History 138 - Class 38

History 138: Science in the U.S.

Class 38 (11/20)
The national security state

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Outline

The scientists' political power
The public sphere, and its limits
The corridors of power, and their traps

Confronting communism at home
Security and loyalty
The local version
Other arenas, and Oppenheimer as martyr
Conservatives and liberals

The national security state
Ambivalences: the scientists
Ambivalences: the politicians
Public and private
Prosperity untold

Names and Terms

Primary	Secondary
Scientists' Movement House Un-American Activities Committee Senator Joseph McCarthy loyalty oath Oppenheimer Affair (1954) military-industrial complex Dwight D. Eisenhower (Pres 1953-1961, R) "an island of socialism in the midst of a free enterprise economy"	Federation of Atomic (later American) Scientists Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Edward Condon (1902-1974) Clark Kerr (1911- ) consensus liberalism

Assignment

Dwight D. Eisenhower, "Farewell Radio and Television Address to the American People," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960-61 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1961), 1035-1040.

What did Eisenhower uphold as ideals? How did he see science as contributing?
What political threats did he see for the U.S. in an era of cold war?
How does this fit with what else you know about Eisenhower? (Look him up in an encyclopedia if your knowledge is shaky.)

Hughes, American, ch. 8, p. 421 to end.

How did the Atomic Energy Commission reshape the relationship between private enterprise and the federal government?
How did Rickover's initiatives transform the postwar Navy?