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The so-called “nuclear football,” as the attached case carried by the US president is jokingly referred to might be the catalyst for doomsday. The sole indication of the importance of the rather awkwardly crammed black bag is that it is always held by a uniformed military assistant. However, inside are top-secret codes and plans that allow a president to approve nuclear strikes anywhere in the world and choose from a sort of menu of targets.
The president has a private Situation Room in the White House where he may issue orders for war and interact with military commanders.
If it did, the Beast limousine could be used to launch the US retaliation. perhaps Air Force One. also a covert bunker.
Or really anyplace the president and the “football” were present.
a biscuit
Since one of the “footballs,” formally known as the Presidential Emergency Satchel, was pictured being carried behind John F. Kennedy in 1963 at his beachside family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, the public has caught glimpses of it. During his 1988 summit with Mikhail Gorbachev, another joined Ronald Reagan right into Red Square.
The second crucial component in starting a nuclear war is more covert and has a misleadingly innocent nickname: the “biscuit.”
The “biscuit” stores the Gold Codes, which are used by the president to identify himself and issue orders, while the “football” houses the menu of war plans.
One of them is intended to be carried by the president at all times and is about the size of a credit card.
Despite being ultra-secure and covert, both things have had their fair share of mishaps.
While Reagan’s “biscuit” was accidentally abandoned along with his clothing when he was stripped for surgery after being shot in Washington, D.C., in 1981, Bill Clinton was alleged to have misplaced his.
On January 6, 2021, a crowd of Donald Trump’s fans stormed the Capitol, forcing Vice President Mike Pence to flee to safety with a military aide clutching the backup “football,” which always follows the president’s successor.
President makes a decision
Legally speaking, the chain of command could not be any shorter.
The president can and probably would debate possibilities with the senior brass, but he does have to identify himself (using the “biscuit” codes).
The command would be passed down the ranks to the soldiers operating the switches in the planes, submarines, and silos.
