Finger on the button...

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34072, 9 February 1976, Page 15

Finger on the button...

i <.V.Z. Press Assn— Copyright) i SAN FRANCISCO. February 8. Former President Richard Nixon attempted to get two Congressmen to drop impeachment proceedings by saying he could “push a button.” and kill 60 million people, according to Senator Alan Cranston. Senator Cranston, a Democrat. said the two unidentified Congressmen told him Mr Nixon said: “At any moment I could go into the next room, push a button and 20 minutes later 60 million people; ' would be dead.” ' The Senator said that after [the incident he warned the; then Secretary' of Defence ’("Mr James Schlesinger) he

'was concerned about “the ; : need of keeping a berserk; i President from plunging us[ I into a holocaust.” He said he would propose legislation designed to make sure that no President could launch a nuclear war without first consulting other national leaders. Mr Nixon’s decision to visit China privately has disturbed White House officials. Speaking to reporters, they said the trip might stir controversey at a time when Mr Ford faced a tough battle for the Republican Party’s presi- ! dential nomination. Mr Nixon and his wife Pat are scheduled to arrive in { Peking on February 21, three . days before the primary election in New Hampshire, . where Mr Ford is trying to , fend off a strong challenge from a former California • Governor. Ronald Reagan.