In 1962 at the height of the Cold War, a secret bunker was constructed for President Kennedy and his family on the southern shore of Nantucket island, Massachusetts.
The design, based on bunkers that had withstood the blast of atomic tests in Nevada, was meant to shield the leader of the free world from a nuclear holocaust. But it may not survive a new threat: JFK’s nuclear bunker could be lost to coastal erosion.
The bunker was one of two built for Kennedy in case America came under nuclear attack while he was on holiday at Hyannis Port, the family’s compound on Cape Cod. Another was constructed on Peanut Island, near the Kennedy’s mansion in Palm Beach.
The Kennedys at Hyannis Port in 1953
HY PESKIN/ALAMY
Both are mentioned as potential National Historic Landmarks
