106 approvaclass="underline" Ibid.*
107 “to limit”: Select Operational Exercises of Strategic Air Command, 1954–56, Sec. VI (SAC Headquarters, Historical Division, Historical Study #66), pp. 54–55, Max. AFB.
108 preemptive strike: Ibid., p. 55 reads: “The ultimate objective was the ability to launch a multiple wing strike over EWP targets in a minimum amount of time… The only way to protect the nation was to be able to destroy the enemy’s offensive power before it could be completely unleashed.”
7: THE HYDRA-HEADED MONSTER
111 RAND 1950 studies: “Long-Range Ballistic Missiles—A History,” White House Office file, Office of Staff Secretary, Subject Series, Alpha Sub-series, Box 5, Ballistic Missiles 1957 folder, p. 5, DDEL.
111 Atlas: Ibid.
112 Convair requirements: B. W. Augenstein, A Revised Development Program for Ballistic Missiles of Intercontinental Range, RAND Special Memorandum No. 21, Feb. 8, 1954, p. 1.
112 lithium in Soviet explosion: Roy Neal, Ace in the Hole: The Story of the Minuteman Missile (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1962), p. 47; and interviews.
113 re-entry speed and warhead weight: Augenstein, op. cit.
113 CEP/missile-number trade off: Ibid., especially p. 10.
114 by 1960: Ibid., p. 38.
114 Collbohm briefings on Dec. 12: Letter, J. R. Goldstein to Herbert York, Mar. 7, 1973 (provided to author).
115 review of missile program: “Long-Range Ballistic Missiles—A History,” loc. cit., p. 6.
115 Augenstein briefing: Letter, J. R. Goldstein to Herbert York, op. cit.
115–16 H-bomb briefing and CEP requirements: Bernard Brodie, “Changing Capabilities and War Objectives,” lecture, Air War College, Apr. 17, 1952, p. 18, Bernard Brodie Papers, Box 12, UCLA. The Plesset-Hitch-Brodie study, however, thought that CEP made little difference only up to two miles.
116 “there is no doubt”: “Professor John von Neumann’s Report on Nuclear Weapons,” lecture, USAF Scientific Advisory Board, Oct. 21, 1953, p. 8, Max. AFB.
116 Augenstein’s RM-1191: This report is identical to the Special Memorandum No. 21, cited above. Feb. 8 date comes from letter, J. R. Goldstein to Herbert York, op. cit. Its importance is also cited in Neal, op. cit., p. 48.
116 von Neumann, February 10: “Long-Range Ballistic Missiles—A History,” loc. cit., p. 6.
116 twenty sites, 100 missiles by 1960: Memo, Trevor Gardner to Sec. Talbot and Gen. Twining, “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System Acceleration Plan,” Mar. 11, 1954, Nathan Twining Papers, Box 122, Top Secret File (3), 1950–57 folder, LoC.*
116 “agreed that it”: Memo, Robert Burns, “Decision on AFC 12/8: USAF Strategic Missile Program,” May 6, 1954, Nathan Twining Papers, Air Force Council Chief of Staff Decisions, Vol. I, Tab 12/8.*
116 Western Development Division: Neal, op. cit., pp. 48, 64–65; and interviews.
117 more than twenty aides: See the various footnotes in Albert Wohlstetter and Fred Hoffman, Protecting U.S. Power to Strike Back in the 1950s and 1960s, RAND R-290, Sept. 1, 1956 (provided to author).
118 “The defenses programmed”: A. Wohlstetter and F. Hoffman, Defending a Strategic Force After 1960, RAND D-2270, Feb. 1, 1954, pp. 1, 3 (provided to author).
118 destroy 80 percent with 150: Ibid., pp. 5–6.
118 effects of sheltering: Ibid., pp. 8, 12, 14.
120 twenty-nine and fifty-five: Wohlstetter and Hoffman, Protecting U.S. Power to Strike Back in the 1950s and 1960s, p. 12.
