GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; One Step Forward; President Nixon's Arms Control Press Conference
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
06/29/1972
President Richard Nixon holds a press conference about world arms control.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- One Step Forward
- Program Number
107
- Title
President Nixon's Arms Control Press Conference
- 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
Soviet and American nuclear forces reach rough nuclear parity in the 1970’s. Each side, pursuing its own interest, negotiates the first successful arms control agreement, SALT I.
In May 1972 President Nixon found himself in Moscow delivering a message of peace and friendship. Nixon announced the first major superpower arms control agreements, SALT I and the Anti-Ballsitic Missile (ABM) treaty. Nixon described his feeling about negotiating with the Soviets. “I didn’t trust the Russians. But I recognized that ... there was no alternative but to have some relationship of ‘live and let live’ between the two superpowers.” Two years after the historic meeting in Moscow, Nixon was forced to resign due to Watergate. ABM silos in the United States were shut down but the production of ballistic missiles armed with multiple nuclear warheads (MIRV’s) contributed to a massive increase in weapons in both the United States and the Soviet Union.
- Duration
00:06:56
- Asset Type
Stock footage
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Arms control
- Military weapons
- International relations
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- History
- Science
- Global Affairs
- War and Conflict
- Contributors
- Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994 (Speaker)
- Rights Summary
In perpetuity ; Public Domain Rights Holder: Nixon Presidential Library
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; One Step Forward; President Nixon's Arms Control Press Conference,” 06/29/1972, GBH Archives, accessed December 22, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_894B7E1B59CA45FD99C37EC63DD64A46.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; One Step Forward; President Nixon's Arms Control Press Conference.” 06/29/1972. GBH Archives. Web. December 22, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_894B7E1B59CA45FD99C37EC63DD64A46>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; One Step Forward; President Nixon's Arms Control Press Conference. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_894B7E1B59CA45FD99C37EC63DD64A46