The Cuban Missile Crisis changed American foreign policy in several ways. One way is that American leaders realized how quickly an event could put the country on the brink of nuclear war. There had been a lot of posturing in the past, with policies involving massive retaliation and brinkmanship, which threatened the use of nuclear weapons. The Cuban Missile Crisis showed American leaders that steps should be taken to curb actions and talk that could lead to nuclear war.

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, a policy of détente, engagement, and negotiation followed. A direct line between the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union was established. An agreement to ban the aboveground testing of nuclear weapons was reached. Both sides learned that a policy that involved negotiation and compromise could end a crisis. When the Soviet Union agreed to dismantle the missile sites and to remove their nuclear weapons from Cuba and the United States agreed not to invade Cuba and to remove American missiles from Turkey, the crisis ended. Future presidents realized that these new changes in policy, such as détente and negotiation, could work for them also.