31 



Endless Frontier, their premises did not go unchallenged. The 

 Truman Administration found several aspects of that report objec- 

 tionable, and countered by establishing a temporary President's 

 Scientific Research Board in October 1946. 17 Headed by Truman 

 assistant John R. Steelman, the Board's sole purpose was to pre- 

 pare a report to the President which addressed the status of Ameri- 

 can science and made recommendations concerning Federal re- 

 search programs. The report was intended to counter the elements 

 of the Bush Report which members of the Truman Administration 

 opposed, therefore proposing a science policy more consistent with 

 the New Deal political philosophy. The "Steelman Report"— enti- 

 tled Science and Public Policy— was released in 1947. 18 



There was no discrepancy between the findings of the Steelman 

 and Bush reports with regard to the overall value assigned to sci- 

 entific research. Both reports argued that scientific research ulti- 

 mately led to broad benefits in the areas of economic growth, im- 

 proved health, and strengthened military security. In Steelman's 

 words: 



The security and prosperity of the United States depend 

 today, as never before, upon the rapid extension of scientif- 

 ic knowledge. So important, in fact, has this extension 

 become to our country that it may reasonably be said to be 

 a major factor in national survival. 19 



Like the Bush Report, the Steelman Report recommended continu- 

 ing growth in the Federal support of science, likening such support 

 to an investment in the overall health and advancement of the 

 nation. The Steelman Report also stressed the need to train future 

 generations of scientists, a point emphasized by Bush and others 

 during the immediate postwar period. Finally, the reports agreed 

 on the fundamental need for a "unified policy for science" — some- 

 thing, Steelman argued, that "the United States has yet to devel- 

 op." 20 



The most important difference between the two reports involved 

 the Federal research establishment. Bush essentially omitted it in 

 his report, while Steelman— in accord with the Truman Adminis- 

 tration — gave it great emphasis. Science — The Endless Frontier was 

 concerned almost exclusively with the research needs outside the 

 Federal Government. Science and Public Policy, on the other hand, 

 addressed these needs as well as those of the researchers working 

 within the Federal departments and agencies. 



The second major difference was the length and depth of cover- 

 age offered by the two reports. Faced with a pressing deadline at 

 the end of the war, Bush chose to produce a short, hard-hitting, 



17 See Executive Order No. 9791, October 17, 1946. Board members consisted of the Secretaries 

 of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, War, and Navy, the Chairmen of the Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission, Federal Communications Commission, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 

 and Tennessee Valley Authority, the Administrators of Federal Loan, Federal Works, Federal 

 Security, and Veterans Affairs, and the Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Devel- 

 opment. 



18 John R. Steelman, Science and Public Policy: A Report to the President, 5 volumes (Wash- 

 ington: GPO, 1947). The subtitles are as follow: volume one, A Program for the Nation; volume 

 two, The Federal Research Program; volume three, Administration for Research; volume four, 

 Manpower for Research; and volume five, The Nation 's Medical Research. 



19 Steelman, Science and Public Policy, vol. I., p. 3. 



20 Ibid., vol. Ill, p. 9. 



