92. Borden to Allardice, May 29, 1953, 1953 correspondence, JCAE. Hoover and CIA director Allen Dulles turned down the Joint Committee’s request to interview Fuchs. Cole to Hoover, July 14, 1953, no. DCLXXI, and Hoover to Cole, July 16, 1953, no. DCLXXXI, and Dulles to Cole, July 23, 1953, no. DCLXXXIX, JCAE.
93. “Questions raised in my mind by JRO file—WLB,” May 29, 1953, no. DCXXXVIII, and Borden to Allardice, June 1, 1953, no. DCXXXIX, JCAE.
94. Borden told the author that he had hoped to be the prosecutor in a trial of Oppenheimer for treason. Borden interview (1981).
16: Not Much More than a Kangaroo Court
1. Belmont to Ladd, June 5, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI.
2. Ibid.
3. Pfau (1984), 145.
4. June 5, 1953, Dean diary, Dean papers; Hewlett and Holl (1989), 53.
5. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 55–62, 71–72; Pfau (1984), 146–48. Although Eisenhower hoped that “Atoms for Peace” might be a spur toward disarmament, Strauss was under no such illusion. FRUS: 1952–1954, vol. 2, pt. 2, 1218–20.
6. Ladd to Hoover, May 25, 1953, sec. 14, and Hoover to Attorney General, Apr. 13, 1954, sec. 24, JRO/FBI.
7. Teeple: Kamen (1986), 252–53, 323; “Senator Hickenlooper Aide Is Ordered by Court to Give Testimony in Libel Suit,” Washington Post, Nov. 19, 1954.
8. Nov. 7, 1942, Dean diary, Dean papers; “Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer,” Dec. 14, 1959, box 3, JRO/AEC.
9. The fact that Oppenheimer never went to the White House on the appointed day convinced Strauss that Oppie was either “a spy or a liar.” Oppenheimer’s appointment book indicates that he had scheduled a meeting with Cutler for Sept. 1. Bernstein (1990), 1435; Belmont to Ladd, Sept. 2, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI; Pfau (1984), 147.
10. Nearly five years after his humiliation at Oppenheimer’s hands over the export of isotopes, Strauss wrote to Rabi claiming that he had evidence vindicating his claim that one of the recipients of isotopes given to Norway was a Communist. Strauss to Rabi, Oct. 20, 1953, Strauss folder, Isidor Rabi papers, Library of Congress.
11. Wilson to Bush, Aug. 25, 1954, box 120, Bush papers, Library of Congress; Smyth to Wilson, Sept. 9, 1954, box 39, Smyth papers; Gordon Arneson, “R. Gordon Arneson: Memories of the State Department’s ‘Mr. Atom’” (unpublished manuscript, n.d.); Gordon Arneson, Mar. 12, 1992, personal communication.
12. Arneson later discovered that his FBI dossier included the complaint of an irate neighbor. Arneson interview (1979).
13. Strauss (1962), 345–46.
14. Joe-4: Rhodes (1995), 523–24; Holloway (1994), 305–8. Joint Committee chairman Sterling Cole boasted in a letter to Ike: “we are now well ahead of the Soviets—both in fission weapons and in thermonuclear developments.” FRUS: 1952–1954, vol. 2, pt. 2, 1185–86.
15. Pfau (1984), 148.
16. Allardice to files, Dec. 21, 1953, no. CMXXV, JCAE; unsigned draft memo, Sept. 1, 1953, no. DCXXXIX, JCAE.
17. Mansfield to Teller, Nov. 10, 1953, Teller folder, JCAE.
18. Borden’s lengthy brief on Oppenheimer came as something of a shock and a revelation to Allardice. Allardice to file, June 13, 1953, no. DCXLIX, JCAE.
19. Cotter to Allardice, Oct. 22, 1953, no. 3687, JCAE. Allardice wrote at the bottom of Cotter’s memo: “I concur.”
20. In an assessment for the Joint Committee, Cotter disputed many of the points made by Borden in his letter to Hoover. Cotter to Allardice, Dec. 16, 1953, no. CMXXI, JCAE; Frank Cotter, Oct. 6, 1997, personal communication.
21. Chairman to president, May 21, 1953, no. DCXXXVI, JCAE.
22. Hickenlooper apparently talked Cole out of sending the letter to Hoover. Belmont to Ladd, Nov 27, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 1, JRO/FBI; Cole to Hoover, Nov. 24, 1953, no. CMXXII, JCAE.
23. In Dec. 1953, Allardice told an FBI agent that he and Cotter had “concluded it was best all around not to do anything except continue to watch the case.” Allardice to files, Dec. 21, 1953, no. CMXXV, JCAE.
24. One of the things that caused Borden to suspect Oppie of being a spy was Fuchs’s conclusion “that the Soviets had acquired an agent at Berkeley who informed them of electromagnetic separation research during 1942 or earlier.” Borden to Hoover, Nov. 7, 1953, Oppenheimer file, JCAE. Borden letter: Allardice to Strauss, Aug. 14, 1953, no. DCXXXV, JCAE; ITMOJRO, 839; Pittsburgh field report to Hoover, Dec. 6, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; Teller (2001), 389.
25. Hoover’s suspicions were shared by others. Nichols (1987), 306; Pfau (1984), 150.
26. Hoover to Tolson et al., Dec. 3, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI.
27. Murray had become increasingly distrustful of Strauss. Hoover to Tolson and Ladd, Nov. 25, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI; Pfau (1984), 155.
28. Hoover to Brownell, Dec. 3, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; Pfau (1984), 148–49.
29. Hoover to Tolson et al., Dec. 2, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI.
30. Pfau (1984), 151.
31. Ibid.
32. Robert Ferrell, ed., The Eisenhower Diaries (Norton, 1981), 261–62; Belmont to Ladd, June 5, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI.
33. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 69.
34. Hoover to Tolson et al., Dec. 3, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; Hewlett and Holl (1989), 69–70.
35. Hoover to Tolson et al., May 19, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI.
36. Hoover to Tolson and Ladd, June 24, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI.
37. Pfau (1984), 141.
38. Minutes, Aug. 25, 1949, no. 1203, JCAE. Volpe’s comment had been made in the context of the AEC’s reinvestigation of Berkeley’s scientists. See chapter 10.
39. Hoover to Tolson et al., Dec. 3, 1953, sec. 15, JRO/FBI.
40. Pittsburgh field report to Hoover, Dec. 4, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI.
41. Borden to Allardice, Dec. 6, 1953, Borden correspondence, JCAE.
42. Bernstein (1990), 1439.
43. Nichols (1987), 297; Strauss to Nichols, May 7, 1952, folder 70, box 4, Kenneth Nichols papers, Army Corps of Engineers archives, Ft. Belvoir, Va.
44. Bernstein (1990), 1448.
45. Teller-Strauss meeting: Teller to Strauss, Nov. 6, 1953
