Citizen Hughes - Michael Drosnin [170]
Maheu tried to put the best face on the first major nuclear test of the Nixon administration. It was less than a megaton, and the really big bombs would be exploded in Alaska, just as the president had promised.
Hughes was not appeased. “I am very disturbed about the blast you mention,” he wrote, in a memo to be read long-distance to his banished lieutenant. “I have told you many times that there is nothing magic about the megaton measure.
“I am truly worried about what you tell me today,” he continued, not yet aware of the true magnitude of the impending explosion.
“I note what you say about the importance of being on the ground, ‘at the scene of activity,’ as you put it,” he told Maheu, who was attempting to use the bomb threat as his ticket back to Las Vegas. “Well, Bob, until we pull out every last stop in trying to block this explosion, I am sure Washington is the scene of activity, and I wish you would depart for there tonite, staging a campaign to marshall every last organization or individual opposed to these explosions, and to bring to bear on the AEC the very strongest, all-out, concerted effort you can possibly organize, in a final fight to the very last ditch.
“I want you to burn up all of your blue chip stamps, all the favors you have coming, and every last little bit of pressure you can bring together in one intense, extreme, final drive to determine, once and for all, whether I make any further investments in Nevada or not.
“Bob, I want you to go all the way on this and spare no expense.”
Maheu was reluctant to go to the brink. Nixon had already granted Hughes a private test-ban treaty, this new blast did not violate its terms, and it seemed futile to press for further concessions in national nuclear policy.
“Howard, we have made every conceiveable appeal to the Vice-President and to the President,” replied Maheu, urging restraint.
“One of the reasons that the President was so anxious to establish direct contact between you and Kissinger relative to the ABM was so that the doctor could reveal to you top security information reflecting the necessity of detonating a few more blasts under the megaton range, and also to explain that the megaton plus blasts would not be continued in Nevada as a result of your efforts.
“We have never lost sight of the ultimate goal of complete stoppage, but in the meantime, Howard, it becomes a pretty difficult task to tell the President of the United States and the Vice-President, that they are lying when they tell us that, although they have honored many of our requests, this specific test is mandatory to the national security of our country.
“I am afraid that if we push them they might well proceed gung ho, even with megaton plus shots,” warned Maheu. “After all, Howard, I am sure that in the last analysis, they couldn’t care less whether we make one more investment in Nevada or divest ourselves of those already made.”
Hughes, however, was hardly ready to back down. Eyeball to eyeball with Nixon, he would not blink, although for the moment he seemed more eager to battle his own chief of staff.
“You have not given me any explanation of the need for this explosion,” Hughes complained. “I know nothing of all the reasons why the test is necessary to the defense of the country. Why haven’t you given me this info which you obviously received thru your White House contacts?
“Bob,” he continued, his anger mounting, “I am not stupid enough to think Nixon gives a damn about my plans in Nevada, and, if you have any desire to see a better relationship between you and me, I would sincerely appreciate you restraining your periodic impulse to voice some sarcastic, salty comment such as this one.…
“I dont think you are so far from the mark as to believe seriously that I am dumb enough to think the President would care what I do here, so Bob, I can only assume you have some other purpose in making such an insulting