How close did the U.S. and the Soviet Union come to war?
They were not so close as Americans thought at that time and even now, because the situation was under full control from both sides. And Kennedy and my father never wanted to begin the war. If American public opinion and the military had pressed the president to begin the invasion, nothing would have happened. … Why the crisis was so dangerous was because it was one of my father’s biggest mistakes. When he decided to send missiles to Cuba, he understood it would be a crisis, but he did not understand the level of the crisis. He thought the American reaction would be the same as the Soviet reaction for the American missiles in Europe. It’s unpleasant. It’s bad. But you understand as a politician that it is not a war. Q: So, as you lived through the Cold War, did you ever think the world was going to blow up? A: In reality, it was not so big a fear. During these crises, I was close to my father and when I asked him this question he told me, I hope that never war will begin until we con
