The Nation : Nixon Studied A-Arms Use

Former President Richard M. Nixon said in a published interview that he considered using nuclear weapons four times during his presidency, including a “massive escalation” to end the Vietnam War. In an interview on nuclear diplomacy to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Nixon told Time magazine that he believes the world is safer now than in 1945, and “the bomb made us (the United States) a world power.” Nixon also said he considered the use of nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union during the 1973 Middle East war, during the Soviet border conflicts with China and during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Nixon, President from 1969 to 1974, also called the late Soviet Chairman Nikita S. Khrushchev “the most brilliant world leader I have ever met. . . . He scared the hell out of people.”