What of Congress in Atomic War?

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295000300408
• Published date: 01 December 1950
• Author: Clinton Rossiter
• Date: 01 December 1950
• Subject Matter: Articles

602

WHAT

OF

CONGRESS

IN

ATOMIC

WAR?

CLINTON

ROSSITER

Cornell

University

HE

PEOPLE

of

the

United

States

are

bracing

themselves

reluctantly

t

for

the

shock

of

atomic

war.

Within

the

limiting

framework

of

American

political

and

economic

freedom,

preparations

are

being

made

institutionally

and

psychologically

for

a

catastrophe

beyond

imagin-

ation.

Although

the

pace

of

preparation

goes

on

more

haltingly

than

this

country’s

wisest

heads

would

like,

the

Korean

incident

has

speeded

up

noticeably

the

tempo

of

active

(military)

and

passive

(civil)

defense.

I

It

does

not

take

too

extravagant

an

imagination

to

outline

the

probable

shape

of

the

National

Government

in

the

event

of

atomic

war-or,

more

specifically,

in

the

event

of

an

atomic

attack

upon

the

American

continent

at

least

as

devastating

as

fifteen

or

twenty

Hiroshimas

though

not

so

devastating

as

to

leave

no

cities

to

salvage

or

people

to

save.

A

look

at

our

present

institutions

of

government

and

a

review

of

past

national

emer-

gencies

(especially

the

first

weeks

of

the

Civil

War)

should

result

in

these

hard

but

inevitable

predictions:

1.

The

focus

of

government,

to

which

all

executive

and

military

officials

will

look

for

authority,

will

be

the

constitutional

power

of

the

President

as

Commander

in

Chief.

The

first

President,

or

Acting

President,

to

face

atomic

war

will

be

a

Lincoln

ten

times

over.

2.

The

top

governing

agencies-President,

department

heads,

chiefs

of

staff,

area

commanders-will

operate

under

a

nation-wide

declaration

of

martial

law.

3.

The

governors

of

the

forty-eight

states

and

their

executive-military

subordinates-National

Guard

commanders,

mayors,

county

executives,

chiefs

of

police-will

likewise

govern

strongly,

in

co-operation

with

federal

officials.

4.

If

in

the

next

few

years

permanent,

effective

organizations

of

civil

defense

are

developed

at

the

several

levels

of

government,

these

too

will

join

in

the

great

emergency

effort.

One

way

or

another,

government

will

be

almost

completely

an

exec-

utive-military

affair,

with

the

accent

on

law

and

order

rather

than

on

liberty

and

justice.

The

absolute

weapon

will

have

brought

absolute