The Cuban Missile Crisis, 40 Years Later

By Tom Gjelten

Published October 12, 2002 at 12:00 AM EDT

The world's closest brush with nuclear war came 40 years ago this month, when the Kennedy administration learned the Soviet Union was preparing to put nuclear missiles in Cuba. For 13 days, the world braced for a holocaust. NPR's Tom Gjelten continues his series of reports from Havana on a unique conference to discuss the lessons learned in the crisis.

Tom Gjelten

Tom Gjelten reports on religion, faith, and belief for NPR News, a beat that encompasses such areas as the changing religious landscape in America, the formation of personal identity, the role of religion in politics, and conflict arising from religious differences. His reporting draws on his many years covering national and international news from posts in Washington and around the world.

See stories by Tom Gjelten