November 2, 1961 - President Kennedy statement: The Development and Testing of Nuclear Weapons
President John F. Kennedy makes a statement regarding nuclear testing. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
‘’The United States does not find it necessary to explode 50 megaton nuclear devices to confirm that we have many times more nuclear power than any other nation on earth and that these capabilities are deployed so as to survive any sneak attack and thus enable us to devastate any nation which initiates a nuclear attack on the United States or its Allies. It is essential to the defense of the Free World that we maintain this relative position.
In view of the Soviet action, it will be the policy of the United States to proceed in developing nuclear weapons to maintain this superior capability for the defense of the Free World against any aggressor. No nuclear test in the atmosphere will be undertaken, as the Soviet Union has done, for so-called psychological or political reasons. But should such tests be deemed necessary to maintain our responsibilities for Free World security, in the light of our evaluation of Soviet tests, they will be undertaken only to the degree that the orderly and essential scientific development of new weapons has reached a point where effective progress is not possible without such tests--and only within limits that restrict the fall-out from such tests to an absolute minimum.’’