GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with John Coyle, 1986
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
03/26/1986
John Coyle was a United States Naval Operations Analyst. In the interview he discusses the nuclear weapons and war plans of the U.S. Navy and Air Force. He begins by describing the development of naval weapons in the late 1950s, and the subsequent changes in naval nuclear targeting policy. A notable event described is the Woods Hole (Massachusetts) summer study group convened to discuss naval missile programs. He explains the occasionally preposterous ineffectiveness of the Strategic Air Commands (SAC) war plan, and argues for a retaliatory capability over a preemptive counterforce strike. He describes the tensions between the Air Force and Navy war plans, and their effect on deterrence. (The Air Forces plans of the late 1950s undoubtedly contained a first-strike component, in his opinion.) He also explains the analytical calculations made to decide the Navys missile requirements. He ends by describing the military procurement process, specifically the boot strap or circular method of proposals used by the Air Force, in which an initial request for aircraft to carry weapons was followed by separate requests for weapons to fill their aircraft.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Bigger Bang for the Buck, A
- Program Number
103
- Title
Interview with John Coyle, 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
00:53:24
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Nuclear weapons
- Nuclear warfare
- United States. Navy
- United States. Army
- Jupiter missile
- LeMay, Curtis E.
- Soviet Union
- Burke, Arleigh A., 1901-1996
- Polaris (Missile)
- United States. Dept. of Defense
- Teller, Edward, 1908-2003
- McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
- United States
- Nuclear arms control
- United States. Air Force
- United State. Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Locations
- Washington, DC
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Global Affairs
- War and Conflict
- History
- Science
- Contributors
- Coyle, John Patterson (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with John Coyle, 1986,” 03/26/1986, GBH Archives, accessed April 20, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_145B578DFC7E4A89841966D0D935F8BF.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with John Coyle, 1986.” 03/26/1986. GBH Archives. Web. April 20, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_145B578DFC7E4A89841966D0D935F8BF>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with John Coyle, 1986. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_145B578DFC7E4A89841966D0D935F8BF