William Weed Kaufmann (November 10, 1918 – December 14, 2008) was an American nuclear strategist and adviser to seven defense secretaries, who advocated for a shift from the strategy of massive retaliation against the Soviet Union in the event of a nuclear strike.
Kaufmann was born in Manhattan on November 10, 1918, to Charles and Antoinette Kaufmann.[1] He was the fourth of six children. His father died when Kaufmann was 10 years old. He attended The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, where his classmates included John F. Kennedy.[2] He attended Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in international studies in 1939.
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Kaufmann served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war, he returned to Yale and earned a master's degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1948, both in international studies.[1]
The vision of counterforce, developed by Kaufmann and others, was that the response to an invasion of Western Europe by the Soviet Union should be a measured sequence of responses, which would start with targeted attacks of military assets that could escalate to attacks on cities if hostilities were not suspended.[1] The hope was that an all-out nuclear war could be avoided. The counterforce proposal stood in contrast to the massive retaliation approach advocated by United States Air Force General Curtis LeMay at Strategic Air Command in which the US response to a Soviet invasion, even one without nuclear attacks, would be nuclear weapons on all major military and civilian sites in the Soviet Union and its allies, which could have resulted in hundreds of millions of deaths.[1]
Kaufmann was hired by United States Secretary of DefenseRobert McNamara after President John F. Kennedy took office, as one of McNamara's Whiz Kids. McNamara included parts of Kaufmann's counterforce proposals into the nuclear strategy that he was developing.[1]
A 1986 article in Foreign Affairs called Kaufmann "the man who may well be the most knowledgeable individual in this country on the defense budgets of the past quarter-century."[2]
In a report written with John D. Steinbruner in 1991 for the Brookings Institution, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kaufmann opined that the US could meet its post-Cold War defense obligations after cutting military spending by a third. The report noted that "the future ability of the United States to maintain the conditions of its security will depend as much on its moral authority, diplomatic skills and economic assets as on its military capabilities."[1]
^ abcdefghHevesi, Dennis. "William Kaufmann, Nuclear Strategist Who Helped Reshape Policy, Dies at 90 ", The New York Times, December 21, 2008. Accessed December 22, 2008.
^ abBernstein, Adam. "Defense Expert William Kaufmann", The Washington Post, December 17, 2008. Accessed December 22, 2008.
^Levey, Stanley (April 23, 1951). "Six of Faculty Leaving Yale For Princeton in Policy Split" (PDF). The New York Times. pp. 1, 18.
^NATO's Nuclear Dilemmas, The Brookings Institution, 1983.
January 01, 1970
william, kaufmann, wisconsin, politician, william, kaufmann, william, weed, kaufmann, november, 1918, december, 2008, american, nuclear, strategist, adviser, seven, defense, secretaries, advocated, shift, from, strategy, massive, retaliation, against, soviet, . For the Wisconsin politician see William G Kaufmann William Weed Kaufmann November 10 1918 December 14 2008 was an American nuclear strategist and adviser to seven defense secretaries who advocated for a shift from the strategy of massive retaliation against the Soviet Union in the event of a nuclear strike William KaufmannBorn 1918 11 10 November 10 1918Manhattan New YorkDiedDecember 14 2008 2008 12 14 aged 90 Woburn MassachusettsNationalityAmericanOccupation s U S military advisor professorKnown forNuclear strategist Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Doctoral students 4 ReferencesEarly life editKaufmann was born in Manhattan on November 10 1918 to Charles and Antoinette Kaufmann 1 He was the fourth of six children His father died when Kaufmann was 10 years old He attended The Choate School in Wallingford Connecticut where his classmates included John F Kennedy 2 He attended Yale University earning a bachelor s degree in international studies in 1939 Career editKaufmann served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II After the war he returned to Yale and earned a master s degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1948 both in international studies 1 He was on the faculty at the Yale Institute of International Studies until 1951 when he was part of a group that left and founded Princeton University s Center of International Studies 3 While at Princeton in the mid 1950s he wrote Limited War a paper that argued for expansion of the conventional armies of Western Europe instead of a reliance on nuclear weapons to forestall an invasion by the Soviet Union In 1956 he was hired by the RAND Corporation He became a member of the political science faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961 and also took a position that same year with the United States Department of Defense splitting his time between both for several years 1 Later he split his time between the Harvard Kennedy School and the Brookings Institution The vision of counterforce developed by Kaufmann and others was that the response to an invasion of Western Europe by the Soviet Union should be a measured sequence of responses which would start with targeted attacks of military assets that could escalate to attacks on cities if hostilities were not suspended 1 The hope was that an all out nuclear war could be avoided The counterforce proposal stood in contrast to the massive retaliation approach advocated by United States Air Force General Curtis LeMay at Strategic Air Command in which the US response to a Soviet invasion even one without nuclear attacks would be nuclear weapons on all major military and civilian sites in the Soviet Union and its allies which could have resulted in hundreds of millions of deaths 1 Kaufmann was hired by United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara after President John F Kennedy took office as one of McNamara s Whiz Kids McNamara included parts of Kaufmann s counterforce proposals into the nuclear strategy that he was developing 1 A 1986 article in Foreign Affairs called Kaufmann the man who may well be the most knowledgeable individual in this country on the defense budgets of the past quarter century 2 In a report written with John D Steinbruner in 1991 for the Brookings Institution after the dissolution of the Soviet Union Kaufmann opined that the US could meet its post Cold War defense obligations after cutting military spending by a third The report noted that the future ability of the United States to maintain the conditions of its security will depend as much on its moral authority diplomatic skills and economic assets as on its military capabilities 1 Kaufmann died at 90 years of age on December 14 2008 in Woburn Massachusetts of complications from Alzheimer s disease 1 Doctoral students editJoshua M Epstein E Randolph Jayne II Catherine McArdle Kelleher Dana G Mead John J Midgley Richard Smoke David N Schwartz 4 References edit a b c d e f g h Hevesi Dennis William Kaufmann Nuclear Strategist Who Helped Reshape Policy Dies at 90 The New York Times December 21 2008 Accessed December 22 2008 a b Bernstein Adam Defense Expert William Kaufmann The Washington Post December 17 2008 Accessed December 22 2008 Levey Stanley April 23 1951 Six of Faculty Leaving Yale For Princeton in Policy Split PDF The New York Times pp 1 18 NATO s Nuclear Dilemmas The Brookings Institution 1983 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title William Kaufmann amp oldid 1143099924, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
