Interview with James Killian, 1986

Item Information

Title:
Interview with James Killian, 1986
Description:
James Killian was the President's Special Assistant for Science and Technology from 1957-1959. He oversaw the creation of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC), and also served as President of MIT from 1948-1959. In the interview he discusses President Eisenhower's decision to seek scientific means of preventing a surprise attack on the United States, which led to the creation of the position of science adviser to the president. He describes the various recommendations of the PSAC, including upgrading the missile program, researching nuclear submarine technology, building the U-2, developing solid fuel missiles, and improving science education in high schools. He notes the public's reaction to Sputnik, which he considered overwrought. Dr. Killian points out that he and his colleagues had the unusual privilege of reporting directly to Eisenhower who took a genuine interest in scientific and technological models and eagerly participated in numerous "delightful sessions" on the subject. Eisenhower was also intent on achieving a test ban treaty with the Soviet Union (despite deep American distrust of the Soviets), an effort Dr. Killian unexpectedly contributed to through an impromptu address to the National Security Council on the subject. Also discussed in the interview is the "continental divide" that existed in the scientific community over nuclear issues in the late 1950s, a time when American arsenals were expanding dramatically. Dr. Killian also comments on Eisenhower's relationships with scientists who held very different views, notably Edward Teller, Lewis Strauss and George Kistiakowsky.
Interviewee:
Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988
Date:
April 18, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
WGBH Open Vault
Series:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff
Fisk, James B.
Photographic reconnaissance systems
LeMay, Curtis E.
York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)
Strategic Defense Initiative
Nuclear weapons
United States. Navy
United States. Air Force. Strategic Air Command
Gaither Report (1957)
Civil defense
United States. Air Force
Schlesinger, James R.
Polaris (Missile)
Fallout shelters
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Aerial photography
Soviet Union
Nuclear weapons--Testing
United Nations
Strauss, Lewis
United States. PresidentÂ’s Science Advisory Committee
Hydrogen bomb
United States. Dept. of Defense
Edicia Sputnik
Reagan, Ronald
Kistiakowsky, George B. (George Bogdan), 1900-1982
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Adams, Sherman, 1899-1986
Land, Edwin Herbert, 1909-1991
Teller, Edward, 1908-2003
Sprague, Robert C. (Robert Chapman), 1900-
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Macmillan, Harold, 1894-1986
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
Goodpaster, Andrew Jackson, 1915-2005
Cutler, Robert, 1895-1974
Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Places:
Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston
Extent:
00:53:33:04
Link to Item:
https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_A7A8A21F5FEA42F3B5E0CD159EF9C2C7
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Identifier:
V_A7A8A21F5FEA42F3B5E0CD159EF9C2C7