Washington, D.C., January 20, 2017: On Inauguration Day,
there was a transfer of power from the outgoing president,
Barack Obama, to his successor. The ceremony began at
noon, and a short time later the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court John Roberts swore in the new president, Donald Trump,
making him commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces.
At the same time, a black briefcase offi cially changed hands:
the “nuclear football” that contains the codes that give thecommander in chief the ability to send human civilization
back to the Stone Age. From that moment on, Trump had the
power to order the deaths of hundreds of millions of people.
If the president were to order a nuclear strike, there would
be no separation of powers—no vote in Congress, no veto
from America’s generals: It would take about as much time
to trigger a nuclear holocaust as it takes to tweet a message
from the White House.THERE IS NO SEPARATION OF
POWERS IN A NUCLEAR STRIKE
1,000s
THE CODE FOR
On the day he or she is sworn into
offi ce, the U.S. president receives the
world’s most powerful ciphers. Called
the Gold Codes, they are printed on a
plastic card similar to a credit card that
is known as the “biscuit.” They allow
the president to identify him- or herself
as the authorized user of the football.
Presidents carry the biscuit on their
person day and night.THE FATE OF
HUMANITY
THE ROOM WHERE
The president usually communicates
with the military Situation Room at
the Pentagon from the Situation Room
in the White House, the president’s
residence. The nuclear football is
intended for use outside the building,
such as here at CIA headquarters in
Langley, Virginia.
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
IS DECIDED