Kennedy Robert

20 Jan., 2019 On Jan. 17, 1961, outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower gave the most important speech of his lifetime, warning his fellow citizens that the...

by Michael S. Rosenwald April 4, 2018 As darkness took hold on April 4, 1968, newly declared presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy stepped in front...

I quickly read the article and was stunned. The central document was a Top Secret/Eyes Only summary memo of a July 1961 National Security Council meeting written by Howard Burris, the military aide to then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson, which was afterward deposited in the Johnson Archives and eventually declassified. The discussion focused on the effectiveness of a planned nuclear first strike, suggesting that 1963 would be the optimal date since America’s relative advantage in intercontinental nuclear missiles would be greatest at that point.