviet ta cire makamai masu linzami a matsayin mayar da martani ga alƙawarin da jama'ar Amirka suka yi na cewa ba za su sake mamaye Cuba ba da kuma yarjejeniyar da aka yi a ɓoye na kawar da makamai masu linzami na Amurka daga Turkiyya.Daga baya Castro ya yarda da cewa "da na amince da yin amfani da makaman nukiliya... mun dauke shi da gaske cewa zai zama yakin nukiliya, kuma za mu bace."Rikicin makami mai linzami na Cuba (Oktoba-Nuwamba 1962) ya kawo duniya kusa da yakin nukiliya fiye da kowane lokaci.Sakamakon rikicin ya haifar da yunkurin farko a tseren makamin nukiliya na kwance damarar makaman nukiliya da kyautata dangantaka, duk da cewa yarjejeniyar sarrafa makamai ta farko ta yakin cacar baka, yarjejeniyar Antarctic, ta fara aiki a shekara ta 1961.A shekara ta 1964, Kremlin ta Khrushchev abokan aiki sun yi nasarar kawar da shi, amma sun ba shi damar yin ritaya cikin lumana.John Lewis Gaddis wanda ake zargi da rashin kunya da rashin iya aiki, ya ce Khrushchev shi ma an lasafta shi ne da lalata aikin noma na Soviet, wanda ya kawo duniya ga yakin nukiliya, kuma Khrushchev ya zama 'abin kunya na duniya' lokacin da ya ba da izinin gina katangar Berlin.