Julius Robert Oppenheimer, known to the world as, “The Father of the Atomic Bomb”, was credited for his role in the Manhattan Project. During the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos, New Mexico Laboratory. Oppenheimer helped with the development of the atomic bombs that were eventually dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. During his life, Oppenheimer was one of the most important leaders of American history by being a pioneer in nuclear science. Oppenheimer, the son of a German immigrant, was born on April 22, 1904 (Biography). By the age of five or six, Oppenheimer was already enrolled in piano lessons. At the age of twelve, Oppenheimer was corresponding with well - known geologists about new rock …show more content…
He was followed by Counter Intelligence Officials who asked to have Oppenheimer removed from his position. Groves invoked his powers and overruled them. In January of 1944, Tatlock committed suicide. (Carnes, Mark).
Oppenheimer was challenged with making two bomb prototypes. The first was a “gun - assembly” prototype. The second was a plutonium bomb (Carnes, Mark). On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity Site close to Alamogordo, New Mexico (Britannica). As Oppenheimer watched the destruction from afar, he recited a phrase from a Hindu testament from the Bhagavadgita “I am become death, the shatterer of worlds.” On August 6th, Hiroshima was ravaged by “Little Boy,” the “gun - assembly” bomb. Nagasaki was obliterated three days later by “Fat Man,” the plutonium bomb (Carnes, Mark).
In the days and weeks following Japan’s surrender, Oppenheimer was celebrating the end of the war, but also feeling remorseful of all the Japanese deaths. Speaking to President Truman he said, “I feel we have blood on our hands.” Truman replied, “Never mind. It’ll all come out in the wash.” Then, in October of 1945, Oppenheimer …show more content…
As chairman of the AEC, Oppenheimer opposed the development of the Hydrogen Bomb, because it was rumored to be one thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb. As a result of this, on December 21, 1953, Oppenheimer was accused of passing secret bomb information to the Soviet Union. The FBI tapped his phones, but to no avail. Oppenheimer was considered loyal, but lost his security clearance to government secrets (Carnes, Mark).
In 1962, the government recognized their mistake in accusing Oppenheimer. They attempted to apologize. Oppenheimer was invited to the Nobel Prize Dinner (English). In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Oppenheimer with the Enrico Fermi Award, the highest award possible given by the AEC (Britannica).
Oppenheimer died on February 18, 1967, of cancer (IAS.edu). He went to his grave having been considered trustworthy. Then in 1994, a retired KGB General, Pavel A. Sudoplatov, published an autobiography that declared that Oppenheimer had passed atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Some people saw this a confirmation of their thoughts. Others thought that the aged General could have gotten his facts wrong. There is essentially no concrete evidence that Oppenheimer betrayed his country (Carnes,