Carter Was Right, Part 3: Eliminate Nuclear Weapons

A World War II every second.

From Jimmy Carter’s inaugural address, January 20, 1977:

The world is still engaged in a massive armaments race designed to ensure continuing equivalent strength among potential adversaries. …And we will move this year a step toward our ultimate goal--the elimination of all nuclear weapons from this Earth. We urge all other people to join us, for success can mean life instead of death. (1)

From Jimmy Carter’s farewell address, January 14, 1981:

Yet the risk of a nuclear conflagration has not lessened… The danger is becoming greater... In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World War II would be unleashed every second… The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide. (2)

Sources:

(1) https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-0

(2) https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/about/Farewell_Address_Full_Transcript.pdf

Background:

“The Carter Administration and the Evolution of American Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy, 1977–1981” https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/A7A37DAD2D13625BA047FFDD983A046C/S0898030600000270a.pdf/div-class-title-the-carter-administration-and-the-evolution-of-american-nuclear-nonproliferation-policy-1977-1981-div.pdf

"Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds." -- Bhagavad Gita, as recalled by J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of development of the atomic bomb.