Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

The leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis was Nikita Khrushchev. The crisis occurred in October 1962, and it was a pivotal moment in the Cold War, marked by a tense confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Khrushchev's decision to place missiles in Cuba was driven by a desire to level the strategic playing field against the United States, which had placed missiles in Turkey and Italy, thus creating a significant threat to the Soviet Union.

Khrushchev’s leadership style and his approach to foreign policy during this time were characterized by a mixture of aggressive posturing and willingness to negotiate, which eventually led to a peaceful resolution of the crisis. After intense negotiations, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. promise not to invade the island and the secret removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey.

Other leaders mentioned did not hold power during this critical event: Leonid Brezhnev succeeded Khrushchev later and is known for a different phase of the Cold War; Joseph Stalin had died in 1953, long before the crisis; and M