March to Armageddon The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1939 to the Present

by Powaski, Ronald E.

• ISBN13: 9780195044119
• ISBN10: 0195044118
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1989-05-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ronald E. Powaski offers the first complete, accessible history of the events, forces, and factors that have brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust. He traces the evolution of the nuclear arms race from FDR's decision to develop an atomic bomb to Reagan's decision to continue its expansion in the 1980's. Focusing on the forces that have propelled the arms race and the reasons behind the repeated failures to check the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Powaski discusses such topics as the Manhattan Project, the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, the debate over whether to share atomic information, the effect of nuclear weapons on U.S. military and foreign policy, and the role of these weapons in arms control negotiations in the last five presidential administrations.

Author Biography

Ronald E. Powaski teaches history at John Carroll University and Euclid Senior High School in Euclid, Ohio.

Table of Contents

Roosevelt and the Manhattan Project, 1939-1945	p. 3
Truman, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, 1945	p. 12
Truman and International Control of the Atom, 1945-1947	p. 29
Truman, the Cold War, and the Hydrogen Bomb, 1947-1952	p. 46
Eisenhower and Massive Retaliation, 1953-1961	p. 60
Eisenhower and Nuclear Arms Control, 1953-1961	p. 74
Kennedy, Nuclear Weapons, and the Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1961-1963	p. 93
Johnson, Nuclear Weapons, and the Pursuit of SALT, 1963-1969	p. 113
Nixon and SALT I, 1969-1972	p. 127
Nixon, Ford, and the Decline of Detente, 1972-1977	p. 146
Carter and SALT II, 1977-1981	p. 162
Reagan and the "Rearmament" of America, 1981-1983	p. 184
Reagan and Nuclear Arms Talks, 1981 to the Present	p. 197
Conclusion	p. 222
Glossary of Acronyms and Technical Terms	p. 233
Notes	p. 237
Suggested Readings	p. 275
Index	p. 283
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