Last week’s statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the risk of nuclear war between Russia and the West is “considerable” ushered us back six decades when the Cuban missile crisis threatened the planet with destruction.

In October 1962, the U.S. found that the Soviets had deployed 100 tactical nuclear weapons to Cuba, in addition to nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. Ominously, the local Soviet commander there could have launched these weapons without additional codes or commands from Moscow.

Many Pentagon leaders urged President John F. Kennedy to attack Cuba, a preemptive move that could have triggered World War III and ended civilization. As the crisis intensified, our forces went to DEFCON 2, the highest military alert ever reached in the postwar era.

After long hours of difficult negotiation, Kennedy decided on a U.S. naval quarantine to avoid nuclear confrontation. The U.S. Navy stopped and boarded any ships going to Cuba to make sure that they did not have any nuclear warheads.

A calm but decisive Kennedy addressed the nation during the moment crisis.

“The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are - but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world,” he said. “The cost of freedom is always high - and Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender and submission.

“Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right - not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.”

Fortunately for the planet, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev turned the ships around, and avoiding possible global annihilation.

With his ability to lead and inspire, Kennedy ranks at or near the top among presidential speechmakers. His words seemed to come straight from the heart while his body language conveyed a sense of strength and openness that few orators possessed.

When it comes to showing strength, authority and authenticity, Joe Biden falls well short of the high bar set by JFK. In last week’s attempt to give an update about the latest news in Ukraine, Biden struggled to pronounce “kleptocracy,” then laughed off the blunder.

Of course, in this age of social media, any verbal mistake spreads across the world instantly.

Mainstream media’s attempt to simply pass off Biden’s remarks as just another “gaffe by good old Uncle Joe” can no longer be ignored or laughed away. Any feeblemindedness, weakness or lack of command is certainly noted by world leaders, especially in Moscow and Beijing.

In a poll taken three months ago about Biden’s mental health, a majority believed that his abilities have declined since he took office, and two-thirds agreed that the president should take a cognitive test and release the results.

In another poll, 78 percent of Americans said they were dissatisfied with the direction of the country, with 68 percent saying things are going somewhat badly or very badly.

That Gallup poll was conducted BEFORE Russia launched its invasion of neighboring Ukraine, and before news worsened on the U.S. economy, crime and immigration, and the deadly fentanyl crisis mushroomed, courtesy of Biden’s open border policy.

Robert McNamara, Kennedy’s Defense Secretary, once said that the major lesson of the Cuban missile crisis is that the indefinite combination of human fallibility and nuclear weapons will destroy nations.

Kennedy’s strength in the midst of crisis 60 years ago not only staved off pending doom but his principle slogan of striving for a new frontier instilled a feeling of hope and optimism, qualities woefully lacking under the present administration and the occupant of the White House.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.