The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer: After the Manhattan Project

J. Robert Oppenheimer with a pensive look.

EMILIO SEGRE VISUAL ARCHIVE

A Famous Physicist 

After the Manhattan Project Oppenheimer became known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” received a prestigious appointment at Princeton University, and had access to top government officials. While serving on committees in Washington D.C., Oppenheimer advocated for international control of nuclear energy. However, in a meeting with President Truman, Oppenheimer angered Truman by saying “Mr. President, I have blood on my hands.” Oppenheimer's desire for international control of nuclear energy was not achieved but the civilian control Oppenheimer wanted in the United States began when the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) took over from the military in 1947.  

Oppenheimer smoked heavily for the majority of his life.

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The Red Scare 

In 1949, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAAC) began investigating alleged communists at the Berkeley Radiation Lab during WWII. After admitting Communist Party membership to the HUAAC, Oppenheimer’s brother Frank lost his university teaching position. The same year, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb based on plans from wartime spies in Los Alamos, prompting President Truman to announce the US hydrogen bomb program. Oppenheimer called these events “the Plague of Thebes”, referencing the Ancient Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex.  

Oppenheimer’s past communist associations came back to haunt him during the anti-communist fervor spearheaded by Senator Joseph McCarthy. AEC Commissioner Thomas E. Murry publicly declared Oppenheimer a security risk and the FBI leaked specific allegations to the press. 

Conflicting Views on the H-Bomb 

Oppenheimer’s advocacy for small “tactical” nuclear weapons for battlefield use brought him into conflict with US Air Force planners who promoted large “strategic” nuclear weapons that could devastate enormous areas. The Air Force set up a second atomic bomb lab in California to work on the hydrogen bomb while the AEC gave facilities to Edward Teller to continue hydrogen bomb research.  A successful test of the hydrogen bomb in 1952 yielded a blast 500 times larger than the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Lewis Strauss was a chief foil of Oppenheimer after the Manhattan Project.

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Security Clearance Hearings 

Lewis Strauss, appointed Special Assistant of Atomic Energy to President Eisenhower, wanted to “terminate all AEC dealings with Oppenheimer.” President Eisenhower then ordered a “blank wall placed between Oppenheimer and secret information” until his investigation by the AEC board. Strauss presented Oppenheimer with the charges and a hearing date of April 12, 1954, prompting Oppenheimer to retain an attorney. Details of Oppenheimer’s life were dissected during the four-week trial. 

Roger Robb, attorney for the AEC, cross-examined Oppenheimer for twelve hours over three days. Oppenheimer admitted to lying ten years earlier about his contacts with his communist friend Haakon Chevalier. General Groves testified on Oppenheimer’s behalf but said he would not grant Oppenheimer a security clearance under present interpretations of security standards.  

Hans Bethe testified and said that Oppenheimer was the unifying force in wartime Los Alamos stating that he was “superior in judgement and superior in knowledge to all of us.” The hearings focused on Oppenheimer's “arrogance of judgement” rather than his deference to others with authority. Vannevar Bush criticized the hearings, saying, “here is a man being pilloried because he had strong opinions and the temerity to express them.” 

William Borden, US Air Force Major General Roscoe Wilson, and Edward Teller all gave testimony damaging to Oppenheimer. Teller stated that it would be best not to grant Oppenheimer security clearance.  William Borden says that “more probably than not” Oppenheimer is an agent of the Soviet Union. 

A Devastating Verdict  

The hearing concluded May 6, 1954, with a majority report finding most of the charges against Oppenheimer true but with “no indication of disloyalty.” The FBI continued to monitor Oppenheimer, with an informant near Oppenheimer’s Virgin Islands retreat reporting “Oppenheimer is drinking very heavily to the point of being a nuisance.”  

Oppenheimer in his later years.

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The Final Years 

Oppenheimer’s political exile eased with the inauguration of President Kennedy. In 1964, shortly after Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson presented Oppenheimer with the AEC Fermi Award, having been nominated for the award by Edward Teller. In 1966, after a lifetime of heavy smoking, Oppenheimer was diagnosed with throat cancer. He died on February 18, 1967, and his ashes were scattered at sea off St. John in the US Virgin Islands. 

Bibliography

• Reed, Bruce Cameron. Manhattan Project: The Story of the Century. Cham: Springer, 2020. 

• Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Touchstone ed. A Touchstone Book. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1988. 

• Goodchild, Peter. J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds. 1st American ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.