Question

What was Kennedy referring to when he spoke of the deadly atom

Answer 1

The answer is option 2) The threat of nuclear annihilation.

*During the Cold War both the U.S. and the Soviet Union threatened each other by claiming (theoretically) that they could control and use nuclear weapons*

Answer 2

“The steady spread of the deadly atom” was a term coined by President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural discourse. Such phrase evokes the fear of the atomic weapons related to the Cold War, elements that the United States and their the Soviet neighbors controlled.