Did Someone Lose the Nuclear Launch Codes?

You know how there are some things that you should just never, ever lose? Like your grandmother's ashes, or, say, the authorization codes for the president to order a nuclear strike? Well apparently someone did that a few years ago.

That's right! According to a new memoir by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton (summarized by Tom Ricks), an aide to President Clinton lost the authorization codes that the president would use to order a nuclear strike:


Uh, yeah? I don't know that much about this whole "nuclear strike" thing, since I'm unfortunately not authorized to order any, but this seems like, I don't know, a bad system. Can't the president just keep them in his pocket, or something?

Either way, enjoy sleeping tonight!

[Tom Ricks/Foreign Policy via Matt Yglesias]