PART 1

Presidential Addresses

The founders of AAAS could not have imagined what the anniversary addresses would be like 100 and 150 years later. From post-war to new millennium, both addresses give much of the credit for our Nation's success to the work of the Nation's scientists. President Harry S Truman addresses a Nation emerging from the Second World War, a war won largely on the discoveries of science. He saw that science had already transformed the United States into a world power, and he saw greater victories to come. But President Truman warns that we not become complacent: National security is still is his primary concern and the times, in 1948, are still hazardous. But he sees that science can help keep the peace and lead to fuller lives for all. "Continuous research by our best scientists is the key to American scientific leadership and true national security," he says.

He proposes five steps to ensure our future: increase science funding, emphasize basic and medical research (an area that had been slighted in favor of applied research), start a National Science Foundation, grant more aid to universities, and better finance and coordinate the work of federal research agencies.

Fifty years later, President William J. Clinton faces a different world, yet still a world of "unparalleled possibilities." He has the luxury of looking back at Truman's time and seeing how far we have come since then. And he sees that the pace has quickened. The United States continues in its position of world leader, but now we are more concerned with the economy, the environment, and the quality of life. We have taken President Truman's challenge and let science lead us to a fuller life, a life we have now come to expect.

Clinton also supports increasing federal support for science, but he envisions a smaller, more responsible government. As he looks to the next century, Clinton sees the importance of long-term funding for science, a need addressed in his Administration. One of his gifts to America, he says, is the first strong, stable multi-year source of funding for research outlined in his proposed budget. Again heeding Truman's words, he proposes increased funding for basic research.

Truman's call for greater support of universities has paid off. We now have the finest higher education system in the world. Clinton now asks that we turn to pre-college education, where the United States lags behind other nations. He wants to turn our children's vision toward succeeding in college, and he wants to open those doors to all of our young people who work hard enough to reach them.

In Truman's era the Vannevar Bush model of science for science's sake was operating. Fifty years later, we live in an age of increased responsibility. Clinton realizes the extraordinary responsibilities of scientists. Scientists must ensure that science serves humanity, and not the other way around. He sees a bright future, but only if scientists do not abuse their power.

Clinton echoes Truman in saying that the pursuit of knowledge determines the success of our pursuit of happiness. He looks to the next semicentennial anniversary addressin 2048. He sees the promise of the future and envisions a world where science has solved many of our present problems. We owe our children, he says, a science that has married advances in knowledge with the old values upon which this Nation was founded.

From 1948 and 1998, we see two different worlds, two different visions, but one goal, and a singular appreciation for the work of scientists and hope for the world they work to create.