John F. Kennedy: Report to the American People on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba

Glossary

• ballistic missile any missile that follows a suborbital flight path and is designed to deliver a warhead
• Berlin blockade of 1948 efforts by the Soviet Union and Communist East Germany to cut off and isolate West Berlin, which was surrounded by East Germany
• Chairman Khrushchev Nikita Khrushchev, premier of the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1964
• clandestine secret, hidden
• nautical miles a unit of measurement used at sea; one nautical mile equals 1.1508 miles
• OAS Organization of American States, an agency that promotes cooperation among the nations of North, Central, and South America
• Rio Pact of 1947 a defense pact signed by most of the nations of the Western Hemisphere