As Kennedy and Khrushchev squared off over the issue of offensive missiles in the Western hemisphere, the full strength of the U.S. Strategic Air Command was placed on DEFCON 2—the highest level of military readiness short of all-out war. This riveting program, hosted by Tom Clancy and shot on location in the U.S., the former Soviet Union, and Castro’s Cuba, scrutinizes the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Eyewitness testimony and expert analysis by key participants, reinforced by recently declassified audio tapes of secret meetings with JFK, previously secret film and photos, and powerful dramatizations, shed new light on a time when the fate of the world truly hung in the balance. A Discovery Channel Production. (52 minutes)