The US had around 5000 missiles pointed at the Soviet Union; having 40 missiles pointing back in and of itself did not pose an existential threat to the US. Bu

The US had around 5000 missiles pointed at the Soviet Union; having 40 missiles pointing back in and of itself did not pose an existential threat to the US. But Kennedy & co chose to play a very public game of chicken over them, and fortunately for the world, Khrushchev blinked.