John F. Kennedy and the Limited Test Ban Treaty: A Case Study of Presidential Leadership

• Published in: Presidential studies quarterly Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 460 - 487
• Main Authors: Wenger, Andreas, Gerber, Marcel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK and Boston, USA Blackwell Science Ltd 01.06.1999; Sage Publications, Inc; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Center for the Study of the Presidency
• Subjects: Arms control agreements; Arms limitation; Atmospherics; Atomic weapons; Bans; Case Study; Cold War, 1945-1991; Cold wars; Disarmament; Foreign Policy; Foreign relations; Government and politics; Government crises; Heads of state; History; Kennedy, John F; Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963); Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-63; Leadership; Memoranda; Missiles; Nuclear arms control; Nuclear nonproliferation; Nuclear tests; Nuclear weapons testing; Policy making; Politicians; Presidency; President; Presidents; Soviet Union; Test ban treaties; Test Ban Treaty; Testing; Treaties; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0360-4918; 1741-5705
• DOI: 10.1111/1741-5705.00044

John F. Kennedy's leadership in successfully concluding the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) is analyzed. It is noted that Kennedy pursued the goal of signing a nuclear test ban with vigor and persistence from his first days in office through the trilateral debate of the treaty's language among American, Soviet and British representatives in Jul 1963.