American Prometheus (135 page)

530
“There are two answers”:
JRO hearing, p. 576.

530
“This would affect me”
and subsequent quotes:
JRO hearing, pp. 643–56; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 231–37.

531
“unless ordered to do so”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 196.

532
Sure that Lawrence was making:
Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 291 (Herken is citing Childs’ interview with Luis Alvarez, box 1, Childs Papers).

532
“he should never again”:
Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace and War,
p. 87.

532
“Teller regrets the case”:
Charter Heslep to Lewis Strauss, memo 5/3/54, Teller folder, AEC Series, box 111, Strauss papers, HHL.

533
“defrock him in his own”:
Teller,
Memoirs,
pp. 374–81; Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for
Peace and War,
p. 93; Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
pp. 292–93.

533
“To simplify the issues”
and subsequent quotes:
JRO hearing, pp. 710, 726.

533
“I could hear a tape”:
Ecker interview by Sherwin, 7/16/91, p. 13.

534
“After what you’ve just said”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 254–55.

534
“I won’t shake”:
Ibid., p. 286; Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 298.

534
“I stopped having”
and subsequent quotes:
JRO hearing, pp. 915–18.

535
“I did not subscribe”:
Ibid., p. 919.

536
“I am grateful to”:
Ibid., p. 961.

536
“I remember a kind of sinking”:
Ibid., pp. 971–72; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 347.

536
“Russia was our so-called”:
JRO hearing, pp. 971–92; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 351.

537
“There is more than”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 351–52.

537 “Security Clearance Procedures”: U.S. AEC, Security Clearance Procedures, Code of Federal Regulations, title 10, chap. 1, pa. 4, adopted 9/12/50,
Federal Register,
9/19/50, p. 6243, cited in Newman, “The Oppenheimer Case,” dissertation, chapter 5, note 60; McMillan,
The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
Chap. 21.

Chapter Thirty-seven: “A Black Mark on the Escutcheon of Our Country”

538
“he believes he will never”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. xv; FBI summary of wiretap for 5/7/54 and 5/12/54, doc. 1548, JRO FBI file.

539
“It is my present conviction”
and subsequent quotes:
“Memorandum for Mr. Gordon Gray’s files re: Oppenheimer Case,” 5/7/54, Oppenheimer Correspondence Dictation folder, box 4, Gordon Gray Papers, DDEL.

539
“from the beginning”:
Ibid.

540 thought “it extremely important”: C. E. Hennrich to Belmont, FBI memo, 5/20/54, doc. 1690, JRO FBI file; Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 259–61.

540
“I didn’t want”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 261.

540
“The following considerations”:
JRO hearing, p. 1019.

541
“Loyalty to one’s friends”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 361.

541
“Most of the derogatory”:
Ibid., p. 1020; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert
Oppenheimer,
p. 365.

543
“His relations with these”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 372.

544
“If we give”:
Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace and War,
p. 103.

544
At one point, Smyth wondered:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 265.

544
“Gene Zuckert would welcome”:
Handwritten note from McKay Dunkin, 5/19/54, Zuckert folder, Strauss Papers, HHL; Harold P. Green, interview by Barton J. Bernstein, 1984 (Bernstein, phone interview by Bird, 2/13/04). See also Bernstein, “The Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Case Reconsidered,”
Stanford Law Review,
p. 1477. Zuckert later said, “I had a difficult time under Lewis Strauss.” He called the Oppenheimer hearing a “dog fight. . . . It was not a pleasant year. I still consider myself a friend of Lewis’ but it was no fun.” (Eugene Zuckert oral history interview, 9/27/71, HSTL.) See also Burch,
Elites in American History,
vol. 2, p. 178.

545
“personal adviser and consultant”:
In May 1959, Strauss confirmed to Smyth that “Mr. Zuckert signed a contract with me as my personal adviser and consultant, after his term of office expired” (LLS Confirmation folder, series 3, box 2, Smyth Papers, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, cited by Herken, notes for chap. 18, note 16, posted at
www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com
). See also, McMillan,
The Ruin of J. Robert
Oppenheimer,
postlude.

545
“Lewis, the difference”:
Strauss, memo to file, 5/4/54, “Memos for the Record, 1954,” box 66, Strauss Papers, HHL.

545
“You know, it’s funny”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 264–65.

546
“The record shows”:
JRO hearing, p. 1050.

546
“It is sad beyond words”:
Lilenthal,
The Journals of David E. Lilienthal,
vol. 3, p. 528.

