On April 17-18, 1960, President Kennedy suffered a major foreign policy defeat after the American-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion failed. Of the 1,400 anti-Cuban émigrés, 1,189 were captured and 114 killed. By coincidence, April 17 was Khrushchev's birthday. The next day, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent a memo to his brother saying, "if we don't want Russia to set up missile bases in Cuba, we had better decide now what we are willing to do to stop it." vii He identified three possible courses of action: (1) sending US troops into Cuba, a proposal, "you have already rejected for good and sufficient reasons (although this might have to be reconsidered);"viii (2) placing a strict naval blockade around Cuba; or (3) calling on the Organization of American States (OAS) to prohibit the shipment to Cuba of arms from any outside source. He also wrote that, "something forceful and determined must be done. The time has come for a showdown for in a year or two the situation will be vastly worse."ix It was a statement that would turn out to be very prophetic.

             Khrushchev's response to the Bay of Pigs invasion was predictable. In a message to Kennedy after the outcome was assured, he said, "aggressive bandit actions cannot save your system. In the historic process every people decides and will decide the fate of its country itself."x He also confided in his son that he thought Kennedy was indecisive. He had assumed that the US would land American troops after the initial invasion began to run into trouble, using Marines, and bombing the island with their own planes to ensure an exile victory.xi Khrushchev decided that Kennedy had been seriously weakened by the failed invasion and decided it was time to meet with him. On May 12, he accepted a long-standing invitation to meet with Kennedy and talks were scheduled for June 3-4 in Vienna. It is very possible that the seeds of the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later were sown here.