In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Security Clearance Hearing

by Richard D. Polenberg (Editor)

At the end of World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of America's preeminent physicists. For his work as director of the Manhattan Project, he was awarded the Medal for Merit, the highest honor the U.S. government can bestow on a civilian. Yet, in 1953, Oppenheimer was denied security clearance amidst allegations that he was "more probably than not" an "agent of the Soviet Union." Determined to clear his name, he insisted on a hearing before the Atomic Energy Commission's Personnel Security Board. In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer contains an edited and annotated transcript of the 1954 hearing, as well as the various reports resulting from it. Drawing on recently declassified FBI files, Richard Polenberg's introductory and concluding essays situate the hearing in the Cold War period, and his thoughtful analysis helps explain why the hearing was held, why it turned out as it did, and what that result meant, both for Oppenheimer and for the United States. Among the forty witnesses who testified were many who had played vitally important roles in the making of U.S. nuclear Enrico Fermi, Hans Bethe, Edward Teller, Vannevar Bush, George F. Kennan, and Oppenheimer himself. The hearing provides valuable insights into the development of the atomic bomb and the postwar debate among scientists over the hydrogen bomb, the conflict between the foreign policy and military establishments over national defense, and the controversy over the proper standards to apply in assessing an individual's loyalty. It reveals as well the fears and anxieties that plagued America during the Cold War era.

Genres: History

448 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2001

About the author

Richard Polenberg is professor of history at Cornell University, where he has received the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award and was appointed Goldwin Smith Professor of American History in 1986. He has been a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and has published widely on twentieth-century American history, including The World of Benjamin Cardozo: Personal Values and the Judicial Process (1997); Fighting Faiths: The Abrams Case, the Supreme Court, and Free Speech (1989), for which he won the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award and the Gustavus Myers Foundation's Outstanding Book Award; and One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States since 1938 (1980).

~ from http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/Catal...

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boiled down and narrativised from 3000 pages of transcripts, Polenberg’s play is a detailed history as much as it points out the dramatic content of Oppenheimer’s trial. If you’re approaching the play as some one who’s curious to know more about Oppenheimer’s life and decisions, you’ll be rewarded. If approaching as some one who likes stage action over dialog, this is not for you.

[Nick Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amazon 2008-05-31. If you've read American Prometheus, you've definitely got the excerpts worth reading from these looooooooong hearings.