News | UN Security Council Meeting

At the UN headquarters in New York, US Ambassador Adlai Stevenson confronts Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin about missile bases in Cuba. Stevenson presses Zorin for an admission, saying 'I'm prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over'. Later, it comes to light that this is the moment just before Stevenson reveals photographic evidence of missile bases to the UN delegates. Note that this is a news feed without commentary.

During the missile crisis in 1962, Adlai Stevenson (with photographic evidence) told delegates from 13 nations that the US would destroy Soviet missile bases in Cuba unless their construction was stopped. It's unclear as to what extent the Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin was briefed by the Kremlin about the missile bases before this UN meeting. Regardless, this became known as the "Adlai Stevenson moment". Governor and Democratic presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson helped found the United Nations. He was appointed Ambassador to the UN by Kennedy in 1961. Stevenson held this office until his death in 1965.

Photo credit: US National Archives and Records Administration