Beginning of Essay
In the year 1801 Thomas Jefferson reluctantly sent the infant navy to the shores of Tripoli in hopes of avoiding an attack on America by the Pasha of Tripoli. Many years later, October of 1962, America once again teetered on the brink of war, but this time wi ....

Middle of Essay
.... the Florida coast, in Cuba. Secret meetings were held by John F. Kennedy to decide what to do. Kennedy flatly refused the air-force proposals for bombing strikes on the missile launching sites, but he did decide to set up a navel blockade around Cuba to prevent the ingress of more missiles. It was announced by Kennedy that any attack on the United States from Cuba would be accepted as an attack from the Soviet Union which would trigger nuclear retaliation against Russia's heartland. Khrushchev, the Soviet in charge of the mission, also announced that seizing or sinking a Russian ship on the high seas would be regarded as an act of war by the ....