Flexible response was a nuclear strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to supersede the previous policy of Massive Retaliation. Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Massive Retaliation is a military doctrine in which an entity commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack. ...

Flexible Response was implemented to develop several options, other than the nuclear option, for quickly dealing with enemy aggression. The strategy sought to target an enemy's military force first ("counter-force" strategy), not its civilian population or economic and industrial resources ("counter-value" strategy). The strategy was conceived by Robert McNamara and many view it as key to France's exiting of NATO's integrated forces. Robert Strange McNamara (born June 9, 1916) is an American business executive and a former United States Secretary of Defense. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ...