Oppenheimer and JFK

[James DiEugenio]

In preparation for the upcoming film on Oppenheimer, I am reading American Prometheus, probably the best book about the famous Manhattan Project leader.

Some things that are interesting.  Every objective person knows that Oppenheimer was railroaded off the AEC by the rightwing nut Lewis Strauss because he would not endorse Teller's drive for the Hydrogen bomb.  And Teller was a two faced Judas who met with the prosecuting  attorney the night before in order to map out a strategy which would make it look like he was a reluctant negative witness.

Kennedy voted against Strauss for Commerce Secretary  And it was Kennedy who rehabbed Oppenheimer by inviting him to a Nobel laureates dinner in 1962, even though Oppenheimer had never won the Nobel.

Kennedy then decided to give him the Fermi award in 1963.  Which included a 50,000 check, about a half million today.  JFK was killed before the ceremony though and LBJ gave him the award.

Jackie requested to see him after.  And she told him that granting this award to him was something that her husband very much wanted to do.

But here is the capper.  On the day Kennedy was killed, Oppenheimer's son came into his office while he was working on his acceptance speech. He told him the news. His secretary then affirmed it.  Oppenheimer offered his son a drink.  But when he went over to the liquor cabinet, he stopped.  His hand started to tremble, and he could not pour the drink. As they walked outside to watch TV Oppenheimer said the following: 

"Now things are going to come apart very fast."  

You can't make this stuff up.  Its on p. 576.  I hope its in the film.

 

 

[Robert Montenegro]

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

But here is the capper.  On the day Kennedy was killed, Oppenheimer's son came into his office while he was working on his acceptance speech. He told him the news. His secretary then affirmed it.  Oppenheimer offered his son a drink.  But when he went over to the liquor cabinet, he stopped.  His hand started to tremble, and he could not pour the drink. As they walked outside to watch TV Oppenheimer said the following: 

"Now things are going to come apart very fast."

 

A disturbing footnote to what Mr. Oppenheimer had to say about President Kenney's death was that COL. Boris Theodore Pash, the US Army Chief of Counter-Intelligence at the IX Corps Area, HQ, Western Defense Command, at the Presidio of San Francisco during WWII, was tasked with ferreting out suspected Soviet agents within the staff of Radiation Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley, where the entire Physics Department was attached to the Manhattan Project.

Mr. Oppenheimer was interrogated several times during WWII by COL. Pash, whom felt that Oppenheimer's personal ethics would conflict with the task of creating a weapon of mass destruction, and, because of that, COL. Pash assigned several plainclothes Army CIC agents to keep Oppenheimer in line with the mission.

Strangely enough, by the mid-1950s, COL. Pash was the command officer of Office of Policy Coordination covert action committee, Program Branch 7 (PB/7), whose task it was to oversee the planning of all "wet-works" for CIA proper.

"Wet-works" being a euphemism for assassinations, of course.

Under oath to the Church Committee in 1975, COL. Pash said he could not remember a single instance where he was ordered to conduct a targeted murder...

Edited July 15, 2023 by Robert Montenegro

[James DiEugenio]

Yes Pash figures in American Prometheus.

Oppenheimer did not know that a couple of the interviews he did with Pash were being taped.

The prosecutor for the AEC hearing, Roger Robb, in an unethical move, played the tape for a group of witnesses before they testified.

And the night before Teller testified, Robb gave him the FBI file on Oppenheimer.

I think JFK was influenced by Schlesinger and Bundy on this.

 

[Joe Bauer]

4 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

But here is the capper.  On the day Kennedy was killed, Oppenheimer's son came into his office while he was working on his acceptance speech. He told him the news. His secretary then affirmed it.  Oppenheimer offered his son a drink.  But when he went over to the liquor cabinet, he stopped.  His hand started to tremble, and he could not pour the drink. As they walked outside to watch TV Oppenheimer said the following: 

"Now things are going to come apart very fast."  

You can't make this stuff up.  It's on p. 576.  I hope it's in the film.

I do too.

[Douglas Caddy]

Houston Chronicle reports today, "'Oppenheimer goes big, but not in Houston." This because there are only 19 theaters nationwide that are equipped to handle 70 mm IMAX. Houstonians will have to go to San Antonio or Dallas to see the film in 70 mm IMAX. 70 mm IMAX allows the viewer to see the film without the annoying glasses. "Oppenheimer" can still be seen in Houston at two theaters in a lesser large format. It can be seen in "premium large format" at over 1000 venues. The IMAX film reel measures 11 miles and weighs 600 pounds.

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Douglas Caddy

[James DiEugenio]

I really wish I had gotten an Imax ticket for this.

But I think they are all sold out right now in Los Angeles.

[Matt Allison]

Looking forward to seeing this in 70mm IMAX. Not looking forward to driving 35 minutes to do so, but whatevs..

[James DiEugenio]

Here is my review of the film at Consortium News.

I think I am the only critic who mentioned the Kennedy connection.

Probably because I was the only one who read the 600 page book on which the film is based before I saw it.

https://consortiumnews.com/2023/07/24/oppenheimer/

[Charles Blackmon]

On 7/15/2023 at 8:19 PM, James DiEugenio said:

I really wish I had gotten an Imax ticket for this.

But I think they are all sold out right now in Los Angeles.

Would that have made the Trinity test scenes more powerful? I was a tad disappointed with that part of the film. Not trying to discourage anybody from seeing the film; I was glad I went.

[Paul Brancato]

Does the movie address the controversy about dropping the A bombs on Japan?

[Charles Blackmon]

32 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

Does the movie address the controversy about dropping the A bombs on Japan?

Yes. Following Germany's surrender, the scientists at the Los Alamos facility had a meeting to discuss their concerns about dropping the bomb on Japan, with Oppenheimer showing up. Is this factual? I don't know.

[James DiEugenio]

Charles, yes I think that was factual.  Oppenheimer allowed them to do that.  But his "out" was always that this was not their decision.  It was the Pentagon's.

It was not until after he saw what had happened that he changed his stance on this.

As I noted in my review, for whatever reason, the film does not show what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And it does not show Oppenheimer's meeting with Jackie after the Fermi award.  I thought that would have been a more emotional ending than the rather flat one the film has.

 

[Paul Cummings]

I watched the film (IMAX) Sunday night and it fell flat for me in several areas. I thought the storyline was poorly written and just didn't buy the internal struggles of what Oppenheimer went through. They fast tracked some areas and labors in ending the film. I like these type of movies but this one was off the mark for me.

[Sean Coleman]

3 hours ago, Charles Blackmon said:

Yes. Following Germany's surrender, the scientists at the Los Alamos facility had a meeting to discuss their concerns about dropping the bomb on Japan, with Oppenheimer showing up. Is this factual? I don't know.

Hollywood don’t usually use facts….amongst others, Joseph Rotblat not mentioned- the only one to walk out on the project when it was discovered Germany couldn’t build big stupid bombs.

He did get a Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for his contribution to nuclear disarmament though, so he’s probably not that bothered.

[Paul Brancato]

Greg Mitchell, author and documentarian, reviewed the movie for Democracy Now yesterday, and though he said it was worth watching, he mentioned some of what you have, and also that a petition by scientists to not use the A bomb against Japan was squelched by Oppenheimer.