“He was thinking,” Hughes recalled, “with cold realism and as Commander in Chief of the menace that seemed to him implicit in the Bulganin message. ‘You know,’ he said tautly, ‘we may be dealing here with the opening gambit of an ultimatum. We have to be positive and clear in our every word, every step. And if those fellows start something, we may have to hit ’em—and, if necessary, with everything in the bucket.’ ”
