Also shattered was Eisenhower’s theory that, as a deterrent, nuclear weapons somehow offered a cheaper alternative to the traditional standing army of the past. To the contrary, New Look helped spur a nuclear arms race between the superpowers that would culminate in a stockpile of atomic weapons enough to annihilate the world many times over, and nearly bankrupt both countries in the process. When Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in 1953, the supply of American nuclear weapons numbered about 1,100; by the end of his presidency, it had grown twenty times over to approach 22,000. The absurdist
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