architect of the crisis, nikita khrushchev. >> as the head of the soviet union, khrushchev was very ideologicalieved that the future belonged to communism. he said, america needs to be contained, and the only way to do it is to create crises all around the american empire. >> khrushchev came to the u.n. in 1960, and he said we are grinding out missiles like sausages. we'll bury you. americans took it seriously. >> the toughness of the khrushchev speech did as some propaganda fuels of the fire that is now raging diplomatically between moscow and washington. >> to see if the soviets were building nuclear weapons, more importantly, missiles to launch them at the united states. we were flying a spy plane over the soviet union called a u-2. >> i'm bill fox, united press editor in new york. a single-engine u.s. air force plane with one man aboard went missing today not far from the soviet border in the rugged mountains in southeastern turkey. >> to a stunned and startled audience, khrushchev announced that an american u-2 spy plane was shot down over the soviet union. >> khrushchev made the wreckage

kennedy and soviet leader nikita khrushchev played chicken until khrushchev backed down and the missiles were removed. but that wasn't the end of soviet involvement in cuba. ? the russians pumped something like $5 billion a year into the cuban economy, propping it up, while the united states kept tightening the screws, toughening sanctions, with the expectation that one day castro would ll the cia repeatedly plotted to kill him. but still he hung on, jailing dissidents, neutralizing political rivals, speaking for hours on end before vast crowds bused in to hear him. the mariel boatlift that year was a huge repudiation of castro's claim that cubans were happy and content. told they were free to go, 125,000 did. risking their lives, piling onto small boats and makeshift rafts for the 90-mile crossing to florida. >> it did hurt his image. but in the end the fact that the united states then had to stop this flow having said we would not turn our backs on them, suddenly we did, and we said turn them back and stopped the boats, that castro then i think felt that he had emerged still even from

stayed in the theresa hotel, receiving a lot of visits from political people of that time, like nikita khrushcheve others. >> reporter: he also met with black nationalist leader malcolm x. >> in the united states in the 1960s, segregation was still legal. so as african-americans looked at the situation in the early '60s, what fidel had been going to do is to target racial discrimination in cuba. >> reporter: castro returned to the u.n. and the u.s. in 1995. and when he addressed the general assembly, it seemed he might have given up on some of his revolutionary ways. >> when fidel was downtown, he was wearing a suit and tie, trying to fit in as best he could with the suits. but when he came here, he could relax and for fidel, that means military fatigues. it just restates the revolutionary commitment that black folk feel about a country that takes seriously the struggle against racism. >> reporter: that night, castro was greeted to a standing ovation at a harlem church. >> anybody that can talk for two, three, four hours and have the crowd constantly cheering, i've met nobody in my life that can

. >> nikita khrushchev today did precisely what president kennedy has been asking him to do ever sinceed the dismantling of soviet missile bases in cuba and the return of the rockets to the soviet union. >> maybe tonight's the night i should go to the theater. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> marina! marina. i want you to take my picture [ speaking russian ] come here. come, come, come, take my picture. i want you to take my picture. [ speaking russian ] all right. what it said in the papers. show them i'm ready for anything. take it. wind that little thing and you push that little lever down. >> this? >> yeah. hold it. you've heard of this general edwin walker? >> of course. he's the crazy racist john birch who caused all the trouble at ole miss. >> now he wants the united states to invade cuba. he's going all over the country attacking communism. >> you know walker is right here in dallas. >> no, he doesn't. >> yes, he does. >> really? what if someone killed hitler before he came to power? i ask you, how many lives could have been saved? >> anybody who bumps that bastard off will be doing the world a favor.

did nikita khrushchev, did he say to you, "we've made a big mistake, we shouldn't have done this"?id he say? >> ( translated ): look, we would not have opposed seeking a solution, no. when the war came very close, then the leaders of the two big powers became more aware about the danger. they worked, they were able to achieve detente. but at that time we were not in conformity. we were not pleased. now then, after 15 years elapsed it was proven that they were right, that a war, a nuclear war, was avoided and that cuba was not invaded. >> yang: online, pbs newshour special correspondent spencer michels recounts the day in 1959 when fidel castro delivered a lecture to his class at princeton. fresh off the success of his revolution, castro promised he'd hold elections, but, of course, they never came. read more about his speech on our website, at www.pbs.org/newshour. and again, to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in the middle east conflicts. we add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. here, in silence, are three more. >> yang: a

news reporter 2: nikita khrushchev today did precisely what president kennedy has been asking him tohis crisis began, he ordered the dismantling of soviet missile bases in cuba and the return of the rockets to the soviet union. john f kennedy: maybe tonight's the night i should go to the theater. [laughter]. ♪ ♪ ♪ lee harvey oswald: marina! marina! take; want you to take my picture. marina: where do you find pistolier? lee harvey oswald: i got it in the mail. here. come here, come here. take it. come, come, come. take my picture. i want you to take this, for junie to remember papa by sometime. marina: for junka? with guns? nyet, alik. lee harvey oswald: oh i; well it's to send to the papers, to show 'em i'm ready for anything, take it. marina: i don't know how to use this thing. lee harvey oswald: wind that little thing and you're gonna push that little lever down, ok? marina: this? lee harvey oswald: hold on. george, you've heard of this general edwin walker? george de mohrenschildt: of course. he's the crazy racist john bircher who caused all that trouble at old miss. lee harvey os

yekatrina furtseva, seated just behind nikita khrushchev, was the highest-ranking woman in the politburo. furtseva became oswald's champion and demanded the kgb reverse its decision and allow him to stay. >> (translated): if he is begging, to hell with him. let him stay here in order to avoid an international scandal on account of such a nobody. we were not convinced this would be his last act of blackmail. we expected he would try again, which would be difficult to deal with in moscow, so we decided to send him to minsk. >> narrator: in january 1960, oswald moved to minsk. he now had the chance to become what he had always wanted to be: a model young marxist. soviet authorities set him up in style. despite a chronic housing shortage, he was given a choice apartment, a luxury unheard of for a young bachelor. at the minsk radio and television factory, oswald helped to build prototypes of new models. as in the marines, he got off to a good start. leonid tsagoika worked with oswald. >> (translated): when he started work after his training, he joined the team. he fit in well and worked well,