Gaither Report
Encyclopedia
Deterrence & Survival in the Nuclear Age was the report of the Security Resources Panel of the President's Science Advisory Committee
, presented to President Eisenhower
on November 7, 1957. It is known as the Gaither Report after the panel's chairman Horace Rowan Gaither
. The report recommended a significant strengthening of U.S. strategic offensive and defensive military capabilities.
While the president had asked for an evaluation of fall out
and blast shelter
s, the opening page of the report stated that their purpose was to “form a broadbrush opinion of the relative value of various active and passive measures to protect the civilian populations in case of nuclear attack and its aftermath.” This look at active protective measures relegated shelters to a secondary position in a report now concentrated on nuclear deterrence. The rationale for this can be found in their assumption that the Soviet Union
, with its expedient development of military technology, had already exceeded the technical achievements made by the U.S. in ICBM research.
President's Science Advisory Committee
In 1951 President of the United States Harry S. Truman established the Science Advisory Committee as part of the Office of Defense Mobilization . As a direct response to the launches of the Soviet artificial satellites, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, on October 4 and November 3, 1957, the Science...
, presented to President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
on November 7, 1957. It is known as the Gaither Report after the panel's chairman Horace Rowan Gaither
Horace Rowan Gaither
Horace Rowan Gaither, Jr. , known as H. Rowan Gaither, was a San Francisco attorney, investment banker, and a powerful administrator at the Ford Foundation. During World War II, he served as assistant director of the Radiation Laboratory at M.I.T. In 1948, he helped found the Rand Corporation and...
. The report recommended a significant strengthening of U.S. strategic offensive and defensive military capabilities.
While the president had asked for an evaluation of fall out
Fallout shelter
A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
and blast shelter
Blast shelter
A blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from bomb blasts. It differs from a fallout shelter, in that its main purpose is to protect from shock waves and overpressure, instead of from radioactive precipitation, as a fallout shelter does...
s, the opening page of the report stated that their purpose was to “form a broadbrush opinion of the relative value of various active and passive measures to protect the civilian populations in case of nuclear attack and its aftermath.” This look at active protective measures relegated shelters to a secondary position in a report now concentrated on nuclear deterrence. The rationale for this can be found in their assumption that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, with its expedient development of military technology, had already exceeded the technical achievements made by the U.S. in ICBM research.