Washington's secret Doomsday plans

For six decades, U.S. officials have been developing top-secret plans to keep the government functioning in the event of a catastrophic nuclear attack

President Truman's White House renovations provided perfect cover for a bomb shelter.
(Image credit: National Archives)

Attorney General Ed Meese arrived at Andrews Air Force Base before dawn on June 18, 1986, one of dozens of officials and staff from the Pentagon, State Department, White House, and intelligence community streaming onto the base in the Maryland suburbs, ready for nuclear war. Those meeting Meese knew the attorney general was stressed that morning, since Chief Justice Warren Burger had announced his resignation the day before. One official at Andrews looked at Meese and joked, "First a Supreme Court resignation, and now America's in a nuclear war. You're having a bad day."

War, though, wasn't actually imminent. Officials were gathering instead for one of Ronald Reagan's most secret initiatives as president: the effort to ready the nation to rebuild after nuclear war, part of a sprawling classified set of plans known as "continuity of government," or "COG" for short.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us