That seems fishy to me. The person who can activate/deactivate a football would thereby have veto power over the Commander-in-Chief's authority to issue nuclear weapon release. I don't believe this can be allowed to happen, thus the necessity of in-person tender of custody.
The "football" is not like a set of keys for the family cars.
Exactly. Multiple nuclear footballs would be no footballs. Whatever method there is to swap between them would be vulnerable to attack. The president keeps it in physical proximity at all times.
That seems fishy to me. The person who can activate/deactivate a football would thereby have veto power over the Commander-in-Chief's authority to issue nuclear weapon release. I don't believe this can be allowed to happen, thus the necessity of in-person tender of custody.
The "football" is not like a set of keys for the family cars.
Exactly. Multiple nuclear footballs would be no footballs. Whatever method there is to swap between them would be vulnerable to attack. The president keeps it in physical proximity at all times.