American Prometheus (125 page)

347
“knowing it was a damn fool”:
FBI wiretap of Kitty and Robert Oppenheimer phone conversation, 6/20/46, JRO FBI file, doc. 68.

348
“It was his [Baruch’s] ball”:
Dean Acheson oral history, n.d., PPF, HSTL; Bird,
The
Chairman,
p. 282; Goodchild,
J. Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 181.

348
“I cannot tell”:
JRO, “Three Lectures on Niels Bohr and His Times,” Pegram Lectures, Brookhaven National Laboratory, August 1963, p. 15, Louis Fischer Papers, box 9, folder 3, PUL.

348
“He is really a tragic”:
Lilienthal,
The Journals of David E. Lilienthal,
vol. 2, p. 69 (diary entry for 7/24/46).

348
“Every American knows”:
JRO, “The International Control of Atomic Energy,”
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,
6/1/46.

349
“Of course it could be done”:
Bird and Sherwin, “The First Line Against Terrorism,” WP, 12/12/01; see also John von Neumann to Lewis Strauss, 10/18/47, Strauss Papers, HHL; Herken,
Counsels of War,
p. 179. See also Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
chapter 18, footnote 92 (web version only), where Herken reports that the project to investigate the dangers of nuclear terrorism was code-named “Cyclops.” He cites Matteson to Stassen, 9/8/55, box 16, USSD; Panofsky interview by Herken (1993). A few years later, Oppenheimer persuaded the Atomic Energy Commission to have two physicists, Robert Hofstadter and Wolfgang Panofsky, write a report on the problem. The resulting top secret report recommended the installation of radiation detectors at all airports and ports. For a time, this was actually done in a few major airports. The Hofstadter-Panofsky report—known in the intelligence community as the “Screwdriver Report”—is still classified.

349
“the only way in which this country”:
JRO speech, “Atomic Energy as a Contemporary Problem,” 9/17/47, reprinted in JRO,
The Open Mind,
p. 25.

349
He was conspicuously absent:
General Groves issued instructions to the effect that while Oppenheimer would be invited to witness the Bikini tests, he would not be permitted to evaluate the results (Herken,
The Winning Weapon,
p. 224). See also
Radio
Bikini,
(documentary film).

350
“cry-baby scientist”:
Truman, memo to Acheson, 5/7/46, “Atomic Tests” folder, PSF Box 201, HSTL (courtesy of archivist Dennis E. Bilger).

Chapter Twenty-six: “Oppie Had a Rash and Is Now Immune”

351
“I did actually”:
JRO hearing, p. 35; JRO, interview by Kuhn, 11/18/63, p. 32.

351
“I owe you”:
JRO FBI file, doc. 102, phone transcript, 10/23/46.

352
“it is not a major issue”:
Hershberg,
James B. Conant,
p. 308; phone conversation between Kitty and Robert Oppenheimer, FBI memo, 12/14/46, doc. 120, JRO FBI file; Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
vol. 2, pp. 15–16.

352
“given up all hope”:
JRO hearing, p. 327.

352
“He wanted me”:
Ibid., p. 41. Acheson’s statement to JRO makes it clear that the Truman Doctrine was the American Government’s opening move in the emerging cold war.

352
To Osborn’s surprise:
Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
vol. 2, p. 268. See also James G. Hershberg, “The Jig Was Up: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the International Control of Atomic Energy, 1947–49,” paper presented at Oppenheimer Centennial Conference, Berkeley, April 22–24, 2004.

353
“encirclement and their need”:
JRO hearing, p. 40.

353
“terribly depressed”:
Keith G. Teeter, FBI memo to file, 3/3/54, SF 100-3132.

353
he “commented on the fact”:
JRO FBI file doc. 159, Ladd to director, 8/11/47, p. 13.

353
“It is clear”:
JRO,
The Open Mind,
pp. 26–27. See also Thorpe, “J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Transformation of the Scientific Vocation,” dissertation, pp. 446–47.

354
“take this great plunge”:
JRO hearing, p. 69.

354
To all appearances, Oppenheimer:
Joseph Alsop to JRO, 7/29/48, Alsop folder, box 15, JRO Papers.

354 “Whatever the Russians did”: Scott Donaldson, Archibald MacLeish: An American
Life,
p. 400.

355 “that new insight”: JRO to MacLeish, 9/27/49; MacLeish to JRO, 10/6/49; JRO to MacLeish, 2/14/49. All in MacLeish folder, box 49, JRO Papers.

355
Significantly, Frank Oppenheimer’s:
In February 1947, two CP functionaries visited Frank in his home and spent two hours coaxing him to renew his prewar contributions to the Party. They left empty-handed, and the FBI later heard from an informant that one of the CP officials complained, “I think we lost about ten G’s.” JRO FBI file, doc. 149, 4/23/47.

355
“the Russians were ready”:
Frank Oppenheimer, interview by Sherwin, 12/3/78.

356
“Haakon, believe me”:
Chevalier,
Oppenheimer,
pp. 69, 74; Barbara Chevalier diary, 7/14/84, notes taken by Gregg Herken. See Herken’s website,
www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com
.
An FBI wiretap reports that Chevalier phoned Kitty Oppenheimer on 6/3/46 to confirm that he would visit the Oppenheimers the next evening (JRO FBI file, sect. 2, doc. 56, 6/3/46). This suggests that Chevalier met with Oppenheimer not twice but three times in the spring and summer of 1946: May 1946 at Stinson Beach; June 4, 1946, at Eagle Hill; and sometime between 6/26/46 (the day of Chevalier’s FBI interrogation) and 9/5/46, the day of Oppenheimer’s FBI interview. In addition, Kitty agreed to spend the weekend of June 22–23 at the Chevaliers’ home. But she later postponed this visit to the following weekend. (6/21/46 memo.)