120 500 ICBMs, 500 bombers: Ibid., p. 97. Wohlstetter and Hoffman refer to 500 Soviet ICBMs and 500 Bear and Bison bombers as “moderately high though not extreme Soviet offensive… capabilities.”
120 24 missiles hit 96: Ibid., p. 28.
120 fifty ways: Ibid., pp. 2 and passim.
120 $35 billion versus $10 billion: Ibid., pp. 96–97.
121 15 percent versus 90 percent: Ibid., pp. 89–90.
124 “do not, of course”: Ibid., pp. 40–41.
8: THE GAITHER COMMITTEE
125 NSC evaluates civil defense: “Record of Actions by the NSC at Its 308th Meeting Held April 4, 1957,” Ann Whitman File, NSC Series, Box 2, Record of Action by NSC 1957 (1) folder, DDEL; for FCDA proposal, see “Report by the Federal Civil Defense Administration on a Federal Civil Defense Shelter Program,” Jan. 17, 1957, Annex A to NSC-5709, Mar. 29, 1957, Collection of NSC Documents, NA/MMB; for $32.4 and $28.6 billion figures, see p. A-3.
126 FCDA recommendations and numbers: NSC-5709 and Annex, loc. cit., pp. 1, A–3, A–12.
126 “unable at this time”: Ibid., p. 2.
126 “A study by the”: Ibid., p. 4.
126 April 4 and 8: “Record of Actions by the NSC at Its 308th Meeting Held April 4, 1957,” loc. cit.
127 lunch with Rockefeller: All quotes from Rockefeller, Memo for Sherman Adams and Percival Brundage, “Proposal for Study of Civil Defense Measures,” Apr. 12, 1957, White House Office file, Office of Special Assistant for Science & Technology Series, Box 13, OCDM & Civil Defense (1) folder, DDEL.
127 Killian, Cutler, Gaither: James R. Killian, Jr., Sputnik, Scientists, and Eisenhower (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1977), p. 96; and interviews.
127 Eisenhower and Gaither: Letters, Eisenhower to Gaither, May 8, 1957, Gaither to Eisenhower, May 15, 1957, White House Office file, Office of Staff Secretary, Subject Series, Alpha Subseries, Box 23, Science Advisory Committee (1) folder, DDEL.
129 steering panel members: Deterrence and Survival in the Nuclear Age, Nov. 7, 1957, p. 31, declassified and published by Joint Committee on Defense Production, U.S. Congress, 1976; and interviews.
129 advisory panel and research staff: Ibid., pp. 31–34.
129 Gaither to hospitaclass="underline" Ibid., letter from steering panel to Eisenhower accompanying report.
129 mandate broadened by August: In a memo to SAC Commander Curtis LeMay, dated Aug. 15, 1957, USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Thomas White refers to a board headed by Rowan Gaither originally assigned to study civil defense but that “is getting into all manner of defense business, with the backing of the President.” Thomas White Papers, Box 41, 1957 Top Secret File folder, LoC.*
131 Killian Paneclass="underline" Meeting the Threat of Surprise Attack, Feb. 12, 1955, Office of Special Assistant for National Security Affairs file, NSC Series, Subject Subseries, Box 11, Technological Capabilities Panel of the Science Advisory Report (Killian Report) folders, DDEL; “through innovation”: Vol. I, p. vi.
131 overall impact: Killian, op. cit., pp. 86–93.
131 committee told of SAC plan: Sprague remarks in A. J. Goodpaster, Memo of Conference with President, following NSC Meeting, Nov. 7, 1957, White House Office file, Office of Staff Secretary, Subject Series, DoD Subseries, Box 6, Military Planning, 1958–61 folder, DDEL.
132 September 16 alert test: Sprague remarks in A. J. Goodpaster, Memo of Conference with President, loc. cit.; and interviews.