#TBT: President Jack Kennedy Targets Nuclear Testing

 

     On August 5th, 1963, the United States signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, alongside the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, in Moscow. The agreement banned nuclear testing on the ground, in the water, and in the atmosphere. It did not cover the seabed, space, or underground. While the former two would be added to various other nuclear agreements, underground nuclear testing remains legal. This agreement, however, was the first successful negotiation limiting nuclear proliferation, and it would pave the way for an end to nuclear weapons production in all but a handful of nations. Coming amid a series of tense conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union, the agreement would be one of the defining achievements of John F. Kennedy's presidency.