Description:

Oppenheimer Robert 1904 - 1967 Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Lewis Strauss defends his decision to strip J. Robert Oppenheimer of his security clearances
Typed Letter Signed, "Lewis Strauss," as Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, 1 page, 8" x 10.5", Washington, July 13, 1954 to Mort Lewis of New York concerning the revocation of J. Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance in June 1954. Offered together with a retained copy of Lewis' letter to President Dwight Eisenhower concerning the Oppenheimer affair and printed pamphlet: United States Atomic Energy Commission, In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer Texts of Principal Documents and Letters of Personnel Security Board General Manager Commissioners Washington, D.C. May 27, 1954, through June 29, 1954 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1954) 67pp. 8vo. housed in titled paper wraps. Minor paperclip stains affect top left of letter and pamphlet, ink emendation to front wrap of pamphlet, minor marginal wear and expected folds to letter, else fine.



Lewis Strauss (1896-1974) was a businessman, philanthropist and public official who figured prominently in the development of nuclear weapons after the close of the Second World War. His first interactions with Oppenheimer occurred in 1947, when Strauss, then a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, offered the former head of the Manhattan Project the office of director. However the two shared little in common. Strauss, also a member of the Atomic Energy Commission, was a conservative Republican, while Oppenheimer was firmly wed to the left, and had numerous communist associations. Over the ensuing years the two clashed over a variety of issues concerning U.S. nuclear policy.


When Dwight Eisenhower offered Strauss the chairmanship of the Atomic Energy Commission, he accepted the post on the condition that Oppenheimer be excluded from all classified atomic work. Suspicious of Oppenheimer's former communist associations, and his tendency to downplay Soviet nuclear capabilities, in the fall of 1953, Strauss requested J. Edgar Hoover to begin surveillance of Oppenheimer, a task the F.B.I. Director eagerly accepted. In December 1953, the Atomic Energy Commission blindsided Oppenheimer with a list of charges which became the subject of a month-long series of hearings in May 1953 that resulted in the father of the Atomic Bomb being stripped of all his security clearances and never to work in government service again.


The Atomic Energy Commission's decision enraged many, including Mort Lewis of New York City, who wrote a strongly-worded letter to President Eisenhower, observing among other things, that "Dr. Oppenheimer's past associations were apparently an open book to those in authority. He made no attempt to conceal them. He made vast contributions to the development of the atomic bomb and apparently to the hydrogen bomb as well... Simply saying that we now have stronger, tighter security measures, means nothing in this case. Dr. Oppenheimer already has more knowledge of the atom and hydrogen bombs, I have read, in his head, than any other man in this country. To cut him off from atomic and hydrogen bomb secret information now is ridiculous when he has this information already..."


Eisenhower passed Lewis' letter along to Strauss, who responded on July 13, 1954, enclosing the present published report from the Atomic Energy Commission, and referring Lewis to "My conclusion on the principle issues involved... on pages 51 - 54 of the enclosure..." and adding, "I hope that an understanding of all of the factors in this case will lead you to the conclusion that the decision of the Commission not to restore the clearance of Dr. Oppenheimer was proper... I am certain that each of the Commissioners acted in accord with the dictates of his own conscience and in conformity with his oath of office as an official of our Government charged with especially grave responsibilities in these critical times."

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