On April 22, 1961, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the USSR, wrote a letter to John F. Kennedy, President of the United States. The letter was written in response to the Bay of Pigs invasion that took place in April 1961. The Bay of Pigs invasion was organized by the CIA and was intended to overthrow Castro, whose Communist government, in Cuba, lay just 90 miles from the Florida coast. It was seen as a beachhead for Soviet influence in the Western Hemisphere . The attempt on the invasion of Cuba was a total failure . It was an embarrassment to the United States and left many questioning the Kennedy presidency. This event became very important, not only to the United States, but also to the entire world. Soon after the attack, the USA and USSR found themselves in one of the most heated confrontations ever recorded in history. This event, which took place during the cold war era, became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis was one of the most important conflicts of the cold war period. This was the first time in history that two superpowers had come close to starting a nuclear war . The events that took place during the year of 1961 have had lasting affects not only on these two nations, but the world as well. .
Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959 after overthrowing the Batista regime. Through an armed revolt known as the Cuban Revolution, Castro wanted to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba through a dictatorship. As soon as Castro took office, he began to make changes. He suspended Cuba's constitution and implemented his own . One of the most important changes that he made was suspending all ties with the United States. Castro wanted Cuba to move from a dictatorship regime to a socialist society. Early in the 1960's he aligned himself with Khruschev and the communist USSR the United States opposed this move because they had been Cuba's ally and a trading partner . In earlier regimes, Cuba had heavily depended on the U.