Role of Congress in the Strategic Posture of the United States, 1970-1980: Sufficiency to PD 59

摘要

This is the second in a series of three papers to examine the role of Congress in the development of the doctrinal and material strategic posture of the United States over the three decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This paper covers the 92nd through 97th Congresses, covering the period 1970- 1980, corresponding roughly to the Nixon through Carter administrations. As explained at length in the first paper, the role of Congress in building the U.S. strategic posture is underappreciated, both by historians and policymakers. Congress is especially underestimated as regards intellectual contributions to nuclear strategy and doctrine that guided development of strategic forces and plans for their employment. Yet the congressional record is a rich resource, not least for being unclassified and providing meticulous detail on debates and the thinking of the Congress, the administration, and the armed services on the ideas and concerns that shaped the U.S. strategic posture. This resource is underutilized by historians.