President Nixon Got Drunk and Tried to Nuke North Korea
We've all done crazy things during a night of drinking. For most of us, it was probably a night we would rather forget. However, when you're the President of the United States, it could result in a night that makes the history books. Imagine having to be Henry Kissinger, asking the Joint Chiefs of Staff not to nuke North Korea back to the Stone Age until the Leader of the Free World sobered up the next day.
Everyone is entitled to a drink now and then, especially after a stressful day at work. And there might be few jobs that are as stressful as that of President of the United States (or as dangerous). President Richard M. Nixon was known for his love of bourbon and whiskey and his low tolerance for the stuff. So keep in mind that no one is judging President Nixon for taking a drink. In fact, it might have even helped his anti-Soviet foreign policy.
When hardline anti-communist Nixon took office in 1969, the United States was mired in the Vietnam War, and the new President had campaigned on ending American involvement there. When it came to Foreign Policy, Nixon and his tag team partner Kissinger were experts on another level. To cower the Soviet Union, China and North Vietnam, Nixon came up with a policy that would make communist leaders and their allies believe he was so irrational that he might start a nuclear war at any time.
"I call it the Madman Theory, Bob," he told his Chief of Staff. I want the North Vietnamese to believe I've reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war. We'll just slip the word to them that, 'for God's sake, you know Nixon is obsessed about communism. We can't restrain him when he's angry – and he has his hand on the nuclear button,' and Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two days begging for peace."
Nixon the Madman didn't really work against the North Vietnamese, but it may have prevented a nuclear exchange between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union in 1969. When he first took office, however, no one really knew how great Nixon would be as a statesman. One of his first tests came in April 1969, when North Korea shot down an EC-121 spy plane over the Sea of Japan. When Nixon was told about it, he was not only angry about North Korea, but he was ready to go to war with all communists.
At this time, North Korea was at the height of its power but was still protected by the Soviet Union and its missile systems. It was militarily, economically, and industrially stronger than South Korea, but not the U.S. But the U.S. had communist problems elsewhere, too. In Vietnam, the United States was still recovering from the Tet Offensive the previous year. The Soviet Union and communist China were constant thorns in the side of American power. After a few drinks, President Nixon got sick of all of it and put the U.S. military on alert to carry out the SIOP or Single Integrated Operational Plan: the U.S. nuclear strike plan for war with the communists.
When the Joint Chiefs called the White House to ask for possible targets, it was Henry Kissinger who answered the phone and prevented World War III. He convinced the Pentagon to wait until Nixon woke up the next morning, presumably sober, before calling for a strike package. It turns out that President Nixon would routinely order bombing raids on foreign adversaries after a few rounds. Obviously, World War III never came, but it wasn't for lack of giving the Presidential orders.
"If the President had his way," Kissinger growled to aides more than once, "there would be a nuclear war each week!"