"FATHER OF THE ATOMIC BOMB": FIRST EDITION OF IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER, TEXTS OF PRINCIPAL DOCUMENTS AND LETTERS, 1954

(OPPENHEIMER, J. Robert) . In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Texts of Principal Documents and Letters of Personnel Security Board General Manager Commissioners. Washington, D.C. May 27, 1854, through June 29, 1954. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1954. Slim octavo, original printed tan self-wrappers, staple-bound as issued; pp. 67.

First edition of the Atomic Energy Commission publication of Texts and Principal Documents, containing select and still controversial 1954 documents and correspondence, together in print for the first time, in the AEC decision to strip Oppenheimer’s security clearance—a "black mark" on America—in fragile original wrappers.

Deemed the "father of the atomic bomb," Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "became the principal spokesman for a broader public understanding of atomic science and technology" (ANB). In the early 1950s, targeted by Atomic Energy Commission chairman Strauss, the FBI's Hoover and Joseph McCarthy, Oppenheimer faced demands that his security clearance be withdrawn. On May 23, 1954, the Gray Board of the AEC, "deemed Oppenheimer a loyal citizen who was nevertheless a security risk." As evidenced by the four factors in that decision, printed herein, "their reasoning was tortured." On hearing of the decision to rescind Oppenheimer's security clearance, "Einstein, disgusted, quipped that henceforth the AEC should be known as the 'Atomic Extermination Conspiracy'…the agony and humiliation that Oppenheimer endured in 1954 were not unique during the McCarthy era. But as a defendant, he was America's Prometheus" ((Bird & Sherwin, 540-46, xi). As noted by Ward Evans, whose dissenting opinion to the ruling appears herein, the AEC decision stands as "a black mark" on America.

This first edition of Texts of Principal Documents is one of the two 1954 AEC publications "containing documentation on the Oppenheimer case"—this issued together with the lengthy Transcript of Hearings (White House: Office of the Historian). When Oppenheimer's lead attorney Garrison belatedly learned of Texts—with no previous AEC notice—he promptly wrote AEC chairman Strauss. In that July 14, 1954 letter, separately available, Garrison expressed, in studied phrasing and implied accusation, anger over bias in the omission of certain documents from Texts that would have assured a "close public examination which the national interest requires." He also noted the inclusion herein of the June 12 Recommendations. Garrison observed that this printing was the first time he and Oppenheimer read the AEC Recommendations, an action that denied them any earlier "opportunity to submit our comments… which obviously would have been relevant to the Commission's decision." In many ways, this often-overlooked publication achieves perhaps the opposite of its intent. Rather than quelling dispute over the AEC decision, publication of Texts ensured ongoing debate over Oppenheimer and the Cold War, by what was selectively revealed in its pages and what was hidden. Containing, together in print for the first time: Findings and Recommendations of the Personnel Security Board (May 27, 1954); Letter from General Manager K.D. Nichols… to Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (May 28, 1954); Letter from Dr. Oppenheimer's Attorneys to General Manager K.D. Nichols (June 1, 1954); Letter from General Manager K.D. Nichols… to Dr. Oppenheimer's Attorneys (June 3, 1954); Recommendations… in the Matter of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (June 12, 1954); Decisions and Opinions of the United States Atomic Energy Commission in the Matter of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (June 29, 1954). Upper front wrapper with trace of signature removal.

A fine copy.