Bill Clinton was said to have mislaid his "biscuit," while the one carried by Reagan was inadvertently dumped with his clothing in a plastic hospital bag when he was stripped for surgery after being shot in Washington in 1981. Ultra-secret, ultra-secure they may be, but both items have had their share of misadventure. About the size of credit cards, one of these is meant to be carried by the president at all times. More discreet - and also bearing a deceptively innocuous nickname - is the other important element in triggering nuclear war: the "biscuit." If the "football" houses the menu of war plans, the "biscuit" contains the codes, known as Gold Codes, by which the president can identify himself and make the order. Another accompanied Ronald Reagan right into Red Square during his summit with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988. The public has caught glimpses of the "football," officially known as the Presidential Emergency Satchel, ever since one was photographed being carried behind John F Kennedy at his seaside family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1963. Or really anywhere the "football" and the president were together. The US riposte, if it happened, could be launched from the back of the Beast limousine. But when President Joe Biden, for example, traveled to Puerto Rico, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Maryland within the space of a few days this November, he traveled, as he does everywhere, with his "football." According to Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening the world with "Armageddon" when he hints at using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
In the White House, the president has his secure Situation Room, where he could order war and communicate with military leaders.
But inside are top secret codes and plans enabling a president to authorize nuclear strikes - and pick from a sort of menu of targets - anywhere in the world. The rather awkwardly stuffed black bag doesn't look like much, the only clue to its importance being that it never leaves the hand of a uniformed military aide. WASHINGTON: Doomsday could start with a football - the so-called "nuclear football" as the attache case carried wherever the US president goes is popularly known.
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