At the very least, Nixon at one point decided a good tactic would be for the Soviets to believe he was unstable and was willing to embrace the idea of conflict,

At the very least, Nixon at one point decided a good tactic would be for the Soviets to believe he was unstable and was willing to embrace the idea of conflict, so as to scare them off of aggression. His quote was "I want them to think I am nuts". During this period of his presidency, Nixon was known to become so drunk that Kissinger effectively took over many of his duties in private To reinforce the idea that he was "nuts", Nixon ordered at least one bomber-wing approach of Soviet airspace. I don't recall if the planes actually carried nuclear weapons, but IIRC, it was Nixon's intent that they should. Not sure if this qualifies as a "plan", but it was rehearsed. A neighbor who was once was stationed in a Titan ICBM silo also recounted a story that seemed extremely scary: during the Arab/Israeli war there was apparently a report by US intelligence of a Russian missile launch, and in his silo he claims they had their hands on the keys ready to turn (weapon was armed, fueled, they were literally waiting for the launch order)...although they were later informed to stand down when the missile was confirmed as a test. I asked him if he would have turned the key, and he said absolutely.