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The decision against Oppenheimer was probably influenced most by H-Bomb Innovator Edward Teller, whom Author Davis might profitably have substituted for Lawrence as Oppenheimer's chief antagonist. Misunderstandings between the two physicists were often personal as well as political. While giving a chalk talk on thermonuclear reactions at Los Alamos, Teller turned white with shock when Oppenheimer gently interrupted to tell him that he had forgotten the square of the velocity of light in his equations, introducing a huge error in his results. Later, Teller was able to make a comment far more devastating to Oppenheimer. Asked at the 1954 loyalty hearing if he believed Oppenheimer to be a security risk, Teller said: "I would feel personally more secure if public matters would rest in other hands." Scorned for his betrayal by fellow scientists, Teller wept and protested: "I am not a heel!"
Chagrined and humiliated, Oppenheimer retreated back to his job at Princeton as director of the Institute for Advanced Study. Little was heard from him again until 1963, when President Johnson made partial amends by presenting him with the AEC's $50,000 Enrico Fermi Award. "I think it just possible, Mr. President," said Oppenheimer, visibly moved, "that it has taken some charity and some courage for you to make this award today." Ironically enough, Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance was never reinstated, and the father of the atomic bomb—and the obvious hero of Lawrence and Oppenheimer—remained cut off from U.S. nuclear secrets until his death last year.