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The White House created in 1953 a subcommittee of the NSC whose mission was to assess the damage that would result from nuclear war. This group worked in total secrecy during the Eisenhower and Kennedy presidencies before being dissolved by Johnson in 1965. The recent partial declassification of its research reveals a true expertise in its assessment of such a disaster. Refusing mere intuition, the subcommittee produced analyses in accordance with scientific methods. It thus determined the likely consequences of conflict in all aspects of national life. Its increasingly pessimistic conclusions were presented each year to the President and thus contributed to the formation of deterrence policy.