On October 22, 1962, after accusing the U.S.S.R. of installing
nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ordered a
blockade of the island.
When the Soviet ambassador to the U.N. refused to deny the charge,
U.S. ambassador Adlai Stevenson confronted him with these photos of
missile sites taken by the high-flying spy plane, the U-2, and the
Soviets were compelled to back down.
The presentation of seemingly incontrovertible evidence would become
known as an “Adlai Stevenson moment.”
Robert F. Kennedy later admitted that he and his brother found the
grainy images quite baffling, and banked on the interpretation
proffered by the CIA:
“I, for one, had to take their word for it.”
