President John F. Kennedy had been profoundly influenced by Maxwell Taylor’s book The Uncertain Trumpet, in which Taylor asserted that the Massive Retaliation approach to war, the Eisenhower Doctrine, actually increased the possibility of conventional war. Taylor said because the United States lacked a capability for conventional warfare, it would be extremely cautious about risking nuclear war on trivial matters. The book so influenced Kennedy that he decided America must have a more balanced approach to warfare; America needed options, and conventional warfare must be a big part of future
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