GBH Openvault

War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with James Gavin, 1986

Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.

02/25/1986

Gen. James Gavin was the Army's chief of research and development in the 1950s. In this interview, he discusses in depth the often parochial thinking and motivations that underlay decisions by the uniformed services and the Pentagon regarding the development of nuclear weapons. Beginning with the Korean War, he recounts discussions with several nuclear scientists being escorted around the theater over the need to build tactical nuclear weapons to aid on the battlefield. (The plans went nowhere, he says.) He relates a second-hand anecdote, which he is unable to substantiate, about Robert Oppenheimer discussing such options, and later getting into serious political trouble for them. He also recalls personally memorable meetings with Gen. MacArthur. In the mid-1950s Gen. Gavin publicly informed a congressional committee that the use of nuclear arms in a major conflict in Europe would result in several hundred million casualties, a remark that he notes created enormous concern in Western Europe and "exposed the fallacy of what a great nuclear war would do for us. It wouldn't do anything for us but kill us all." Despite this, he says, orders came down from the Pentagon leadership to continue to nuclearize for what he assesses were essentially bureaucratic reasons. From the point of view of the armed services, "If you didn't have a nuclear capability around this city in 1957, you might as well fold up your show." Around the same time, Gen. Gavin recalls, he discovered the shocking consequences of the nuclear tests that were held in the Pacific, including the realization that the fallout cloud had traveled around the world, introducing strontium 90, cesium and other chemicals into the systems of people as far away as Washington. "And that began to really get to us then, because we knew what we were doing was something that -- something that possibly would lead to mass genocide of unprecedented millions. We had to find out the solution."

Series

War and Peace in the Nuclear Age

Program

Bigger Bang for the Buck, A

Program Number

103

Title

Interview with James Gavin, 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

00:43:54

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Von Braun, Wernher, 1912-1977

Norstad, Lauris, 1907-1988

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Thor (Missile)

Nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapons -- Testing

Chiang, Kai-shek, 1887-1975

Korean War, 1950-1953

United States

Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969

United States. Department of Defense. Weapons Systems Evaluation Group

Jupiter missile

Genres

Documentary

Topics

Science

Global Affairs

History

War and Conflict

Contributors

Gavin, James M. (James Maurice), 1907-1990 (Interviewee)

Publication Information

WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with James Gavin, 1986,” 02/25/1986, GBH Archives, accessed December 22, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B940FAB835CD4977B414E2EE27D1013E.

MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with James Gavin, 1986.” 02/25/1986. GBH Archives. Web. December 22, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B940FAB835CD4977B414E2EE27D1013E>.

APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Bigger Bang for the Buck, A; Interview with James Gavin, 1986. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B940FAB835CD4977B414E2EE27D1013E