Delivered on 22 October 1962, Kennedy’s address informed the American public that the Soviet Union had placed offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba. He described the installations as a serious threat to the Western Hemisphere and announced a naval quarantine intended to prevent further military equipment from reaching the island. He also called for the existing missiles to be dismantled and withdrawn.

Kennedy warned that any nuclear attack launched from Cuba against a Western Hemisphere nation would be treated as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a response. At the same time, he presented the quarantine as a measured step designed to avoid immediate military escalation while maintaining pressure on Moscow. The address became a central public statement of the Cuban Missile Crisis, setting out the administration’s assessment of the danger, its initial response and its determination to seek the removal of the missiles.