the 1962 midterm elections were overshadowed by the cuban missile crisis. martin joined hill in endorsing the quarantine of cuba but insisted that the problem was an outgrowth of the failed bay of pigs invasion of 1961. hill said that soviet premier, nikita s. khrushchev, had "chickened out" because "the one thing the communists respect is strength." "the new york times" speculated that the blockade ordered by kennedy may have spared hill from defeat.