
How to limit presidential authority to order the use of nuclear weapons - okket
https://thebulletin.org/how-limit-presidential-authority-order-use-nuclear-weapons11454
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hprotagonist
_There is a young man, probably a Navy officer, who accompanies the President.
This young man has a black attaché case which contains the codes that are
needed to fire nuclear weapons. I could see the President at a staff meeting
considering nuclear war as an abstract question. He might conclude: “On SIOP
Plan One, the decision is affirmative, Communicate the Alpha line XYZ.” Such
jargon holds what is involved at a distance.

My suggestion was quite simple: Put that needed code number in a little
capsule, and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer.
The volunteer would carry with him a big, heavy butcher knife as he
accompanied the President. If ever the President wanted to fire nuclear
weapons, the only way he could do so would be for him first, with his own
hands, to kill one human being. The President says, “George, I’m sorry but
tens of millions must die.” He has to look at someone and realize what death
is—what an innocent death is. Blood on the White House carpet. It’s reality
brought home.

When I suggested this to friends in the Pentagon they said, “My God, that’s
terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the President’s judgment. He
might never push the button.”_

Fisher, Roger. "Preventing Nuclear War", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
(1981)

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dingaling
In addition to the difficulty in finding volunteers to carry the football,
that approach would also fail to address the authorization / orders to release
tactical nuclear weapons such as those carried onboard ships.

Or alternatively a request for release from a NATO member, which only needs to
be 'approved' by the POTUS and his designated second-man ( SecDef or theatre
commander ).

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devereaux
Before asking "how", the first question should be "why"?

Is it because the president is not very popular with some groups? The previous
president has the exact same problems, with just different groups.

Have we just stopped believing that even if you do not like the person, maybe
they will just do their job in a time when immediate decision must be taken?

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ajmurmann
What should really happen is mandatory mental health assessments for every
president. They have physical health assessments. We need to stop stigmatizing
mental health and treat it just like physical health. It's only a matter of
time till we get someone with serious mental health issues during their term.
Germany had a president who developed sever dementia.

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kaybe
Trump just passed the regular dementia test, so it is not completely ignored
at least.

