The bombs were built. Then most of them were taken apart.
October 27, 1962. A Soviet submarine off the coast of Cuba. The captain orders a nuclear torpedo armed. Three officers must agree. Two say yes. One says no. His name was Vasili Arkhipov. The world never knew until decades later.
In 1946, Bernard Brodie wrote: "Thus far the chief purpose of our military establishment has been to win wars. From now on its chief purpose must be to avert them." Deterrence — the only logic that worked.
The great powers stopped fighting each other directly. No third world war. No American tanks in Moscow. No Soviet tanks in Washington. Instead: Berlin. Korea. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Cuba. Wars at the edges, so the center would not burn.