The heavy black bag carried by military aides who follow closely behind the president has been shrouded in secrecy for decades.
abc.net.au/news/nuclear-football-us-president-history/102622682The heavy black bag that follows the US president's every step, commonly nicknamed the "nuclear football" has been shrouded in secrecy for decades.The emergency satchel was first created in the 1950s to help the US president act in case of a surprise nuclear attack
William Burr, senior analyst at the National Security Archive at George Washington University, has spent three decades researching nuclear war planning and history. According to Mr Burr, the bag was first created in the 1950s when President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his advisers became worried about the country's vulnerability to a nuclear surprise attack.
After Eisenhower passed the satchel onto John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, its famous nickname gained momentum, perhaps because of the Kennedy family's liking for touch football.The idea of a military aide following the president with a locked bag and secret nuclear information has long intrigued journalists, historians and the public."The idea that the president needs to be able to make speedy decisions in a perilous moment conveyed the ultimate danger of nuclear weapons.
The Kennedy assassination made top military commanders worried that the new president did not know what was in the football.
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