A TRAGIC END
“The country asked him to do something and he did it brilliantly, and they repaid him for the tremendous job he did by breaking him.”
— Marvin L. Goldberger, Los Alamos scientist and former director, The Institute for Advanced Studies
— Marvin L. Goldberger, Los Alamos scientist and former director, The Institute for Advanced Studies
Oppenheimer's alleged affiliations with the Communist Party sparked accusations of him being a security threat. In the Red Scare of 1954, President Eisenhower revoked Oppenheimer's security clearance. The very country he had patriotically served through his scientific developments ultimately denounced him as a threat.
"Damn it, I happen to love this country."
— J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1954 |
Excerpts from J. Robert Oppenheimer Personnel Hearings Transcripts. Courtesy U.S. Department of Energy.