A friend online alerted me to this article http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/05/27/007.html.
A lot can be derived from it and I won't go into much of it other than the retardation that can be categorized by elected officials.
To launch a Minuteman in those days, one had to "unlock" the missile by dialing in a code -- the equivalent of a safety catch on a handgun. However, Blair reports, the U.S. Strategic Air Command was worried that a bunch of sissy safety features might slow things down. It ordered all locks set to 00000000 -- and in launch checklists, reminded all launch officers like Blair to keep the codes there. "So the 'secret unlock code' during the height of the nuclear crises of the Cold War," Blair says, "remained constant at 00000000."
I deal with this type of 'intellect' daily. Dumb down something vitally crucial as to the wellbeing of our company just to 'save time'. No. I don't dumb something down that could potentially destroy the work I've done.
What's sad is the U.S. government did just that. Who the hell authorized this? And what terms did they use to 'sell' the fact that making such a simple unlock code would be 'beneficial'. What if someone fell asleep on the keyboard and accidentally had the 0 key pressed? We'd all be living underground by now. The entire world would be affected by a nuclear war, not just the US and Russia at the time. The missles now are far different than the A-bombs dropped on Japan. All it would take is one missle hitting Russia or the US for them all to be unleashed. I've not counted them but I wouldn't want to be on this planet when it happens.
I suggest everyone read the entire article though. It'll give you lovely insights to the Cold War and how dumb both sides were at the time. Luckily no one pushed 'the button' but I'm beginning to believe no one should have put 'the button' in their hands in the first place.