ACT ONE – TEASE

IT’S THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS HANDBAG.

BUZZ PATTERSON

The first time I picked it up , I realized that I was holding in my hand the world's nuclear capability.

IT ENABLES THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENT TO AUTHORIZE A NUCLEAR ATTACK FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

BRUCE BLAIR

From the time the President gives the go ahead, 'til the time thousands of weapons are leaving their tubes.  The whole process would last about ten minutes.

IT’S CALLED THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

The Football, in some ways, is like Pandora's Box.  It should never be opened.

TITLE CARD – THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL

IT’S A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO WE PRAY NEVER HAPPENS.  THE PRESIDENT IS AWAY FROM THE WHITE  HOUSE WHEN UNITED STATES’ MILITARY RADAR DETECTS WHAT APPEARS TO BE AN INCOMING NUCLEAR WEAPON.

MILITARY OFFICER (SOT)

So you’ve got Zulu-one-five-one unknown.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

The President would have literally minutes to make a decision as to whether or not to launch a retaliatory strike. 

IN A MATTER OF SECONDS, A MILITARY AIDE RUSHES TO THE PRESIDENT’S SIDE.

BUZZ PATTERSON

First thing is to notify the President that we've had an incident or a situation that requires his involvement. 

STRAPPED TO THE AIDE’S WRIST IS A PLAIN BLACK BRIEFCASE.  HURRIEDLY, HE UNLOCKS THE BAG.

BUZZ PATTERSON

Get him, pull him aside, and crack open the Football and start working with him to make the decisions, and help him either answer his questions in terms of decision making options, or help him in terms of communicating those decisions to the Pentagon.

SEPARATED FROM THE COMMAND STRUCTURE UPON WHICH HE RELIES TO MAKE CRITICAL MILITARY DECISIONS, THE PRESIDENT MUST DEPEND ON his MILITARY AIDE AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL.  IN THE BALANCE LIES THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO UNLEASH AMERICA’S NUCLEAR MUSCLE.

MUSIC SEGUE

FORTUNATELY, THE UNITED STATES HAS NEVER BEEN FORCED TO STARE DOWN A DIRECT NUCLEAR ASSAULT.  EVEN SO, A TOP-SECRET SYSTEM OF DEFENSE STRATEGIES, CONTINGENCIES AND CAPABILITIES HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO DEAL WITH SUCH A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO.  PART OF THAT PREPAREDNESS LIES INSIDE A BLACK BRIEFCASE – COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL.

BRUCE BLAIR

It's a plain old-fashioned briefcase with documents inside that describe the nuclear war plans and options for the President of the United States.

JOHN KLINE

It’s a symbol of the power, the nuclear might if you will, of the United States.

BUZZ PATTERSON

The Football is a black leather bounded piece of luggage and it’s approximately 45 pounds.  It's a hard case, inside of the leather covering.  It has a handle, and a loop structure where you can actually attach it to your wrists for security purposes.

WHENEVER THE PRESIDENT LEAVES THE WHITE HOUSE – WHETHER ON A JOG DOWN PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE OR ON AN OFFICIAL STATE VISIT ABROAD – THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL, CARRIED BY A MILITARY AIDE, IS ALWAYS WITHIN REACH.

JOHN KLINE

It was designed so the President could respond immediately in the event of an attack from the Soviet Union, so it needs to be immediately available to the President.

BUZZ PATTERSON

It's been by the President's side wherever he goes no matter where it is in the world, and has been ever since the Cold War began.

FOR OVER FORTY YEARS, THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL HAS BEEN AN INDISPENSABLE PART OF THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR PREPAREDNESS.  BUT DURING THE ADOLESCENCE OF THE NUCLEAR AGE, THE UNITED STATES OPERATED WITHOUT SUCH A DEVICE.

MUSIC SEGUE

IN 1945, THE MASSIVE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS DEMONSTRATED AT HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI.  OVER THE NEXT DECADE, THE UNITED STATES ADVANCED ITS NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES.  BUT THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD, IT LACKED A UNIFORM PLAN FOR HOW NUCLEAR WEAPONS WOULD BE DEPLOYED.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

In the early 50’s, when America was developing its war fighting plans, and was getting enough nuclear weapons, it was all chaotic.  Different elements of the military had different plans that were duplicative and that often were in conflict with one another.  So here we have, in the 50's, the most destructive force ever known to humankind, and we had no rational way of controlling it or figuring out how to use it. 

IN RESPONSE TO THIS SHORTCOMING, IN 1960 THE EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION DEVELOPED THE SINGLE INTEGRATED OPERATIONAL PLAN, OR SIOP.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

The SIOP finally put together the duplicative, conflicting plans for fighting nuclear war into a single devastating package.

AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE SIOP CALLED FOR A MASSIVE U.S. NUCLEAR RETALIATION TO ANY SOVIET NUCLEAR ATTACK.  IT ALSO DICTATED THAT ANY NUCLEAR LAUNCH ORDER HAD TO ORIGINATE FROM THE PRESIDENT, AND THEN BE EXECUTED THROUGH THE PENTAGON.

