Spring 2003
"The Madman Nuclear Alert: Secrecy, Signaling, and Safety in October 1969"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 4, volume 27
By Scott Sagan, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1981-1982; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security and Jeremi Suri
Recently declassified documents reveal that in October 1969, President Richard Nixon ordered the U.S. military to go on nuclear alert. Nixon’s decision to test his “madman theory” was meant to signal to leaders in Moscow and Hanoi his willingness to do whatever was necessary to end the war in Vietnam.
