Stopping the MX

The original MX plan, developed in the latter years of the Carter administration and continued as a centerpiece of the Reagan nuclear buildup, called for building 200 new mobile Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), deployed in a massive basing system in the Great Basin of Utah and Nevada. While commentators mocked the gargantuan scale of the proposal, the White House, the Air Force and arms contractors were deadly serious about the plan and launched a major lobbying campaign on its behalf…