Download or read book The Nixon Administration and the Making of U.S. Nuclear Strategy written by Terry Terriff and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-31 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1974 Richard Nixon's defense secretary, James Schlesinger, announced that the United States would change its nuclear targeting policy from "assured destruction" to "limited nuclear options." In this account of the Schlesinger Doctrine based on newly declassified documents and extensive interviews with key actors, Terry Terriff challenges the Nixon administration's official explanation of why and how this policy innovation occurred.