Von Neumann once said of the Soviets: “If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at five o' clock, I say why not one o' clock?”
Von Neumann's nuclear bellicosity is interesting to compare to Norbert Wiener's post-Hiroshima pacifism. Wiener was no fan of communism, but he seemed to suspect global thermonuclear war would not turn out well. Von Neumann apparently thought such a conflict could be won unilaterally.
