Want to know what President has cut the size of the nation’s nuclear stockpile the most? Despite a high-profile pledge to push for a world without nuclear weapons, it’s not President Obama, according to the New York Times. Citing Federation of American Scientists nuclear weapons expert Hans Kristensen, the Times noted Nov. 1 that Obama had cut the stockpile by about 10 percent (504 weapons) since taking office, well behind President George W. Bush, who cut the stockpile in half during his eight years in office.
President George H.W. Bush cut the arsenal by 41 percent, while President Clinton cut the stockpile by 22 percent. Together, they cut about 14,801 warheads. “During his presidency, Mr. Obama’s public remarks on disarmament seem to have grown less frequent and urgent,” the Times said, suggesting that after an initial push for a world free of nuclear weapons his latest comments seemed “almost wistful” on the topic. “Last year, addressing an audience in Berlin, Mr. Obama said that abolishing the weapons was important to pursue ‘no matter how distant that dream may be,’ ” the Times wrote. “To applause, he added that the new arms treaty had already reduced warhead numbers to their ‘lowest levels since the 1950s.’ Yet a glance at the accompanying weapons chart shows that President Bush could have made a similar boast a decade ago.”
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