What strikes me most about this article is its tone: breezy and confident. Heck, they printed a map showing the location of the missile silos right on the first page of the article. The message: “Come and get us, Ivan! Your missiles are no match for American ingenuity and engineering skill!” The confidence-boosting was, of course, for the American reader. “Possible nuclear annihilation? Nonsense! We’ve got it handled.” There’s a fine line between confidence and hubris that was crossed many times during the Cold War.
