I ran across this letter
http://www.jfk-info.com/... written by Jackie Kennedy a few days after her husband's death. It was sent to Khrushchev. In the letter she urges him to continue with the spirit of restraint that he and her husband had during their struggles together.
She refers to her husband as "a major figure" and contrasts his judgement with that of "a minor figure". She suggests that major figures use restraint rather than pride or fear when confronted with decisions that could lead to war.
We are quite lucky that we had "major figures" as leaders during the cold war. I'm not sure our leaders today would have taken us down the patient path that avoided major power war. Perhaps we have "minor figures" today.