U.S. nuclear history, 1969-1976 : weapons, arms control, and war plans in an age of strategic parity

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Summary

This compilation of 2,291 declassified documents, the vast majority published here for the first time, details the nuclear weapons policies of the Nixon and Ford administrations - a critical period...

This compilation of 2,291 declassified documents, the vast majority published here for the first time, details the nuclear weapons policies of the Nixon and Ford administrations - a critical period in the nuclear age for understanding the developments of subsequent years. Policy choices made during this period had a long-term impact extending to the post-Cold War world, where nuclear proliferation, arms control, and regional arms races - from the Middle East to South and East Asia - remain at the core of public concerns over global security and peaceful international relations. With the Soviet Union reaching parity in strategic force levels, the Nixon administration was aware the U.S. could not maintain strategic superiority by trying to stay ahead of Moscow in pure numbers of missiles. Instead, the White House pursued a policy of achieving technological advantage, supporting strategic arms limitation talks, and making nuclear use threats more credible by developing limited alternatives to catastrophic nuclear exchanges. These and other topics are richly documented in this collection. For anyone interested in how these issues developed and how public officials addressed them over time, U.S. Nuclear History, 1969-1976 will quickly become an essential resource.

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