The word is out on the Cuban missile crisis. It is not being hailed as the macho thing it appeared to be. Turkey had American-made missiles pointed at the USSR and this was the reason for missiles in Cuba by the Russians.

True enough, but not too relevant - the point was, it looked like war, and it ended with a stand-off which played very well for Kennedy at the time. (Not so well for Kruschev, rather unfairly perhaps, since he achieved what he wanted, no further invasions of Cuba, and reduction of the threat from US missiles in Turkey.)