Quote:
Originally Posted by mapuc
Some weeks ago I saw an issue on our News channel, where some historian to US politics said something about
Nixon's last day in office. Another person(can't remember who) made a deal with some at NORAD-If Nixon order a nuclear strike they should call this person to get either a confirmation or a non-confirmation
Markus
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You are referring to the Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was approached by some officials in the Pentagon and the State Department who were concerned about Nixon's increasingly erratic behavior, fueled by an increase in Nixon's alcohol consumption. There had been a reported case where Nixon apparently tried to put the country at DEFCON 1 and there was concern Nixon might go, ahem, 'ballistic'. It was then, several weeks before Nixon resigned, that Kissinger, quietly and without Nixon's knowledge, put into effect an order that no heavy military measures ordered by the President were to be undertaken without explicit, written co-authorization of the Secretary of State. IIRC, it was shortly after Nixon left that the protocols were revised to make it even harder for a President to initiate a first strike...
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