Bush’s report, called Science: The Endless Frontier, presented to President Truman in June 1945, two months after FDR’s death, and released the following month, caused a sensation. The country had no national science policy, he declared. Philanthropy and private industry could not be relied upon to fund the basic research that is “the pacemaker of technological progress,” essential for national security, economic growth, and the fight against disease. The report outlined the architecture of a new national research system.
