You might not realize how close the we were to having an all out nuclear exchange with the Soviets in '62.
In fact, most didn't realize until much later how close were were to a cataclysmic nuclear war that during the conflict. One such incident occurred when dropped depth-charges on top of a Soviet submarine armed with nuclear missiles. I am confident, only luck prevented an all out nuclear war during the missile crisis.
What ever you think of Kennedy, he was CIC at the time, arguably during the most dangerous event in American/world history. Through his actions during this standoff, he might have very well helped avoid an all out nuclear war. I base this on the fact that no nuclear war occurred.
You omitted the pertinent fact that Kennedy cut a deal with Khrushchev to remove our Jupiter IRBMs from Turkey and Italy to get the Russinas to take their missiles out of Cuba.
I believe that it was his actions prior to the standoff that nearly caused nuclear war. He was a naive young senator who was suddenly thrust into the presidency (sound familiar?). He failed to act decisively during the Bay of Pigs invasion, which cost numerous lives of US supporters. Khrushchev knew he could be rolled. It was only luck, and a strong military (a legacy of Eisenhower) that prevented nuclear war.