U.S. planned all-out nuclear attack on China and Soviet Union if President was killed during Cold War - even if they weren't to blame

Classified plan, code-named 'Futherance,' allowed U.S. to use nuclear weapons on U.S.S.R. and China, even if they weren't responsible for attack

Furtherance could be invoked if the president was killed or went missing



Policy was dramatically changed on October 14, 1968

The American government had elaborate plans set up for a ‘full nuclear response’ against China and the former Soviet Union in the height of the Cold War, it was revealed Wednesday.

A previously unreleased top-secret document shows that there was a full line of emergency nuclear weapons to be used if the president was killed, went missing, or if America came under siege. The blitz was to be carried out, no questions asked, even if an attack was unintentional.

However, President Lyndon B. Johnson changed the policy in October of 1968, as a means of reducing the insurmountable risks that came with full-blown nuclear warfare.

Drastic measures: President Lyndon B. Johnson, pictured with key advisers, in the Situation Room in 1967; newly-released documents reveal their dramatic nuclear plan

Ready for action: Prior to 1968, the U.S. could have launched a no-questions-asked attack; here, a communications worker at the systems counsel of the Automatic Digital Network

The documents were released for the first time by the National Security Archive, and show the drastic measures the United States was willing to take in the event of attack.

Advice: Johnson, who was president from 1963-1969, was told by advisers that 'Futherance' was highly dangerous

According to the once-classified documents, which were released from the National Security Archive of George Washington University, the pre-1968 U.S. had a simple plan if they were attacked – release a ‘full nuclear response.’

The document did not discriminate – the former U.S.S.R. and China were to be attacked instantaneously, regardless if an attack on their end was accidental or even their fault, according t o The Nuclear Vault .

That meant that if the Soviet Union attacked the U.S., they were mandated to retaliate against not only the U.S.S.R., but China as well, with a full nuclear strike.

On October 14, 1968, Johnson and his cabinet discussed the idea of releasing nuclear weapons in the case that the president was killed or went missing, and was meant to be a last resort in preventing the breakdown of the chain of command, code-named ‘Futherance.’

The meeting took place during the last month of Johnson’s presidency, which the research institute notes is unusual, as it is unclear why LBJ waited so long to stop the dangerous operation.

Walt Whitman Rostow, a political theorist in on the meeting, called a change in Futherance ‘essential.’

He said: ‘This was dangerous. We recommend going forward.’

General Earle Wheeler chimed in: ‘All the Joint Chiefs of Staff and commanders have been consulted. We recommend approval.’



For Presidential eyes only: The document, dated October 14, 1968, dramatically changed 'Futherance'

Brave new world: A nuclear test explosion, 'Grable,' on 25 May 1953 in Nevada

The document, with an ‘Eyes Only for the President’ disclaimer, was released last month as part of a Mandatory Declassification Review appeal.

They were released nine years after the initial request.

President Obama in 2010 released his own nuclear strategy, saying that he was narrowing how the U.S. would use nuclear weapons.

He said in a statement that ‘outliers like Iran and North Korea’ and other countries that have violated nuclear sanctions would be exceptions to U.S.-borne nuclear attack.