Cold War Leaders

Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

John F. Kennedy ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, which was an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

Mao Zedong was the leader of China during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.

Richard Nixon signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) with the Soviet Union in 1972.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Ronald Reagan launched the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in 1983.

Fidel Castro was the leader of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada in 1983.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union when the Cold War ended in 1991.

Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987.

Mao Zedong was the leader of China when the Cultural Revolution began in 1966.

Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam in 1965.

Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the Soviet Union when the Prague Spring occurred in 1968.

Richard Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, ending the Vietnam War.

Deng Xiaoping was the leader of China when the Tiananmen Square protests occurred in 1989.