BUZZ PATTERSON

The go ahead to launch would flow down from the Pentagon to the war fighting Commanders In Chiefs, and keys would be turned from that point on.

THE SIOP BECAME THE CORNERSTONE OF THE UNITED STATES’ NUCLEAR COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEM.  BUT A MAJOR FLAW WOULD BE EXPOSED DURING AMERICA’S CLOSEST NUCLEAR SCARE. 

MUSIC SEGUE

IN OCTOBER 1962, U.S. RECONNAISSANCE PHOTOS REVEALED THE SOVIET UNION WAS BUILDING SECRET MISSILE BASES IN CUBA, JUST NINETY MILES OFF THE FLORIDA COAST. 

JODY POWELL

The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the closest this country ever came to going to nuclear war.  It was a true headtohead confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over a tremendously important issue.

DURING THE FIRST DAYS OF THE CRISIS, PRESIDENT KENNEDY STRATEGICALLY KEPT NEWS OF THE DISCOVERY QUIET.  HIS ADMINISTRATION SECRETLY MET TO FORMULATE A RESPONSE. 

ALLAN LICHTMAN

Kennedy was faced with the polarities of bombing and invasion on the one hand, and pure diplomatic action on the other hand.

IN ORDER TO FURTHER THE RUSE OF BEING UNAWARE OF THE MISSILE BUILD UP, KENNEDY KEPT PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED CAMPAIGN TRIPS TO OHIO AND ILLINOIS.  BUT AS THE CRISIS ESCALATED, THE PRESIDENT WAS FRUSTRATED BY HIS INABILITY TO WEIGH POSSIBLE NUCLEAR SCENARIOS FROM THE ROAD.  KENNEDY’S BEST OPTION WAS TO RETURN TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

JODY POWELL

He wanted to get back in a way that did not tip off anyone, including the Soviets, as to what we knew or thought we knew at the time.

JODY POWELL 

And that was the cover that allowed him to get back in a position to manage and make decisions about that crisis.

BACK IN WASHINGTON D.C., EIGHT DAYS AFTER THE CRISIS BEGAN, KENNEDY WENT PUBLIC.

PRESIDENT KENNEDY (SOT)

Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island.

KENNEDY DEMANDED THAT RUSSIAN PREMIER NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV REMOVE ALL OF THE MISSILE BASES.  WHEN KHRUSHCHEV REFUSED, THE YOUNG PRESIDENT ORDERED A NAVAL BLOCKADE OF CUBA.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

We quarantine Cuba.  We keep the missiles from being supplied, and at the same time, try to negotiate an end to the crisis.  And, here's the world watching the American picket ships patrolling outside Cuba with nobody knowing whether or not the Soviets are gonna try to cross the line and perhaps precipitate nuclear war.

FOR SEVEN DAYS, THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION TEETERED ON THE BRINK OF NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST.  THEN ON OCTOBER 28TH, THE WORLD BREATHED A SIGH OF RELIEF.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER (SOT)

The retreat to Moscow. Russian ships steam out from Cuban ports with their decks loaded with missiles. The Soviets are withdrawing under pressure from the New World.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

It wasn't the young Kennedy who blinked.  It was the experienced Nikita Khrushchev who turned back the ships and agreed to dismantle the offensive weaponry on the island of Cuba.

ALTHOUGH DIFFUSED, THE CONFLICT POINTED OUT A FAILING OF THE SINGLE INTEGRATED OPERATIONAL PLAN.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

Here you've got the SIOP, the most devastating power at the hands of a leader, by far, in the history of the world.  The weakness, though, is you've got to be in the command center in Washington to actually begin launching a nuclear attack.

BRUCE BLAIR

The United States went through a complete overhaul after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

AT THE URGING OF DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT MCNAMARA, MILITARY OFFICIALS WERE INSTRUCTED TO DEVISE A SYSTEM THAT WOULD GIVE THE PRESIDENT THE TOOLS NEEDED TO AUTHORIZE A NUCLEAR ATTACK AT ANY TIME, FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

BUZZ PATTERSON

And the Football was born out of that need for a real time decision-making tool. 

ALLAN LICHTMAN

They decided to centralize the capacity for a President not to launch a nuclear attack per se, but to begin the decisionmaking process towards launching a nuclear attack.  This small briefcase, supposedly with the weapons plans inside of it and the codes inside of it, that would never leave the President's side.

THE BRIEFCASE WAS NAMED THE PRESIDENT’S EMERGENCY SATCHEL, BUT IT QUICKLY ACQUIRED A NICKNAME.

BUZZ PATTERSON

The Aides back in those days dubbed it the Football, and it remains that way today.

ALLAN LICHTMAN

And the term Nuclear Football actually goes back to the Eisenhower administration, because the old SIOP was called Drop Kick.  Well, if we're gonna launch a drop kick, we have to have a Football with which to do it.

ON MAY 10TH 1963, ONE OF THE FIRST PHOTOS OF THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL WAS SNAPPED.  SINCE THEN, INFORMATION ABOUT THE BAG'S CONTENTS REMAIN HIGHLY CLASSIFIED.

ALLAN LICHTMAN
This is all shrouded in secrecy.

JUST WHAT IS INSIDE THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL?

### END OF ACT ONE ###