War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Carl Kaysen, 1986 [2]

Item Information

Title:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Carl Kaysen, 1986 [2]
Description:
Carl Kaysen was the Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs for President Kennedy. In this interview he discusses the overall nuclear strategy of the Kennedy Administration, as well as the specific views of various members of that administration including Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and himself. He discusses the ideas of deterrence, mutual assured destruction, damage limitation, and targeting issues. He also describes his proposal for the small first strike he worked on with Henry Rowen in response to the 1961 Berlin Crisis. He answers criticism of the preemptive plan by explaining that they never encouraged that it be put in place, but thought it would be a good idea to see what such a plan would look like. He also explains his civil defense study, ordered by President Kennedy. The study mainly focused on the idea of fallout shelters; however, the administration's push for a new civil defense program fell out of favor when Kennedy realized the overreaction of the American people. Dr. Kaysen ends by describing the "new frontier" atmosphere of working with the Kennedy administration, full of bright people and facing serious new issues.
Author:
Kaysen, Carl
Date:
March 20, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
WGBH > War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
United States. Congress
McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994
Enthoven, Alain C., 1930-
Brown, Harold, 1927-
Sorensen, Theodore C.
Bell, David E., 1919-
Hitch, Charles Johnston
Rowen, Henry S.
Raskin, Marcus G.
Teller, Edward, 1908-2003
Yarmolinsky, Adam
Staats, Elmer B., 1914-2011
Thomas, Albert, 1898-1966---
Gates, Thomas S.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Schelling, Thomas C., 1921-
McNaughton, John T. (John Theodore), 1921-
Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971
National Security Council (U.S.)
United States. Air Force
United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff
United States. Dept. of Defense
Single Integrated Operational Plan
Berlin (Germany)
Germany
Soviet Union
United States
Civil Defense
Fallout shelters
Nuclear arms control
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear weapons
World War II
Bundy, McGeorge
Extent:
00:00:00
Link to Item:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-057cr5n93d
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation