They Soviets would have stayed quiet. In 1965 we had 854 ICBMs, 384 SLBMs and 650 strategic bombers. The Soviets had 281 ICBMs, 75 SLBMs and 163 strategic bombers. By retaliating for the nuclear strike in Vietnam, the Soviets would be commiting suicide.
I wasn’t saying anything about the immediate reaction to a 1964 nuclear attack by the united States, nor did I specify only the Soviet Union.
I think it would have had terrible consequences for the following years/decades and over the long run it probably would have been truly disastrous for America and the world.
I don’t see it resulting in the almost picture perfect result that we did get. After a 1964 nuclear erasing of Hanoi, the world would have gone into a long term reaction to find a way to counter us, to remove such an unstable, global threat, to subdue us in some manner, suddenly the internal politics and culture and unrestrained raw power of the United States would become all important to every nation on earth, even our allies.
“”We will never know what the effect of going nuclear on Vietnam in 1964 would have had on the Cold War and the world, but I doubt that it would have been pretty, it probably would have led to a massive acceleration and hardening of the global war footing and a more desperate search for a way to survive once an unstable, renegade America was revealed as a threat to everyone, and every city on the planet.””