The Flexible Response policy represented a shift in strategy. Which description is most accurate?

• A. Kennedy abandoned nuclear weapons and relied solely on conventional forces.
• B. Kennedy discarded Eisenhower’s Massive Nuclear Retaliation and supported flexible response across the full spectrum of warfare.
• C. The policy advocated only strategic bombing and air superiority.
• D. It reduced the role of the military in national security policy.

Answer: (B)

Flexible Response means using a range of military options across the entire spectrum of warfare to deter and respond to aggression, rather than relying on nuclear threats alone. This approach moves away from Eisenhower’s Massive Retaliation, which emphasized responding with overwhelming nuclear force, and instead provides credible options at conventional, special operations, and limited-nuclear levels. Kennedy believed that having proportional, varied responses would deter aggression without automatically escalating to full-scale nuclear war, while still keeping nuclear options available for the most serious threats. That combination—discarding the sole reliance on massive nuclear retaliation and embracing a full spectrum of capabilities—best fits the description. The other choices miss this broader toolkit or the shift in strategy, and they misstate the role of the military in the policy.