Presidential Emergency Satchel
notes: label: Description
content: The official name of this attaché case is the Presidential Emergency Satchel. First used during the Eisenhower administration, such cases are better known as the nuclear football, a name attached to them under John Kennedy. These leather cases have become a symbol of military power and presidential responsibility and authority. Carried by a military officer who is never far from the president, the specific contents of each case are closely guarded secrets but include documents that confirm the president’s identity and relate to operational plans for engaging in nuclear war. They have come to represent the United States’ ongoing ability to consider the use of nuclear weapons. This particular football, one of several that have played this role, was used during the Clinton administration but speaks to the nuclear tensions of the broader Cold War and post-Cold War world.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Presidential History Collection
label: Exhibition
content: American Presidency
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2000.0210.01
label: accession number
content: 2000.0210
label: catalog number
content: 2000.0210.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Attache Case
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: grey; black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: leather; metal; plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 18 in x 14 in x 6 in; 45.72 cm x 35.56 cm x 15.24 cm