About this episode

The episode discusses Truman's presidential authority and Curtis LeMay's perspective on nuclear war.

More on Truman and sole presidential authority, and why did Curtis LeMay say he would refuse to be 'fat, dumb and happy' if America got nuked? As with last week's episode on Truman, I must acknowledge the brilliant new book by Alex Wellerstein called The Most Awful Responsibility. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Julie McDowall

Topics covered

• nuclear war
• presidential authority
• Curtis LeMay
• Truman
• historical analysis

Keywords

• nuclear war
• Truman
• Curtis LeMay
• presidential authority

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Most Awful Responsibility

More episodes of Atomic Hobo - Nuclear War Podcast

• Pressing the Button: Truman · April 27, 2026 · 21 min
• When The Wind Blows, Part 18 · April 17, 2026 · 26 min
• Shadow Libraries · April 15, 2026 · 23 min
• When The Wind Blows, Part 17 · April 3, 2026 · 27 min
• Nuclear Fear: The Prologue, Part 2 · April 1, 2026 · 37 min
• Nuclear Fear: the Prologue · March 31, 2026 · 25 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Atomic Hobo - Nuclear War Podcast podcast page.