62. Ibid., 204.
63. Ibid., 206–9.
64. Author interview with Ernie Plesset, Woodside, Calif., May 14, 1988; Hewlett and Duncan (1990), 582.
65. Anders (1987), 210.
66. Griggs to Finletter, n.d. [Mar., 1952], file 360.11, series 10, USAF/NARA.
67. It was also unclear whether the air force had the legal authority to establish a nuclear weapons lab. Griggs asked Pentagon lawyers to look into the matter. T. R. Hogness to Griggs, Mar. 26, 1952, and “Summary,” n.d., file 360.11, series 10, USAF/NARA.
68. Griggs’s notes, Mar. 20, 1952, file 360.11, series 10, USAF/NARA; Borden to Sheehy, Feb. 9, 1952, no. 2622, JCAE.
69. TEM diary, vol. 2, pt. 2, 55–56; “Meeting with Dr. E. O. Lawrence,” Mar. 4, 1952, TEM papers.
70. The proposed extension had been for four years; Lawrence, however, urged that it be for five. Minutes of meeting, Jan. 24, 1952, folder 6, box 172, Neylan papers.
71. Libby had recently informed Ernest that the commission wished to wait another six months before making a decision on whether to fund the Mark II.
72. TEM diary, vol. 2, pt. 2, 62.
73. Ibid., 64–65; Walker to file, Apr. 17, 1952, no. 2753, JCAE.
74. Teller was “somewhat discouraged,” the staffer wrote, “because he stressed that he had been trying to keep out of people’s way, and that he was following the course of merely obeying orders and not taking the initiative in anything.” Walker to Borden, Apr. 3, 1952, no. 2739, JCAE.
75. Walker and Borden to McMahon, Apr. 4, 1952, no. CDXCIX, JCAE.
76. Hayward interview (1996).
77. Minutes, GAC no. 30, Apr. 30, 1952, no. 74700, CIC/DOE; TEM diary, vol. 2, pt. 2, 69.
78. Murray’s battle with Dean had become increasingly personal. Borden to files, Mar. 12, 1952, no. 2688, JCAE; TEM diary, vol. 2, pt. 2, 57.
79. ITMOJRO, 755.
80. TEM diary, vol. 2, pt. 2, 72.
81. “The hint was pointedly dropped that Admiral Strauss would be a most useful man in this struggle,” the staffer wrote. Walker to Borden, Apr. 7, 1952, no. 2738, JCAE.
82. Walker and Borden to McMahon, Apr. 4, 1952. no. CDXCIX, JCAE.
83. “Meeting with Dr. E. O. Lawrence,” Mar. 4, 1952, Murray papers.
84. DuBridge to Pitzer, Mar. 18, 1952, box 168.3, DuBridge papers; Borden to file, Mar. 22, 1952, no. 2704, JCAE; San Francisco special agent-in-charge to Hoover. Apr. 5, 1952, JRO/FBI.
85. Albuquerque special agent-in-charge to Hoover, May 27, 1952; and Branigan to Belmont, June 10, 1952, JRO/FBI.
86. Walker to file, Oct. 3, 1952, no. 3049, JCAE.
87. May 19, 1952, Dean diary, Dean papers.
88. Hoover sent this latest file to Truman’s second attorney general, Howard McGrath, possibly in the hope that McGrath might do what Tom Clark would not: indict Oppenheimer for violation of the espionage laws. Hoover to Souers, May 19, 1952, JRO/FBI.
89. McCabe to Hoover, June 12, 1952, JRO/FBI.
90. Walker to file, May 28, 1952, no. DXIII, JCAE.
91. McMahon asked Truman to burn the letter after reading it, since he had “to live with” the atomic scientists. McMahon to Truman, May 21, 1952, J. K. Mansfield papers, Washington, D.C. The author thanks Jane Mansfield for access to her late husband’s papers.
92. McMahon was “fearful of the influence this might have on other scientists in the event there is an open rupture,” an aide informed Hoover. Nichols to Tolman, May 19, 1952, JRO/FBI.
93. David Teeple, the former army CIC agent who worked for Hickenlooper, told the FBI early in 1952 that he feared Oppie might defect to Russia, taking atomic secrets with him. Bernstein (1990), 1417.
94. Jeffery Dorwart, Conflict of Duty: The U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Dilemma, 1919–1945 (Naval Institute Press, 1983), 3–6. Because of Strauss’s experience with wiretaps and bugs, he and Borden routinely used code names in telephone conversations and correspondence. Borden’s code name for Strauss was Luigi. Borden to file, Aug. 13, 1951, no. 3464, JCAE; Ken Mansfield, Oct. 22, 1997, personal communication.
95. Two years earlier, Conant had been a target of both Latimer and Pitzer, who helped block his nomination as president of the National Academy of Sciences. Hershberg (1993), 485–86.
96. May 9, 1952, Conant diary, box 11, James Conant papers, Pusey Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
97. Waters to Boyer, May 15, 1952, box 2, JRO/AEC; Bernstein (1990), 1425. “Oppenheimer is going to have to be a witness in this, and we may well turn out to be the defendant in the public eye,” Dean wrote in his diary that fall. Nov. 24, 1952, Dean diary, Dean papers.
98. “Did Oppie answer the ‘64 dollar question’ as to whether he was ever a Commie?” Dean said he asked the AEC’s head of security. Marks to Oppenheimer, Dec. 2, 1952, “Weinberg Perjury Trial” folder, box 237, JRO; San Francisco FBI field report, Nov. 18, 1952, box 2, JRO/AEC.
99. Nichols to Tolson, May 29, 1952, JRO/FBI.
100. There is some suggestion of a tie-in between Oppenheimer’s leaving the GAC and the Weinberg indictment. Assistant Attorney General James McInerney—whom Dean had gotten to know during the Rosenberg trial—promised he would withhold a decision on whether to mention the Kenilworth Court incident until after he had talked to Brien McMahon and Paul Crouch. On May 29, 1952, McMahon told FBI agent Louis Nichols that he had “worked out a plan whereby Oppenheimer would take the initiative and decline to serve another term [on the GAC] by an exchange of letters and everybody will be happy.” June 13, 1952, Dean diary; and Dean to Oppenheimer, June 14, 1952, Dean papers. Murray, too, would later take credit for getting Oppenheimer off the GAC.
101. June 14, 1952, Conant diary, box 11, Conant papers.
102. R. Oppenheimer to F. Oppenheimer, July 12, 1952, “Weinberg Perjury Trial, 1953” folder, box 237, JRO.
15: Descent into the Maelstrom
1. June 27, 1952, Dean diary, Dean papers.
2. The project was carried out at Pasadena’s Vista del Arroyo Hotel during the spring and summer of 1951; DuBridge was the group’s chairman. Project Vista: David Elliot, “Project Vista and Nuclear Weapons in Europe,” International Security, summer 1986, 163–83.
3. G. Norton to Finletter, July 1, 1952, entry 63, box 4, AEC/NARA; G. Norton to Burden, Nov. 15, 1951, general
