Here are the procedures.
When a launch has been confirmed, the Commander of NORAD calls a Full Attack Conference which includes COMNORAD, COMSTRATCOM (Commander US Strategic Command), the Presiden, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Here the military leadership presents a number of options from which the President and SECDEF can choose. In case of a massive inbound strike, there is only one option: the Alert Response Plan … strike back with everything you’ve got.
After both the President and SECDEF have identified themselves over a secured telephone line using an Authenticator Card (called the Biscuit, a plastified card the size of a credit card), they can order the military to execute the relevant option presented.
However …
Continuity of Government plans also calls for the evacuation of the political and military leadership when an inbound nuclear strike is detected.
Evacuating and discussing options is not very likely in the case of a massive inbound strike (it is different in the case of a limited strike). If Washington DC is targetted, evacuation would take precedence over an order to strike back.
The reason is very simple: if a massive inbound strike is detected, the only option presented is the Emergency Alert Plan. In such a scenario, COMSTRATCOM has the authority to order a retaliatory strike allowing the political leadership to get the hell out of dodge before the missiles strike.
Predelagated Release Authority as it is technically called has been around since the Eisenhower Adminsitration. It came into effect in 1954 and is still the best safeguard against a decapitation strike.
It is a myth that only a President can order the use of nuclear weapons, it was just something we told journalists to stop them from asking awkward questions (such as who really had the authority).
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