GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with Joseph Alsop, 1986
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
03/12/1986
Joseph Alsop was an American syndicated political columnist. In his interview, he begins by describing the political situation in Europe and the Soviet Union after World War II, as well as the public mood in the U.S., from the Berlin airlift through the Korean War. Among other anecdotes, he tells of the time he and his brother, Stewart (also a columnist), discovered classified information that the Soviets were testing ICBMs, and describes how they handled the balance between protecting national security and the publics right to know during a tense political period. He gives his opinions on the crafting of American defense policy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He describes at some length his views on the process of preparing national security estimates, used to assess Soviet capabilities, and occasionally intentions. In his opinion, basing estimates strictly on capabilities is like playing Russian Roulette. He discounts the likelihood of another world war unless the Soviets pick a leader who goes mad. In the same vein, he labels Stalin, Hitler and Mao as obviously crazy. While he calls Eisenhower an able man and a shrewd politician, he criticizes his management of the national defense while president. On the topic of nuclear weapons, he comments: The question is not whether to use them, the question is how to avoid a situation in which the question might arise. And the way to do that is to look strong.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Bigger Bang for the Buck, A
- Program Number
103
- Title
Interview with Joseph Alsop, 1986
- Series Description
The first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, changed the world forever. This series chronicles these changes and the history of a new era. It traces the development of nuclear weapons, the evolution of nuclear strategy, and the politics of a world with the power to destroy itself.
In thirteen one-hour programs that combine historic footage and recent interviews with key American, Soviet, and European participants, the nuclear age unfolds: the origin and evolution of nuclear weapons; the people of the past who have shaped the events of the present; the ideas and issues that political leaders, scientists, and the public at large must confront, and the prospects for the future. Nuclear Age highlights the profound changes in contemporary thinking imposed by the advent of nuclear weapons. Series release date: 1/1989
- Program Description
For the destructive power they deliver, nuclear weapons are cheap and efficient. In the 1950’s the United States begins to rely on nuclear, rather than conventional, weapons for its defense.
As nuclear policy evolved during the Eisenhower Administration, three factors combined to produce a new American reliance on nuclear weapons: pressure to control the federal budget (the “bigger bang” argument); competition as each branch of the American military adapted nuclear weapons to its mission; and Soviet bluffs that fueled American fears about a “bomber gap” and later a “missile gap.” On October 4, 1957, Sputnik, the Soviet satellite that was the first to orbit Earth, shocked Americans and delighted the Soviets. A month later, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2 with a dog on board. Both the Soviets and the Americans knew that a booster capable of carrying a dog into space could also deliver a nuclear warhead across a continent in 30 minutes.
- Duration
00:52:25
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Czechoslovakia History Coup detat, 1948
- U-2 (Reconnaissance aircraft)
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
- Alsop, Stewart
- Korean War, 1950-1953
- Polaris (Missile)
- Czechoslovakia
- Berlin (Germany)
- Nuclear weapons
- Soviet Union
- Kistiakowsky, George B. (George Bogdan), 1900-1982
- Schuman, Robert, 1886-1963
- Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945
- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
- Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994
- Wilson, Charles Erwin, 1890-1961
- United States
- McCarthy, Joseph, 1908-1957
- Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971
- Gates, Thomas S.
- Mao, Zedong, 1893-1976
- Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994
- Bohlen, Charles E. (Charles Eustis), 1904-1974
- International relations
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
- Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953
- Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986
- Edicia Sputnik
- Dulles, Allen, 1893-1969
- Bissell, Richard M. (Richard Mervin), 1909-1994
- Murrow, Edward R.
- Berlin (Germany) -- History -- Blockade, 1948-1949
- Hungary -- History -- Revolution, 1956
- Locations
- Washington, DC
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- History
- Global Affairs
- War and Conflict
- Science
- Contributors
- Alsop, Joseph, 1910-1989 (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with Joseph Alsop, 1986,” 03/12/1986, GBH Archives, accessed April 16, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_0C207D3533D64B69AFDF29384ABDEE09.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with Joseph Alsop, 1986.” 03/12/1986. GBH Archives. Web. April 16, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_0C207D3533D64B69AFDF29384ABDEE09>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with Joseph Alsop, 1986. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_0C207D3533D64B69AFDF29384ABDEE09