55 



President Johnson's Medicare speech prompted vigorous protests 

 and complaints from the biomedical research community. 48 These 

 objections proved successful, as Johnson backed down on his pro- 

 posed reforms in light of his damaged public image among academ- 

 ics. The presidential pressure for directed biomedical research was 

 later resumed, however, by President Nixon with his "War on 

 Cancer". 49 



Of greater significance to the nation's science policy was John- 

 son's escalation of the Vietnam War and the corresponding pres- 

 sure it placed upon Federal civilian research budgets. Levels of 

 Federal science funding had grown steadily since World War II, 

 but the combined financial demands of the Vietnam War and the 

 Great Society programs helped to break this trend in 1967. Other 

 emerging issues — such as environmentalism, consumerism, nuclear 

 energy debates, and general public criticism of science and technol- 

 ogy — also helped stimulate a reassessment of the nation's postwar 

 science policy. 



48 See John Walsh, "NIH: Demand Increases for Applications of Research," Science, 153 (July 

 8, 1966), 149-152; Walter Sullivan, "Aide Bids Scientists Educate President on Work," New York 

 Times, 25 October 1966; Stephen P. Strickland, Politics, Science, and Dread Disease: A Short His- 

 tory of United States Medical Research Policy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), pp. 

 207-209; and Lambright, Presidential Management of Science and Technology, pp. 108-112. 



49 Lambright, Presidential Management of Science and Technology, pp. 111-112. 



