American Prometheus (134 page)

498
“if he decided”:
Belmont to Boardman, FBI memo, 3/2/54 and 3/1/54, Strauss-Rogers phone conversation, sect. 21, doc. 834, JRO FBI file.

498
“This was the shock of the day”:
Ecker interview by Sherwin, 7/16/91, p. 7.

499
The opposing teams of lawyers:
Rhodes,
Dark Sun,
p. 543; Herken,
Brotherhood of
the Bomb,
p. 286; Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 236; Stern,
The Oppenheimer
Case,
pp. 260, 268; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. xxix.

499
“We made a pretty”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 237.

499
“fingers in the dike”:
JRO hearing, p. 53.

499
“inquiry,” not a trial:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 29. Polenberg’s edited and abbreviated version of the Oppenheimer hearing transcript is superb, but generally we have cited the full transcript published by MIT Press.

500
“I liked the new”:
JRO hearing, pp. 8 and 876.

500
“without my report”:
Ibid., p. 14.

500
“during the period”:
Ibid., p. 5.

501
“Your letter”:
Ibid., pp. 10–11.

501
“one of our own men”:
Keith Teeter, FBI memo, 3/24/54, sect. 24, doc. 980, JRO FBI file.

502
“Strauss and the Eisenhower people”:
Drew Pearson,
Diaries 1949–1959,
p. 303.

503
“key atomic figure”:
Excerpt of Walter Winchell telecast, 4/11/54, Strauss Papers, HHL.

503
“You said you were late”:
JRO hearing, pp. 53–55.

503
So on April 9 Strauss:
memo to file, 4/9/54, Strauss Papers, HHL; Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace and War,
pp. 89, 91.

503
“being tried in the press”:
Bernstein, “The Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Case Reconsidered,”
Stanford Law Review,
July 1990, p. 1463; Strauss to Roger Robb, memo 4/16/54, Strauss Papers, HHL.

503
“The trouble with Oppenheimer”:
Pais,
A Tale of Two Continents,
p. 326; Robert Serber,
Peace and War,
pp. 183–84.

504
“I am very clear on this”:
JRO hearing, p. 103.

504
“I had been told”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 231.

505
“In the case of a brother”:
JRO hearing, p. 111.

505
“Doctor, I notice”
and subsequent quotes:
Ibid., pp. 113–14.

506
While preparing for the hearing:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 231; Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 287.

507
“Because I was an idiot”:
JRO hearing, p. 137.

507
“ ‘I’ve just seen a man’ ”:
Stern,
The Oppenheimer Case,
p. 283; Robert Coughlan, “The Tangled Drama and Private Hells of Two Famous Scientists,”
Life,
12/13/63, p. 102.

507
“Doctor . . . I will read to you”:
JRO hearing, p. 144.

509
Feeling cornered:
Ibid., pp. 146–49.

510
“Oppenheimer’s story, although misleading”:
Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace
and War, 1953–1961,
p. 96.

510
“The story I told Pash”:
JRO hearing p. 888.

511
“ ‘I should have told it’ ”:
JRO hearing, pp. 888–89.

513
“I knew her”:
JRO hearing, pp. 153–54.

513
It was a humiliating experience:
Navasky,
Naming Names,
p. 322.

513
“Is the list long enough?”:
JRO hearing, p. 155.

513
“the way a soldier does”:
Coughlan, “The Tangled Drama and Private Hells of Two Famous Scientists,”
Life,
12/13/63.

514
“From the beginning”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 228.

514
“On Wednesday, Oppenheimer broke”:
Strauss to President Eisenhower, 4/16/54; Eisenhower to Strauss, cable, 4/19/54, Strauss Papers, Eisenhower folders, box 26D, AEC series, HHL.

514
“I would be amazed”:
JRO hearing, p. 167; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert
Oppenheimer,
pp. 77–78.

515
“File review failed”:
FBI memo to Hoover, 12/23/53, sect. 16, doc. 563, JRO FBI file (for Harvey memo, see p. 248).

