1953: The Korean War Goes Atomic

== 1953: The Korean War Goes Atomic== After Dwight D. Eisenhower ceases to run in the 1952 election due to complications from a car accident, Adlai Stevenson II is inaugarated as President. Within several weeks, he inadvertently (accidentally) authorizes use of atomic bombs in Korea which turns the entire world upside down.

The Mistake
July 6, 1953:

Stevenson and former Governor of Wyoming Lester C. Hunt are relaxing before dinner during a special reception at the Chicago Board of Trade Building, having met with other Democrats (John F. Kennedy attended) to talk about the upcoming 1956 Democratic National Convention. During the conversation, Kennedy jokes, "I guess if you're not good enough, they'll have to drop the H-Bomb", to which Stevenson responds, "Yeah, we could really use those in Korea." The press caught wind and, in embarassment, brings himself to authorize use of atomic bombs.

The Result
On July 19, 1953, at 3:41 pm, an atomic bomb (a less severe form of Castle Bravo) landed on Pyongyang, North Korea. In America, news reports called it "The New Hiroshima".

Over five million were vaporized, and those who didn't die were quarantined due to radiation. In a matter of days, there was no longer such thing as the city of Pyongyang, North Korea.

As a result of this, the war escalated over a course of three years, culminating in the Bobog Campaign to capture the Korean Demilitarized Zone in December of 1954. This fails miserably, although the political pressure prompted Stevenson to pass the torch onto Estes Kefauver, his vice-president. Kefauver served for just a year after suffering a massive heart attack which paralyzed him from the waist down. He was succeeded by an eager John F. Kennedy, who served until 1964 (due to a somewhat controversial decision having only served 'one and a half terms') and reelected again in 1974 until 1978.