356
“What about Opje?”
and subsequent quotes:
Chevalier claims that a day later he outlined the plot for his 1959 novel,
The Man Who Would Be God
(Chevalier,
Oppenheimer,
pp. 79–80).

356
“Someone obviously has it”:
Chevalier,
Oppenheimer,
p. 58.

356
On June 26, 1946:
FBI background report on JRO, 2/17/47, p. 10; Goodchild,
J.
Robert Oppenheimer,
p. 70.

357
“would be safely transmitted”:
FBI (Newark) synopsis of facts, 19–22. Eltenton and Chevalier signed statements 6/26/46, document 786, JRO FBI files.

357
“I wish to state”:
Chevalier, affidavit for the FBI, 6/26/46, Chevalier FBI file part 1, also read into a tape recorder by Sherwin during an interview with Chevalier, 7/15/82, pp. 10–11.

357
Some time later:
Chevalier,
Oppenheimer,
p. 68.

358
“Opje’s face at once”:
Ibid., pp. 69–70; JRO hearing, p. 209.

358
“Then, to my utter dismay”:
Chevalier,
Oppenheimer,
pp. 69–70.

359
“to do such a thing”:
JRO FBI file, sect. 12, doc. 287, 4/18/52, “Allegation of Espionage Activity on the Part of George Charles Eltenton,” p. 20 (declassified 1996).

360
Oppenheimer expressed interest:
Strauss,
Men and Decisions,
p. 271.

360
there “wasn’t a scientist”:
JRO FBI file, sect. 1, 1/29/47 and 2/2/47, summaries of wiretap conversations between Kitty and Robert Oppenheimer.

360
“Ah, that I can do”:
Strauss,
Men and Decisions,
p. 271.

360
“Princeton is a madhouse”:
Smith and Weiner,
Letters,
p. 190.

360
“It is impossible for me”:
Barnett, “J. Robert Oppenheimer,”
Life,
10/10/49.

360
“You won’t be free”:
JRO FBI file, sect. 1, 1/29/47 and 2/2/47, summaries of wiretapped conversations between Kitty and Robert Oppenheimer.

361
“I guess that settles it”:
Michelmore,
The Swift Years,
p. 142.

361
“His name is”:
New York Herald Tribune,
4/19/47.

361
“In physical appearance”:
Beatrice M. Stern, “A History of the Institute for Advanced Study, 1930–1950,” p. 613, unpublished manuscript, IAS Archives.

361
Lewis Strauss, however, was:
Richard Pfau,
No Sacrifice Too Great,
p. 93; Strauss,
Men and Decisions,
pp. 7, 84.

362
“Regarding Strauss”:
JRO FBI file sect. 3, doc. 103, FBI wiretap of JRO phone conversation with David Lilienthal and Robert Bacher, 10/23–24/46.

362
“If you disagree”:
Joseph and Stewart Alsop,
We Accuse,
p. 19; Duncan Norton-Taylor, “The Controversial Mr. Strauss,”
Fortune,
January 1955; Brown,
Through
These Men,
p. 275.

362
“would not be gone long”:
Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
p. 174; JRO FBI file, 5/9/47.

362
“pleasant garden”:
JRO FBI file, sect. 6, 5/7/47, contained in wiretap summary, 5/27/47.

362
“the greatest blow”:
JRO FBI file, sect. 6, newspaper clipping, 4/28/47.

362
“I am terribly pleased”:
Rabi to JRO, undated, Sunday afternoon, circa April 1947, Rabi correspondence, box 59, JRO Papers.

363
His friend and former:
JRO FBI file, sect. 6, phone transcript, 2/27/47.

363
“His wisdom and broad interests”:
JRO, interview by Kuhn, 11/20/63, p. 19.

363
“a very close”:
JRO hearing, p. 957.

363
“Robert loved the Tolmans”:
Frank Oppenheimer, interview by Sherwin, 12/3/78.

363
“totally suited for”:
Jerome Seymour Bruner,
In Search of Mind,
pp. 236–38; John R. Kirkwood, Oliver R. Wolff and P. S. Epstein, “Richard Chase Tolman, 1881–1948,” National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Biographical Memoirs, vol. 27, Washington, D.C., National Academy of Sciences, 1952, pp. 143–44.

363
And during the war:
Who Was Who in America,
vol. 3, 1951–1960 (Chicago: A. N. Marquis Co., 1966), p. 857.

363
“Remember how we”:
Ruth Tolman to JRO, 4/16/49, Ruth Tolman folder, box 72, JRO Papers.

364
“My heart is very full”:
Ruth Tolman to JRO, 8/24/47, Ruth Tolman folder, box 72, JRO Papers.

364
“I look back”:
Ruth Tolman to JRO, August 1 (1947?), Ruth Tolman folder, box 72, JRO Papers.

364
“we’d go to the sea”:
Ruth Tolman to JRO, undated (November 1948?) Thursday night, Pasadena, Ruth Tolman folder, box 72, JRO Papers.