Should the President have sole authority over a nuclear launch?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
If a nation were to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile attack against the United States, the president would have about 15 minutes to decide whether to order a nuclear counterstrike. The president has sole authority - and the decision is entirely the President’s alone - and no one can countermand it. Based on the visual above, how many Americans are very comfortable + somewhat comfortable with the U.S. president having the sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons by the United States?
Based on the visual above, how many Americans are very uncomfortable + somewhat uncomfortable with the U.S. president having the sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons by the United States?
Explain how party affiliation impacts the level of comfort with the U.S. president having the sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons by the United States?
What is the big story the visual tells?
How comfortable are you with the U.S. president having the sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons by the United States?
If the U.S. president did not have the sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons by the United States, how would launching nuclear weapons be determined?
According to the visual below,* who else do Americans think should have influence over nuclear policy?
All other aspect of U.S. military power is legally conducted with oversight and multiple points of approval. Authorizing drone strikes on terrorism suspects, for instance, requires approvals up and down the chain of command, from a commander in the field to the general overseeing the region to the defense secretary to the president. Larger operations, like a ground invasion of another country, require the president to ask Congress for a formal declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force. But with a nuclear strike, no other person in the U.S. government serves as a check or balance once the president decides to go nuclear. There is no requirement to consult Congress, to run the idea by the defense secretary or to ask the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for his or her opinion. Who else do you think should have authority or should be involved in decisions about launching nuclear weapons?
In the past, putting the power to end civilization in the hands of a single person has been seen as the least bad option. Presidential launch authority began at the end of World War II when the military nuked Nagasaki without President Harry Truman's direct consent. At the start of the Cold War, launch authority was delegated to some field commanders, but that was eventually seen as too risky. Think about American checks and balances and how The U.S. Constitution outlines multiple checks and balances between different branches of government. Identify any other area of importance where one branch has such an important power with no other branch able to check it.
A military office carries “the football,” the black leather briefcase that holds nuclear plans that follows the president at all times. The contents of the football are unknown, but it's believed to contain a phone and a number of predesignated attack options. If the president were incapacitated for any reason, nuclear launch authority would fall to the vice president. If she were unable to carry out her duties, absolute power over the nation's nuclear weapons would be given to the next person in the line of succession, the House speaker. There is no military officer with a football following the Speaker of the House, or Senate Majority Leader. Obviously there were no nuclear weapons at the time of the Constitutional Convention. Explain how you imagine the Framers would have felt about a power as great as potential nuclear annihilation were concentrated in the hands of one person.
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Propose an Amendment to the Constitution to change nuclear authority to add some kind of check and balance. Share your amendment proposal with your U.S. House Representative.
Get Creative
If you had to rename the football - which holds the nuclear launch plans - what would you call it?
Learning Extension*
Read this frightening scenario of a presidential nuclear launch.
