In November 1960, bolstered by anti-Communist ideologies, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev brandished nuclear diplomacy to force the United States to abandon Berlin, setting the stage for a major nuclear confrontation over the fate of West Berlin. From Berkeley to Berlin explores how the United States had the wherewithal to stand up to Khrushchev’s attempts to expand Soviet influence around the globe.