In the MAD era, there was the theory that we (the US) had a sufficiently robust retaliatory infrastructure that we could ride out the first wave of a first stri

In the MAD era, there was the theory that we (the US) had a sufficiently robust retaliatory infrastructure that we could ride out the first wave of a first strike and only launch, or in the case of bombers give the PAL codes to arm the warheads to the crews, after the first nuclear explosions happened and were sufficiently confirmed. Launch on Warning was always recognized as an inherently dangerous doctrine.