516
Lansdale was interviewed:
Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 400, note 47.

517
“Yes, it is possible”:
JRO hearing, p. 265.

517
“as it would endanger”:
Hoover to Groves, 6/13/46, and Groves to Hoover, 6/21/46, RG 77 (MED files) entry 8, box 100, NA.

518
When the FBI asked Frank:
Frank Oppenheimer was interviewed by the FBI on 12/29/53 at his Colorado ranch. He refused to sign an affidavit. Strauss was given a copy of the FBI interview on 1/7/54. (Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
pp. 272, 400.)

518
But then Groves went on:
FBI memo to Hoover, 12/22/53, sect. 16, doc. 557, 565, JRO FBI file.

518
As late as 1968:
Leslie Groves oral history interview by Raymond Henle, 8/9/68, p. 17, HHL.

518
“It was very difficult”:
Groves to Strauss, 10/20/49 and 11/4/49, box 75, Strauss Papers, HHL.

519
The historian Gregg Herken:
Gregg Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 280. The historian Barton J. Bernstein disagrees with Herken’s view. See Barton J. Bernstein, “Reconsidering the Atomic General: Leslie R. Groves,”
The Journal of Military History,
July 2003: 899.

519
“The General said”:
FBI memo to Hoover, 12/22/53, sect. 16, doc. 565, JRO FBI file.

519
By then, Groves:
Gregg Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 281.

519
This part of the story:
Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace and War,
p. 98.

520
“would you clear Dr. Oppenheimer”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert
Oppenheimer,
pp. 80–81.

521
“How could one not have qualms?”:
JRO hearing, p. 229.

521
“I think they did an admirable”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 107–8.

521
“My feeling was”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 248–49.

522
“convinced that in view of the testimony”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert
Oppenheimer,
p. xxv. Belmont to Boardman, 4/17/54, JRO FBI file.

522
The press did not discover:
Stern,
The Oppenheimer Case,
p. 303; Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 288.

522
“All we had the energy for”:
Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 249.

522
“Robert, tell them to shove it”:
Stern,
The Oppenheimer Case,
pp. 303–4; Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 244.

Chapter Thirty-six: “A Manifestation of Hysteria”

523
After Oppenheimer was excused:
At the time, Conant was serving in the Eisenhower Administration as its high commissioner to West Germany, and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles tried to persuade Conant not to testify. Conant refused and noted in his diary, “Told him I had no choice but to testify at Oppenheimer’s hearings. He said I should know that this might destroy my usefulness in government.” (James Conant diary, 4/19/54, cited in Bernstein, “The Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Case Reconsidered,”
Stanford Law Review,
July 1990, p. 1459.)

524
“I didn’t give a damn”:
John J. McCloy, interview by Bird, 7/10/86.

524
“I am very distressed:
Bird,
The Chairman,
p. 423; McCloy, to Eisenhower, 4/16/54 and 4/23/54, DDEL.

525
“I don’t just know exactly”
and subsequent quotes:
Bird,
The Chairman,
pp. 424–25.

526
“one of the great minds”:
JRO hearing, p. 357; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 140–41.

526
“Dr. Oppenheimer is smiling”:
JRO hearing, p. 372; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 147–48.

527
“In other words”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 162–63.

527
“the surprise production”:
JRO hearing, pp. 419–20; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 165.

527
“so steamed up”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 156.

527
“I never hid my opinion”:
JRO hearing, p. 468.

528
“I am naturally a truthful”
and subsequent quotes:
Ibid., pp. 469–70; Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
pp. 178–79.

528
“You are back now”:
Polenberg, ed.,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 173.

528
“He was a very adaptable”:
Bernstein,
Oppenheimer,
p. 62.

528
“I felt strongly”
and subsequent quotes:
JRO hearing, pp. 560–67.

529
As a young girl:
Verna Hobson, interview by Sherwin, 7/31/79, p. 18.