(10 of 10)
Under David Lilienthal, its first chairman, the AEC's emphasis in a world just recovered from war was on the atom's peaceful use. But when the Soviets turned down a U.S. plan (presented by Bernard Baruch) for international control of atomic energy—and shortly thereafter set off their own A-bomb—the emphasis changed. Though the U.S. continued to work on nuclear power projects and medical uses of the atom, the military face of the atom loomed larger and larger. Under AEC Chairmen Gordon Dean and Lewis Strauss, the U.S. began devoting its energy to turning out nuclear submarines, developing more powerful nuclear warheads, and setting off a whole testing series for the H-bomb.
Three Hats. To do his job properly, Glenn Seaborg must wear three hats. There is Seaborg the AEC chairman, involved in all the technical complexities of that job. There is Seaborg the adviser to the President on nuclear and atomic matters. And there is Seaborg the top Government spokesman for the scientific and industrial community. Though he has only the same single vote in the AEC as its other four commissioners, Seaborg must make the day-to-day decisions that keep the AEC pulsating, still be able to explain the facts of the nation's nuclear stance to such searching inquirers as President Kennedy, Defense Secretary McNamara or the Members of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy.
The realization that he must devote most of his energies to preparing for the possibility of war saddens Glenn Seaborg. But the choice is not his—or that of the U.S. For the Soviet Union has made it necessary for the U.S. to meet ruthlessness with strength.