War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with John McCone, 1986 [1]

Item Information

Title:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with John McCone, 1986 [1]
Description:
John McCone served as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) during the Eisenhower administration from 1958-1960 and Director of Central Intelligence from 1961-1965. In the interview he focuses on the earlier period, discussing his responsibilities as AEC Chairman, which included fulfilling certain of the weapons and production requirements of the Department of Defense, but not establishing those requirements or deciding how to use the materiel. He also comments on the faulty missile gap estimate in the late 1950s, which became a major issue during the 1960 presidential election campaign, and which he says the Pentagon used for political purposes. He expresses complete confidence in the manner in which Eisenhower approached the Soviet threat, denying any naivete on the president's part, and explains why he (McCone) opposed a test ban treaty that did not include a method of verification of the Soviet nuclear program.
Author:
McCone, John A. (John Alex), 1902-1991
Date:
March 4, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
WGBH > War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Global Affairs
Military Forces and Armaments
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Nuclear weapons--Testing
Nuclear weapons
Presidents--United States--Election--1960
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Soviet Union
Berlin (Germany)
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
United States. Dept. of Defense
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971
United States
Extent:
00:14:00
Link to Item:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-jq0sq8qn6m
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation