Nuclear Football - History

History

The football dates back to Dwight D. Eisenhower, but its current usage came about in the aftermath of the Cuban missile crisis, when John F. Kennedy was concerned that a Soviet commander in Cuba might launch missiles without authorization from Moscow.

It has been stated in an Associated Press article that the nickname "football" was derived from an attack plan codenamed "Dropkick". The nickname has led to some confusion as to the nature—and even the shape—of the device; in the graphic novel series Watchmen, Richard Nixon, fictionally depicted as still being President in 1985, was depicted with a literal "nuclear football"—a metal device shaped like a football—handcuffed to his wrist. While it is never explicitly stated what it is, it is implied that the device is the electronic activation source for the nuclear option.

During their presidencies, both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan preferred to keep the launch codes in their jacket pocket. On one occasion, Jimmy Carter left nuclear launch codes in his suit when it was sent in for dry cleaning. Congressman John Kline served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps and carried the football for Presidents Carter and Reagan.

The football was separated from Ronald Reagan immediately after the 1981 assassination attempt against him. Reagan, like his predecessor Carter, preferred to carry the card in his pocket. He was separated from it when his clothing was cut off by the emergency room trauma team. It was later discovered unsecured lying in one of his shoes on the emergency room floor. This led to an urban legend that Reagan carried the code in his sock. Reagan was separated from the rest of the football as well because the officer who carried it was left behind as the motorcade sped away with the wounded President. On occasion the President has left his aide carrying the football behind. This happened to Nixon in 1973, after presenting Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev with a Lincoln Continental at Camp David, Brezhnev unexpectedly drove with Nixon off the retreat onto a highway while leaving Nixon's Secret Service Personnel behind, separating Nixon from the football (and his security detail) for nearly 30 minutes. Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush would also get separated from the football. and, most recently, Bill Clinton on April 24, 1999. In none of these cases was the integrity of the football breached.