Who won the Cuban Missile Crisis?

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Kennedy Strengthened His Personal Reputation - JFK appeared calm, controlled and decisive during a nuclear crisis. His policy of ‘gradual escalation’ succeeded.
After earlier criticism (e.g. the failed Bay of Pigs invasion), this restored confidence in his leadership.
He was seen as standing up firmly to the USSR without causing war.

The USA Forced the Soviet Union to Back Down Publicly - On 28 October, Khrushchev announced he would remove the missiles from Cuba.This made it look as if the USSR had given in to American pressure. Politically, this was a propaganda victory for the USA.

The USA Maintained Strategic Superiority - Even before the crisis, the USA had more long-range nuclear weapons than the USSR.
After the crisis, this nuclear advantage remained.
By removing missiles from Cuba, the USSR failed to change the strategic balance of power.

NATO and US Allies Were Reassured - The firm response (the naval blockade) showed that the USA would defend itself and its allies.
This strengthened American leadership of the Western alliance and increased trust in US protection.​

The USA Avoided War While Achieving Its Aim - Kennedy achieved his main objective — removal of the missiles — without invading Cuba or starting nuclear war.
Politically, this made the USA appear responsible and mature, increasing its global standing.
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USSR Was Publicly Exposed as Dishonest at the UN - The USA ‘won’ because the USSR was publicly embarrassed at the United Nations. When Soviet ambassador Valerian Zorin denied the missiles existed, the USA produced photographic proof. This made the USSR look dishonest and increased support for the USA internationally.

Cuba Remained Communist and Was Protected - Castro remained in power and Cuba remained communist just 90 miles from the USA.
More importantly, the USA promised not to invade Cuba.
This guaranteed the survival of a Soviet ally in the Western Hemisphere — a major political success.

US Missiles Were Removed from Turkey and Italy - The USA secretly agreed to remove its Jupiter nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy, which were close to the Soviet Union.
This removed a direct nuclear threat to the USSR.
Although kept secret at the time, this was a clear strategic gain and showed the USA had to compromise.​

The USSR Successfully Deceived the USA (Operation Anadyr) - Under Operation Anadyr, the Soviets secretly transported missiles and troops to Cuba without the USA initially detecting it.
This was embarrassing for the USA and exposed weaknesses in American intelligence.
For a time, the USSR successfully outmanoeuvred its rival in its own sphere of influence.

The USSR Initiated the Move Towards Compromise - On 26 October 1962, Aleanxer Formin approached John Scali with a proposal to remove the missiles in exchange for a US non-invasion promise.
This back-channel communication showed that Khrushchev controlled the shift toward negotiation and created the first serious path to ending the crisis.

Khrushchev appeared statesmanlike - by ordering the Soviet ships to turn round, Khrushchev acted responsibly on the ‘world stage’ -