THE PRESIDENCY: Decision at the Crossroads

For three days last week, when the international clouds seemed darkest, Harry Truman was convinced that the atomic bomb tests at Bikini should be canceled.

He told the military his reason: it was unwise to have so much of the nation’s naval power in the Pacific at a time when it might be urgently needed elsewhere, say in the Mediterranean. Hastily, the Navy Department made its case: 1) only two major fleet units (battleships) were to be used, 2) neither was to be drawn from the Atlantic Fleet, 3) those ships could be left in the fleet if the commander in chief wanted it that way.

But another objection came to the President from Speaker Sam Rayburn. If some 60 Congressmen went off to the Pacific as observers, the Administration’s legislative program might be blown to bits.

The President mulled the problem over for another day, discussed it with his Cabinet. Then he came to a sudden compromise decision. He ordered Operation Crossroads postponed for six weeks. His official statement: a large number of Congressmen would not be able to witness the tests on May 15 because of their heavy legislative schedule.

It was clear that the political factor was the deciding one, but the uncertain international situation had also weighed heavily. Now the Crossroads’ chiefs wondered whether their big show would ever come off, or whether it might not be tabled sine die.