27 



argued for the adoption of a formula for state by state distribution. 

 Bush, on the other hand, argued that the primary consideration in 

 the award of Federal research funds should be excellence. Finally, 

 the social sciences were an issue. Bush did not want them included, 

 but Kilgore did. 7 



The science community found itself split between the two posi- 

 tions. Those supporting Bush included many prominent and influ- 

 ential leaders of the science community, often representing the na- 

 tion's dominant universities and corporations. 8 Scientists favoring 

 the Kilgore approach included the Federation of American Scien- 

 tists, the Washington Association of Scientists, and the Association 

 of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities. 



Conservative members of Congress tended to support Bush, while 

 liberal members generally sided with Kilgore. The Truman Admin- 

 istration was clearly on the side of Kilgore, and its position was 

 most actively presented by the Bureau of the Budget. 



Science Policy Under President Truman 



President Truman fully appreciated the need for Federal support 

 of scientific research during peacetime. In his 21-point reconversion 

 program presented to Congress as a special message on 6 Septem- 

 ber 1945, he asserted: "No nation can maintain a position of leader- 

 ship in the world of today unless it develops to the full its scientific 

 and technological resources. No government adequately meets its 

 responsibilities unless it generously and intelligently supports and 

 encourages the work of science in university, industry, and ... its 

 own laboratories." 9 To achieve this goal, Truman recommended 

 that Congress adopt legislation to create a single Federal research 

 agency that would promote and support research in defense, the 

 natural and social sciences, and medicine and public health. More- 

 over, Truman argued that this agency should be charged with co- 

 ordinating the scientific research activities undertaken in the vari- 

 ous Federal agencies and departments. 



THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION 



The creation of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946 es- 

 sentially pared off atomic energy as an independent area of science 

 policy. 1 ° The military use of atomic energy ensured that the devel- 



7 For a discussion of the Federal Government's support of the social sciences, see Gene M. 

 Lyons, The Uneasy Partnership: Social Science and the Federal Government in the Twentieth 

 Century (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1969). 



8 See Penick, et al., The Politics of American Science, p. 121. 



9 Harry S. Truman, "Special Message to Congress Presenting a 21-Point Program for the Re- 

 conversion Period," 6 September 1945, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, 

 Harry S. Truman, 1946 (Washington: GPO, 1962), p. 293. Truman's science policy was "Point 12" 

 in this message; pp. 292-294. 



10 For the background of the Atomic Energy Commission and a discussion of the development 

 of nuclear energy in the United States, see Richard G. Hewlett and Oscar E. Anderson, Jr., The 

 New World, 1936-1946, (University Park: Pennsylania State University Press, 1962); Richard G. 

 Hewlett and Francis Duncan, Atomic Shield, 1947-1952 (University Park: Pennsylvania State 

 University Press, 1969); Corbin Allardice and Edward R. Trapnell, The Atomic Energy Commis- 

 sion (New York: Praeger, 1974); George T. Mazuzan and J. Samuel Walker, Controlling the 

 Atom: The Beginnings of Nuclear Regulation, 1946-1962 (Berkeley: University of California 

 Press, 1985); and Richard G. Hewlett and Jack M. Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 1953-1960 (to 

 be published). 



