4. Transmittal letter, “Project Vista: A Study of Ground and Air Tactical Warfare,” Feb. 4, 1952. The author thanks David Elliott for a copy of the Vista report.
5. Oppenheimer and Vista: DuBridge to Eisenhower, Dec. 21, 1952, box 32, JRO; ITMOJRO, 757; “Notes of Conference,” Jan. 19, 1954, box 202, JRO. The author thanks Carrie Allen for a copy of the notes found in the Oppenheimer papers.
6. By the time that DuBridge briefed the Pentagon on Vista, many of the report’s most controversial recommendations had been amended or deleted altogether. Walker to file, n.d. [Dec. 1952], no. DLXXXVII, JCAE.
7. Walker to file, July 2, 1952, no. 2925; and Walker to file, n.d. [Dec. 1952], no. DLXXXVII, JCAE; Stern (1969), 190–91.
8. Walker to file, May 28, 1952, no. DXIII, and Borden to McMahon, May 28, 1952, no. 3831, JCAE; Rabi to Lauritsen, n.d. [May–June 1951], folder 14, box 3, Charles Lauritsen papers, Caltech archives.
9. Minutes, “Panel of Consultants on Arms and Policy,” May 16–18, 1952, “Disarmament Panel, Misc.” folder, box 191, JRO.
10. Standstill: Minutes, “Disarmament Panel, Misc.” folder, box 191, JRO; Walker to file, n.d. [Dec. 1951], no. DLXXXVII, JCAE.
11. FRUS: 1952–54, vol. 2, pt. 2, 1001; ITMOJRO, 248.
12. Arneson to Acheson, Sept. 29, 1952, FRUS: 1952–54, vol. 2, pt. 2, 1017–25.
13. FRUS: 1952–54, vol. 2, pt. 2, 994–1008; Barton Bernstein, “Crossing the Rubicon: A Missed Opportunity to Stop the H-bomb?” International Security, fall 1989, 143.
14. “I did nothing whatever about it,” Oppenheimer would later testify. ITMOJRO, 247.
15. GAC swan song: Anders (1987), 224; Walker and Hamilton to file, July 1, 1952, no. 2914, JCAE; Oppenheimer to Truman, June 14, 1952, no. 74674, CIC/DOE.
16. Hershberg (1993), 603.
17. LeBaron had heard that the panel would urge “that all U.S. thermonuclear efforts cease.” Walker to file, n.d. [Dec. 1952], no. DLXXXVII, JCAE.
18. McMahon’s illness did not extinguish his hopes of becoming his party’s vice presidential nominee. He died on July 28, 1952.
19. Cooksey to A. Loomis, May 6 and 10, 1952, folder 10, carton 46, EOL.
20. The AEC approved “early participation of [the Rad Lab] in the diagnostic measurements field, and later along such additional lines as may be determined by the Commission.” Dean to Regents, June 9, 1952, AEC/NARA.
21. Dean agreed to add a phrase to his letter to the regents: “the Commission hopes that the group at UCRL will eventually suggest broader programs of thermonuclear research.” But Murray complained that the AEC chairman’s letter made it “clear that at least in Dean’s mind this action with regard to Berkeley did not constitute the establishment of a second laboratory strictly speaking.” TEM diary, vol. 1., pt. 1, 18; Jacobvitz to Brinck, Apr. 29, 1954, no. 79166, CIC/DOE.
22. York to Bradbury, June 3, 1952, no. 125187, and Bradbury, “Observations on the Livermore Laboratory Proposal,” May 21, 1952, no. 125188, CIC/DOE.
23. Sybil Francis, Warhead Politics: Livermore and the Competitive System of Nuclear Weapon Design (University Microfilms, 1996), 58.
24. York interview (1997).
25. Walker to Borden, Apr. 7, 1952, no. 2738, JCAE.
26. Hayward to “all concerned,” July 23, 1952, AEC/NARA.
27. LeBaron had evidently tried to reconcile the two warring parties at breakfast that morning, without success: “Gradually, as time passed, Teller, as he had with Bradbury, began to usurp Lawrence’s role. No one had ever challenged his authority before. It was not an experience he enjoyed. In his own way, he let Teller feel his displeasure.” Transcript of interview by Lin Root, n.d., folder 4, box 1, LeBaron papers.
28. Walker to file, Nov. 10, 1952, no. DCVII, JCAE. Dean to Lawrence, July 17, 1952, folder 18, carton 33, EOL. “Tell Teller he can blow up anything he wants,” Dean reportedly told Hayward. Hayward interview (1996).
29. Underhill to Dean, July 1, 1952, AEC no. 425/21, AEC/NARA.
30. TEM diary, vol. 2, pt. 1, 19.
31. Walker and Hamilton to file, July 1, 1952, no. 2914, JCAE.
32. Teller’s confidant was journalist Stephen White. Rabi interview (1982). Although Teller subsequently denied making the comment to White, he wrote of his decision to go to Livermore: “I turned away from my original choice—to work on pure science—with my eyes open.” Teller (1987), 122.
33. AEC no. 295/60, Oct. 10, 1952, AEC/NARA.
34. Bevatron: Childs (1968), 446; Hewlett and Duncan (1990), 500–501.
35. Alvarez (1987), 176–77.
36. Dean to Lay, Oct. 30, 1952, AEC/NARA. Had the bomb been tested earlier, as Teller had urged, the AEC concluded that a failure was likely. Rhodes (1995), 487.
37. Bethe had written to Dean that fall, urging that the test be delayed until mid-November—“to give the smoke of battle time to dissipate.” Bethe to Dean, Sept. 9, 1952, no. 73974, CIC/DOE.
38. Nov. 21, 1952, Dean diary, Dean papers.
39. Anders (1987), 226–27.
40. Dean to AEC directors, Oct. 30, 1952, no. 102137, CIC/DOE; Hewlett and Duncan (1990), 592.
41. Mike test: Rhodes (1995), 509; Hansen (1988), 56–57.
42. Murray (1960), 20–21.
43. Teller (2001), 351; York interview (1997); transcript of Bradbury interview, Bancroft Library.
44. The resignation letter, drafted by DuBridge, was never sent. SAC/ODM: Gregg Herken, Cardinal Choices: Presidential Science Advising from the Atomic Bomb to SDI (Oxford University Press, 1992), 54–58; draft letter, “Nov. 1952,” folder 9, box 186, DuBridge papers.
45. Princeton meeting: Various letters, box 189, JRO; Hershberg (1993), 569.
46. Walker to file, July 2, 1952, no. 2925, JCAE.
47. That fall, Borden sent the Joint Committee chairman a sixty-four page “working paper” that detailed the charges against Oppenheimer. Borden to Cole, Nov. 3, 1952, no. DCXXXV, JCAE.
48. Walker: Author interview with J. K. Mansfield, Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 1993; transcript of John Walker interview by Jack Holl, June 18, 1976. The author thanks Ken Mansfield for a copy of the Walker interview. Cotter: Frank Cotter, Oct. 21, 1997, personal communication.
49. “The Scale and Scope of Atomic Production: A Chronology of Leading Events” (A-bomb Chronology), Jan. 30, 1952, “Atomic Program Chronology” folder, series 2, JCAE.
50. McMahon to Dean, May 7, 1952, no. DCCIX, JCAE.
51. Anders (1987), 211.
52. Walker to file, Oct. 3, 1952, no. 3049, JCAE; Bethe, “Memorandum on the
