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Raven Rock the story of the U.S. government's secret plan to save itself -- while the rest of us die

Every day in Washington, DC, the blue-and-gold 1st Helicopter Squadron, codenamed "MUSSEL," flies over the Potomac River. As obvious as the Presidential motorcade, most people assume the squadron is a travel perk for VIPs. They're only half right: while the helicopters do provide tran...

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Main Author: Graff, Garrett M., 1981- (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: New York ; London ; Toronto : Simon & Schuster, [2017]
Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Subjects:
Civil defense > United States > History.
Crisis management in government > United States > History.
Emergency management > Government policy > United States > History.
Military planning > United States.
Nuclear warfare.
Cold War.
United States > Defenses.
Summary: Every day in Washington, DC, the blue-and-gold 1st Helicopter Squadron, codenamed "MUSSEL," flies over the Potomac River. As obvious as the Presidential motorcade, most people assume the squadron is a travel perk for VIPs. They're only half right: while the helicopters do provide transport, the unit exists to evacuate high-ranking officials in the event of a terrorist or nuclear attack on the capital. In the event of an attack, select officials would be whisked by helicopters to a ring of secret bunkers around Washington, even as ordinary citizens were left to fend for themselves. For sixty years, the US government has been developing secret Doomsday plans to protect itself, and the multibillion-dollar Continuity of Government (COG) program takes numerous forms -- from its plans to evacuate the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to the plans to launch nuclear missiles from a Boeing-747 jet flying high over Nebraska. In Raven Rock, Garrett M. Graff sheds light on the inner workings of the 650-acre compound (called Raven Rock) just miles from Camp David, as well as dozens of other bunkers the government built its top leaders during the Cold War, from the White House lawn to Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado to Palm Beach, Florida, and the secret plans that would have kicked in after a Cold War nuclear attack to round up foreigners and dissidents and nationalize industries. Equal parts a presidential, military, and cultural history, Raven Rock tracks the evolution of the government plan and the threats of global war from the dawn of the nuclear era through the War on Terror.
Physical Description: xxv, 529 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map ; 25 cm
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (pages 497-505) and index.
ISBN: 9781476735405
1476735409
9781476735429
1476735425
Author Notes: Garrett M. Graff, a distinguished journalist and bestselling historian, has spent more than a dozen years covering politics, technology, and national security--helping to explain where we've been and where we're headed. Today, he serves as the director of cyber initiatives for The Aspen Institute and is a contributor to WIRED , CNN, and POLITICO . He's written for publications from Esquire to Rolling Stone to The New York Times , and edited two of Washington's most prestigious magazines, Washingtonian and POLITICO Magazine . Graff is the author of multiple books, including The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller's FBI , the national bestseller Raven Rock: The Story of the US Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die , and the New York Times bestseller The Only Plane in the Sky.

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