“Gloom, Gloom, Gloom”

This chapter discusses Eisenhower's response to the Gaither Committee's ominous report concerning the U.S. national security. The committee conducted a massive review of the country's defense posture, examining whether the United States could survive a nuclear first strike from the Soviet Union and retaliate. The results show that a Soviet first strike would destroy up to 50 percent of the American population. Eisenhower, thus, assigned the Gaither Committee to enhance America's offensive missile capabilities. Furthermore, the committee was tasked to create a network of fallout shelters—not merely bomb shelters to shield citizens from blasts—to protect Americans from radioactivity after a nuclear attack.