As the reasoning went, the American nuclear deterrent must be credible, or else the Soviets would seize the opportunity and launch an unprovoked attack on

As the reasoning went, the American nuclear deterrent must be credible, or else the Soviets would seize the opportunity and launch an unprovoked attack on the US, Germany, or both. If a communication breakdown between the White House and the military could render the nuclear arsenal unusable, that would tend to diminish the credibility of the deterrent. If you wanted the pre-delegation of Presidential authority to increase the credibility of the deterrent though, the Soviets had to know about it. Which makes you wonder - did they strongly deny it to the public whilst quietly informing the Soviet Union about the true situation?