Foreign News: Who's at the Button?

The man at Russia's nuclear pushbutton, if Khrushchev's tirades last week (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) were to be believed, is a trimly athletic, strikingly handsome career artillery officer—and a Khrushchev favorite. Marshal of Rocketry Mitrofan Nedelin, said Khrushchev, is "a remarkable soldier, a hero of the Soviet Union, a splendid artilleryman who knows more about rocketry than anybody."

Nedelin, 57, was virtually unknown in the West—except to other general staffs—until a month ago, when Khrushchev, in an offhand remark at the Czech embassy, revealed that the marshal had been given command of Russia's brand new rocket force. A member of a favored branch...