War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Europe Goes Nuclear; Interview with Abram Chayes, 1986

Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.

02/28/1986

Abram Chayes was a Legal Adviser to the US State Department under the Kennedy Administration. In the interview he explains the US governments approach to legally justifying the Cuban blockade of 1962, which was defined as a use of force under the United Nations Charter. Rather than relying on a self-defense case, which would have raised questions about the placement of American missiles in Europe, US lawyers recommended that the White House seek authorization for a blockade from the Organization of American States. Mr. Chayes recalls a lively discussion of every legal option by the Executive Committee before a decision was reached to proceed on that basis. This course of action had the benefit of demonstrating that the US was taking the legal aspect seriously. He describes running the signed OAS resolution to the White House and watching President Kennedy drop everything to sign the historic quarantine proclamation. Mr. Chayes also describes how the involvement of nuclear weapons, particularly Kennedys reluctance to risk a Soviet attack on the US mainland, forced some of the decisions that were made. He explains the compromises made by both the Soviet Union and the United States in resolving the crisis, but ultimately concludes that all of us won, because were all still here. He notes that the resolution of the crisis allowed President Kennedy to go forward with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

License Clip

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Series

War and Peace in the Nuclear Age

Program

Europe Goes Nuclear

Program Number

104

Title

Interview with Abram Chayes, 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

France and England rush to acquire their own nuclear weapons, NATO worries about the threat from the East, and Europe becomes the most nuclear-saturated place on Earth.

British and American scientists worked side by side to build the first nuclear bombs. “There was a strong desire on the British side for that collaboration to continue into peacetime. There was no such desire on the part of the United States,” recalls British diplomat Roger Makins, Lord Sherfield. Britain decided to proceed on its own and in 1952 joined the US and the Soviets in what pundits would call “the nuclear club.” General Charles De Gaulle, president of France, wanted to join the club, too, and not rely on the US for nuclear protection. Prestige was also an issue. In 1960, France exploded its first atomic weapon. Since World War II the Soviet Union had had a superiority in conventional forces in Europe. NATO countered by deploying thousands of nuclear weapons. “They were accepted as being perfectly reasonable weapons to use in a tactical battle in continental Europe,” said Sir Richard Powell of the British Defense Ministry.

Duration

00:39:11

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971

United States. Dept. of State

United States. Navy

International relations

Organization of American States

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)

United States. Dept. of Defense

Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994

Nuclear weapons

Bundy, McGeorge

Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968

United States

Soviet Union

Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963

Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

Genres

Topics

Contributors

Chayes, Abram, 1922-2000 (Interviewee)

Publication Information

WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Europe Goes Nuclear; Interview with Abram Chayes, 1986,” 02/28/1986, GBH Archives, accessed December 22, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_859E050541464AFAACAFBFF2EDB271EE.

MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Europe Goes Nuclear; Interview with Abram Chayes, 1986.” 02/28/1986. GBH Archives. Web. December 22, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_859E050541464AFAACAFBFF2EDB271EE>.

APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Europe Goes Nuclear; Interview with Abram Chayes, 1986. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_859E050541464AFAACAFBFF2EDB271EE

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War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Europe Goes Nuclear; Interview with Abram Chayes, 1986