DULLES ANNOUNCES POLICY OF MASSIVE NUCLEAR RETALIATION
New York City (JFK+50) On January 12, 1954, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, addressing the Council of Foreign Relations here in New York, announced the policy of "massive (nuclear) retaliation."
It was President Dwight D. Eisenhower's decision that nuclear weapons of the United States would be the "primary means" of defense against communism.
According to Dimitrious Machairas, the policy was intended as a "deterrent strategy based on the threat of a direct, unrestrained nuclear response of massive strike in case of communist aggression."
Machairas writes....
"Nuclear weapons could now be produced faster and in larger quantities and the variety had increased revealing a broader range of possible uses."
With the Soviets having "conventional superiority," this policy was seen by the Eisenhower administration as "the most efficient solution to the complex problem at hand."
JFK+50
One of the advantages of this policy was that it was a less costly alternative to attempting to match Soviet conventional military strength.
SOURCES
"NAM 215," JFK+50, January 12, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
"Why Did the U.S. Adopt the Strategy of Massive Retaliation?," by Dimitrious Machairas, Military Strategy Magazine, www.militarystrategymagazine.com/
