<--PREV Doc #1316  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1318 Document #1317; February 28, 1955 To Dean Rusk Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVI - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part VII: "Nothing could be worse than global war"; January 1955 to May 1955 Chapter 14: "We must show no lack of firmness"   Dear Mr. Rusk:1 I was glad to receive your letter of February twenty-third and to note the constructive nature of the concern which you and the Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation have evidenced over the problem which confronts the world as a result of the exploitation of nuclear energy.2 This problem, as you know, arises not only from the prospect of nuclear warfare but is also a concomitant of the peaceful development of the atom. I have discussed your letter with Chairman Strauss of the Atomic Energy Commission who has been consistently advised on this aspect by Dr. John Bugher, presently on leave of absence from your staff.3 Mr. Strauss informs me that the Atomic Energy Commission budgets approximately three million dollars per annum for its studies conducted in its own and university laboratories on various aspects of fall-out from weapon detonations, stack gases from atomic installations, the disposal of the wastes of separation processes, isotopes used in experimentation, etc. Dr. Bugher's direction is aided by an advisory committee of men who are at the summit of their professions in the medical, chemical, genetic, and other fields. However, it may well be that much more can and should be done than we are doing. In any case, I am sending a copy of your letter and my reply to Chairman Strauss with the request that he arrange to meet with you and members of your Board of Trustees at an early date to explore further your very generous proposal.4 With best wishes, Sincerely 1 Dean Rusk, former Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, had been president of the Rockefeller Foundation since 1952. For further background see Galambos, Chief of Staff, no. 1421. 2 Rusk had told Eisenhower that the trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation were concerned over the "effects of atomic radiation on living organisms" and wished to provide financial support for the National Academy of Sciences to "make a searching evaluation of present knowledge about the effects of these newly unleashed forces upon the life processes and attempt to uncover those questions which need further intensive research to obtain the knowledge which man will need to act wisely" (Rusk to Eisenhower, Feb. 23, 1955, WHCF/OF 108-A; see also Goodpaster, Memorandum of Conference, Mar. 21, 1955, AWF/AWD). 3 John Clifford Bugher (M.D. University of Michigan 1929) had been director of the Atomic Energy Commission's division of biology and medicine since 1952 (see Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 1953-1961, pp. 278, 280-81). 4 "We have moved promptly on your suggestion . . . ," Rusk would answer, "and are confident that it can soon be determined whether there is a constructive and useful role for the National Academy of Sciences and the Rockefeller Foundation to play in this matter" (Rusk to Eisenhower, Mar. 11, 1955, WHCF/OF 108-A). Strauss would tell Eisenhower that he was pursuing Rusk's proposal, and on April 7 the National Academy of Sciences would announce that they would begin the study with funding from the foundation (Goodpaster, Memorandum of Conference, Mar. 21, 1955, AWF/AWD; Telephone conversation, Dulles and Strauss, Apr. 7, 1955, Dulles Papers, Telephone Conversations; Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 1953-1961, p. 295; New York Times, Apr. 8, 1955). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Dean Rusk, 28 February 1955. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1317. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1317.cfm <--PREV Doc #1316  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1318

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