form in the mirror during a workout at... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) House Speaker Greg Hughes works on his boxing form in the mirror during a workout at... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) House Speaker Greg Hughes spars with Eddie Flash Newman during his workout at the Fl... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) House Speaker Greg Hughes spars with Eddie Flash Newman during his workout at the Fl... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) House Speaker Greg Hughes spars with Eddie Flash Newman during his workout at the Fl... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) House Speaker Greg Hughes works on his boxing form in the mirror during a workout at... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) HouseNo, Sanctions Didn’t Force Iran to Make a Deal

In what is perhaps the central myth of the Cold War, President John F. Kennedy is said to have stared down Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis and refused to give an inch, forcing the Soviet premier to capitulate to his steely will and America’s superior military might. As Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, put it in Foreign Policy, "Mythologically, Khrushchev gave everything, and Kennedy gave nothing." This false standard, according to Gelb, became the gold standard for American statecraft going forward: Never compromise, just stare down your enemies and force them to capitulate.

In reality, of course, Kennedy did compromise. Only by quietly withdrawing its Jupiter missiles from Turkey did the United States avoid