“It’s not a mere threat but a reality that I have a nuclear button on the desk in my office,” Mr. Kim has threatened to ignite an “ enveloping fire” of missiles near the Pacific island of Guam, an American territory, and has warned that North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles are capable of reaching the mainland United States. Any decision to initiate an attack would most likely be his alone.
Kim, however, is the undisputed ruler of his isolated country. Much of North Korea’s nuclear program is shrouded in mystery. The president does not need approval from anyone else, including Congress or the military, to authorize a strike - a decision that might have to be made at a moment’s notice. “That’s a big deal,” General Shelton wrote, “a gargantuan deal.” Clinton had lost the biscuit for several months without informing anyone. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the final years of Bill Clinton’s presidency, wrote that Mr. The code, often described as a card, is nicknamed “the biscuit.” To authorize the attack, the president must first verify his identity by providing a code he is supposed to carry on him at all times. The case also includes a radio transceiver and code authenticators.
Inside the case is an instructional guide to carrying out a strike, including a list of locations that can be targeted by the more than 1,000 nuclear weapons that make up the American arsenal. It is carried at all times by one of five military aides, representing each branch of the United States armed forces.
The 45-pound briefcase, known as the nuclear football, accompanies the president wherever he goes. Except the football is actually a briefcase.
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