In a high-stakes game of diplomacy, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev blinked first, ordering the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba, effectively ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. For 13 tense days, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war as US President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev engaged in a delicate dance of threats and concessions. Khrushchev's retreat marked a major victory for Kennedy, who had refused to back down from his demand that the Soviet Union dismantle its missile sites in Cuba.