546
“Atomic Extermination Conspiracy”:
NYT, 4/24/04.

546
“Oppenheimer’s testimony”:
Walter Winchell, 6/7/54,
New York Mirror;
FBI memo, 6/8/54, sect. 40, doc. 1691, JRO FBI file.

547
“longtime glamour-boy”:
Thorpe, “J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Transformation of the Scientific Vocation,” dissertation, p. 587.

547
When the Commission’s ruling:
Eric Sevareid,
Small Sounds in the Night,
p. 224.

547
Ironically, publicity surrounding the trial:
For example, see “Le Risque de Securité,”
Le Monde,
6/8/54, p. 1.

547
“a hard one, but”:
“We the undersigned . . . ,” 6/7/54, petition to AEC, doc. 1804, sect. 44, JRO FBI file;
New York Post,
7/10/54. Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace and
War,
p. 111. The decision generated such controversy that Attorney General Herbert Brownell quietly asked Assistant Attorney General Warren Burger to review the record. The future Supreme Court chief justice did so and reported back that he had come to “the personal conclusion that if we were at war, Oppenheimer should have been hung.” (Strauss, memo to file, 3/27/69; Warren Burger to Strauss, 5/14/69, Strauss Papers, HHL.)

547
“He [Oppenheimer] will no longer”:
Sevareid,
Small Sounds in the Night,
p. 223.

547
“By a single foolish”:
Joe Alsop to Gordon Gray, 6/2/54, Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1951–57 folder, box 1, Gordon Gray Papers, DDEL.

547 “We accuse!”: Joseph and Stewart Alsop, We Accuse, p. 59; Robert W. Merry, Taking
on the World,
pp. 262–63.

548
“you opened a good many”:
Bird,
The Chairman,
p. 425.

548
“The case was ultimately”:
Bernstein, “The Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Case Reconsidered,”
Stanford Law Review,
July 1990, p. 1388.

548
“I can think of no”:
Eisenhower to Strauss, 6/16/54, Ann Whitman DDE Diaries, June 1954 folder (1), box 7, DDEL.

548
“the problem of how far”:
McGrath,
Scientists, Business, and the State, 1890–1960,
p. 167.

549
Mortified, Zuckert beat:
Strauss, memo to file, 12/5/57, box 67, Strauss Papers, HHL.

549
“it is probably quite impossible”:
Thorpe, “J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Transformation of the Scientific Vocation,” dissertation, p. 588.

549
“messianic role of the scientists”:
Daniel Bell,
The Coming of Post-Industrial Society,
p. 400; Thorpe, “J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Transformation of the Scientific Vocation,” dissertation, p. 551.

549
“Scientists and administrators”:
Ambrose,
Eisenhower,
p. 612; McGrath,
Scientists,
Business, and the State, 1890–1960,
p. 4.

Chapter Thirty-eight: “I Can Still Feel the Warm Blood on My Hands”

551
“Robert and I”:
Jane Wilson to Kitty Oppenheimer, 6/20/54, Robert Wilson folder, box 78, JRO Papers.

551
“Aren’t you tired”:
Babette Oppenheimer Langsdorf to Philip Stern, 7/10/67, Stern Papers, JFKL.

551
known “all the time”:
FBI “Summary for July 8, 1954,” sect. 45, doc. 1858, JRO FBI file.

551
“One day he would”:
Harold Cherniss, interview by Alice Smith, 4/21/76, p. 24.

551
“damn fool”:
Francis Fergusson, interview by Sherwin, 6/23/79, pp. 6–8.

552
“He was like”:
Ibid.

552
“dry crucifixion”:
Brown,
Through These Men,
p. 288.

552
“Much of his previous”:
The Day After Trinity,
Jon Else, transcript, p. 76, Sherwin Collection.

552
“a sad man”:
Serber,
Peace and War,
p. 183.

552
“looking actually happy”:
Lilienthal,
The Journals of David E. Lilienthal,
vol. 3, p. 594 (diary entry of 12/24/54).

552
“a greater understanding of”:
Harold Cherniss, interview by Alice Smith, 4/21/76, p. 23.

552
In July, Strauss told the FBI:
Roach to Belmont, FBI memo, 7/14/54, sect. 46, doc. 1866, JRO FBI file.

553
This, however, proved to be:
Oppenheimer’s old friend Harold Cherniss took a lead in organizing the petition effort. After talking with a couple of trustees, Cherniss had realized that Oppie’s job was in doubt. (Cherniss, interview by Sherwin, 5/23/79, p. 16.)