1963: A "hot line" is established between the White House and the Kremlin. Now, the leaders of the two most powerful nations on Earth can communicate quickly in a crisis.
In the wake of the Cuban missile crisis, which brought the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of war, it was recognized on both sides that the lag time in communication between President Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had contributed to the escalating situation in Cuba. They were obliged to talk with each other through intermediaries, leading to delays and misunderstandings as events unfolded.
Determined to prevent this kind of situation from arising again, Kennedy suggested the establishment of a "hot line" between Washington and Moscow. The Russians, who referred to it as the "red telephones," readily agreed.
The original hot line was, in fact, not a telephones but a teletypewriter, typically found in telegraph offices of the time. There were still intermediaries -- messages had to be translated, then typed and transmitted by operators -- but at least the process had been sped up.
The hot line was used for the first time during the Six-Day War in 1967, where the United States backed Israel while the Soviets supported the Arab nations.
A direct line, employing two satellite systems and an undersea cable, was finally established during the 1970s, when Leonid Brezhnev occupied the Kremlin's top chair.
Even with the fall of the Soviet Union, the line remains in use to this day.
(Source: CNN.com)
This article first appeared on Wired.com June 20, 2007.
See Also:- Oct. 22, 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Brink of War
