Propaganda proposition: Presenting “tactical nuclear weapon” as though tactical meant minor, limited, or relatively harmless can indeed be a word-game. The earlier expression was “tactical atomic weapon(s),” not “tactical nuclear weapon(s).” Its subject line is literally:“Some Comments on Tactical Atomic Weapons”It says that “tactical atomic weapons” promised a revolution in land warfare and describes “atomic weapons used tactically” as particularly advantageous to technologically superior states facing numerically superior armies. So I would not yet claim that I have found the individual who coined the exact words “tactical nuclear weapon.” In 2018, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said:“I don’t think there’s any such thing as a ‘tactical nuclear weapon.’”