Conference attendees look at a display on the Presidency in the Nuclear Age
On October 12, 2009, the Kennedy Library hosted The Presidency in the Nuclear Age, a free day-long conference sponsored by the Presidential Libraries and the National Archives that presented four groups of distinguished panelists analyzing how the development, use and spread of nuclear weapons has challenged and re-shaped the presidency.
Panelists included Theodore Sorensen, special counsel to President Kennedy; Kenneth Adelman, advisor to President Reagan during the superpower summits between Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev; Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea Policy; and Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, who coordinated U.S. diplomatic efforts in each region of the world, including Iran.
In addition to offering first hand and historical perspectives on the history of the Nuclear Age, many panelists commented on the threat of nuclear weapons today.
“If India and Pakistan exchanged 50 warheads, the affects of so local an exchange would spread around the world,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes. “This would cause the average global temperature to drop 1-2 degrees.” “The amount of people that could be killed by a nuclear attack dwarfs the danger of a biological attack,” said Ambassador Bosworth, responding to a query from the audience.
For more information on the Conference and teacher resources, visit the following links. Click For Teachers for lesson plans and resources. Click Kennedy Library Forums for a transcription of the Conference.