Preface

The core and raison d’être of this volume are 27 memoranda recounting William Golden’s conversations with 18 influential scientist-statesmen between October 20, 1950, and April 11, 1951, when he served as special consultant to the Bureau of the Budget during the early months of the Korean War. These memoranda have been selected from well over 200 that Golden dictated following his interviews with more than 150 individuals. Taken together, they provide a fascinating glimpse into a critical period in the formation of U.S. science policy, as seen through the eyes of an individual who was, and has remained, centrally important in shaping that policy.

The "Appreciation" that follows this preface is intended to locate Golden’s memoranda in the context of the era, and to give some indication of the major science policy precedents that he witnessed and often helped establish during the months of his consultancy.

The 27 memoranda dictated by Golden are preceded by an October 19, 1950, memorandum to President Truman from the director of the Bureau of the Budget specifying the tasks that Golden has agreed to undertake on his behalf. The memoranda on his interviews are arranged chronologically, according to the dates of the conversations they recount. Three other pertinent items follow: a December 18, 1950, memorandum from Golden to President Truman entitled, "Mobilization of Science for War: A Scientific Adviser to the President;" his February 15, 1951, "Memorandum on Program for the National Science Foundation;" and the text of the April 19, 1951, letter from President Truman to Oliver E. Buckley, drafted by Golden, inviting Buckley to assume the chairmanship of the newly established Scientific Advisory Committee to the White House Office of Defense Mobilization. By affixing his signature to that letter the president, in effect, designated Buckley as his science adviser, while endorsing the importance of scientific advise at the highest level of government.

Editing of the memoranda has been kept to a minimum. Explanatory words or phrases inserted into the texts, such as first names and institutional affiliations of individuals not otherwise identified, have been enclosed in square brackets. Misspellings of a few names that appear to have been mistranscribed from Golden’s dictations have been corrected. A few footnotes have been used to elucidate casual references to individuals or events which, while common knowledge 45 years ago, require some explanation today. Finally, occasional passages dealing with arcane technical matters, such as the details of specific weapons systems, have been eliminated and replaced with elisions. With these exceptions, the texts are verbatim reproductions of Golden’s original dictations.

Appendices to the volume consist of: brief biographies of the individuals whose conversations with Golden are recorded in this compilation; a note on the criteria used to select memoranda for inclusion, together with a list of repositories of the full collection; a glossary of abbreviations appearing in the memoranda; comparative chronologies of events in Korea and events in U.S. science policy during the months of Golden's consultancy; and a full list of persons consulted in the course of that consultancy, with pertinent dates.

William A. Blanpied
April 1995