65 years ago, we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan as a way to finally end the bloody and deadly war. After the war, the number of stockpiled nuclear weapons, their size and destructive power grew during the Cold War period with the USSR. Thankfully, they were never used as designed.
After recently reading biographies about Presidents' Truman and Eisenhower, I learned that both had been encouraged numerous times by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and political advisors to employ these type weapons against China, North Korea and North Vietnam. Both, to their credit, refused to accept that advice. Some have written that had Eisenhower not been President during the eight-year period he was, that the US might very well have used some of its vast arsenal of nuclear weapons to carry out its national objectives.
Given Eisenhower's unique and highly regarded military experience, he understood why such would not be a good option and held off those trying to convince him otherwise. In that regard, he worried after leaving the White House that the dwindling number of politicians with military experience might eventually lead to someone being elected to the nation's highest office who potentially might get us involved in situations where we would use these deadly and destructive weapons—something for which we might later regret. Interesting scenario to ponder.
