Suchergebnisse

"Winning Armageddon tells the story of General Curtis E. LeMay's advocacy for nuclear first strikes while leading the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command. LeMay argued for striking first in a nuclear conflict--but only if and when it was clear that the enemy was preparing to launch their own surprise attack. This approach, commonly referred to as preemption, was designed to catch an attacker off-guard and prevent the destruction of one's own nation. LeMay hoped that rather than plunging the world into a fruitless nuclear exchange he could diffuse the conflict at its outset"--

This dissertation is a historical study of one of the most important American figures of the Cold War, General Curtis Emerson LeMay, and his role in shaping the actual nuclear policy of the United States during the first decade of the Cold War, 1945 to 1957. LeMay was the second and most influential commander of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC), America's nuclear bomber force. This dissertation argues that, LeMay, in his position as the military commander of SAC, advocated for the consideration of preemptive nuclear strikes against the Soviet Union-had it become clear that the Soviets were preparing to attack the United States. LeMay built and oriented SAC for just such a purpose. This was achieved through SAC's receipt of nuclear weapons custody and development of the "alert force," bombers armed with nuclear weapons and their crews trained and ready for immediate departure to attack the Soviet nuclear force. LeMay's efforts and statements marked a departure from the declared American policy of containment through nuclear deterrence, demonstrating that the policy publicly proclaimed by American officials differed from the policy SAC was prepared to execute.