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Nuclear football: Difference between revisions
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The briefcase is officially named the "Presidential Emergency Satchel".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |first=Dugald |last=McConnell |title=Wherever President Trump goes, nuclear 'football' to follow |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/donald-trump-nuclear-codes/index.html |work= | The briefcase is officially named the "Presidential Emergency Satchel".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |first=Dugald |last=McConnell |title=Wherever President Trump goes, nuclear 'football' to follow |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/donald-trump-nuclear-codes/index.html |work=CNN |date=November 18, 2016 |access-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-date=January 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119154444/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/donald-trump-nuclear-codes/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During the administration of [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight Eisenhower]], the briefcase was most commonly nicknamed the "satchel" or the "black bag."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-18 |title=You always hear about the 'nuclear football.' Here's the behind-the-scenes story |url=https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-football-presidential-satchel-war-df3c1e65cfd21f137fd2fc7e7d62ffab |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> | ||
By the time of President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]], if not earlier, the briefcase was also becoming known as the "football."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manchester |first=William |title=The Death of a President November 20 – November 25,1963 |publisher=Harper and Row |year=1967 |pages=62}}</ref> General [[Chester Clifton]] stated in his 1986 interview that the term was used "jokingly", and he described how [[Warrant officer (United States)|warrant officers]], who were on a twenty-four hour schedule, would regularly hand-off the briefcase to the next person.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; At the Brink; Interview with Chester Clifton, 1986 |url=https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_95F566D8767E46238DE15D0F9A38E67D |website=Open Vault from GBH}}</ref> That routine could have inspired the football metaphor, which dovetailed with the Kennedy clan's penchant for [[Touch football (American)|touch football]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 27, 2007 |title=Shaping Up America: JFK, Sports and the Call to Physical Fitness |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/past-exhibits/shaping-up-america-jfk-sports-and-the-call-to-physical-fitness |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library}}</ref> Various sources claim, often mentioning [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Robert McNamara]] as a source,<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDuffee |first=Allen |date=November 21, 2017 |title=Jimmy Carter once sent launch codes to the cleaner, and other scary tales of the 'nuclear football' |url=https://timeline.com/jimmy-carter-once-sent-launch-codes-to-the-cleaner-and-other-scary-tales-of-the-nuclear-football-add77568346e |work=Timeline}}</ref> that the term "football" was derived from a nuclear attack plan codenamed "Dropkick."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |date=March 20, 2001 |title=On Tape, Tense Aides Meet After Reagan Shooting |work=The New York Times}}</ref> When and where McNamara made such a statement has not been cited nor is there an original source for the "Dropkick" reference. That claim may have a fictitious premise because "Dropkick" appears distinctively in the film [[Dr. Strangelove]] when the character General Buck Turgidson ([[George C. Scott]]) informs President Merkin Muffley ([[Peter Sellers]]) that the wayward B-52s headed to the Soviet Union "were part of a special exercise we were holding called Operation Dropkick."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kubrick |first=Stanley |date=1964 |title=Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb |url=https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/dr-strangelove-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-bomb-1964.pdf |website=Script Slug}}</ref> | By the time of President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]], if not earlier, the briefcase was also becoming known as the "football."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manchester |first=William |title=The Death of a President November 20 – November 25,1963 |publisher=Harper and Row |year=1967 |pages=62}}</ref> General [[Chester Clifton]] stated in his 1986 interview that the term was used "jokingly", and he described how [[Warrant officer (United States)|warrant officers]], who were on a twenty-four hour schedule, would regularly hand-off the briefcase to the next person.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; At the Brink; Interview with Chester Clifton, 1986 |url=https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_95F566D8767E46238DE15D0F9A38E67D |website=Open Vault from GBH}}</ref> That routine could have inspired the football metaphor, which dovetailed with the Kennedy clan's penchant for [[Touch football (American)|touch football]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 27, 2007 |title=Shaping Up America: JFK, Sports and the Call to Physical Fitness |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/past-exhibits/shaping-up-america-jfk-sports-and-the-call-to-physical-fitness |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library}}</ref> Various sources claim, often mentioning [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Robert McNamara]] as a source,<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDuffee |first=Allen |date=November 21, 2017 |title=Jimmy Carter once sent launch codes to the cleaner, and other scary tales of the 'nuclear football' |url=https://timeline.com/jimmy-carter-once-sent-launch-codes-to-the-cleaner-and-other-scary-tales-of-the-nuclear-football-add77568346e |work=Timeline}}</ref> that the term "football" was derived from a nuclear attack plan codenamed "Dropkick."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |date=March 20, 2001 |title=On Tape, Tense Aides Meet After Reagan Shooting |work=The New York Times}}</ref> When and where McNamara made such a statement has not been cited nor is there an original source for the "Dropkick" reference. That claim may have a fictitious premise because "Dropkick" appears distinctively in the film [[Dr. Strangelove]] when the character General Buck Turgidson ([[George C. Scott]]) informs President Merkin Muffley ([[Peter Sellers]]) that the wayward B-52s headed to the Soviet Union "were part of a special exercise we were holding called Operation Dropkick."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kubrick |first=Stanley |date=1964 |title=Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb |url=https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/dr-strangelove-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-bomb-1964.pdf |website=Script Slug}}</ref> | ||