The Button

The President has the power to end the world in minutes. Right now, no one can stop him. Since the Truman administration, America has been one ''push of a button'' away from nuclear war -- a decis ...

The President has the power to end the world in minutes. Right now, no one can stop him. Since the Truman administration, America has been one ''push of a button'' away from nuclear war -- a decision that rests solely in the hands of the President. Without waiting for approval from Congress or even the Secretary of Defense, the President can unleash America''s entire nuclear arsenal. Almost every governmental process is subject to institutional checks and balances. Why is potential nuclear annihilation the exception to the rule? For decades, glitches and slip-ups have threatened to trigger nuc