President's Science Advisory Committee
On the 21st of November, 1957, the President's Science Advisory Committee was created by Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Soviet Union had just launched Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 into orbit. The United States found itself navigating a new and unsettling vulnerability. Eisenhower's response was to elevate an existing advisory body directly into the White House. The Science Advisory Committee had been set up by Harry S. Truman in 1951 as part of the Office of Defense Mobilization. Its new mandate was to advise the president on scientific matters in general and on defense in particular. What would a group of scientists do with that access? What would they say when the stakes were highest? And what would happen when a president refused to follow their counsel? Eisenhower named James R. Killian as the committee's first director. Killian had already overseen a nuclear threat study that was forcing the government to confront calculations it had preferred to avoid.
"Meeting the Threat of Surprise Attack," the Science Advisory Committee's first major study, was delivered on the 14th of February, 1955. Its central finding cut against prevailing assumptions: in the nuclear age, meaningful defense was not achievable. The committee had modeled the consequences of an all-out nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. Its projections showed that up to 90 percent of the American population could die. Given that prospect, the committee argued, the only rational posture was deterrence. A credible threat of overwhelming retaliation, the logic ran, would prevent the war before it started. Those arguments seeded the strategy that became known as mutually assured destruction. The report also examined American missile capabilities and found them lagging behind the Soviet Union's. The committee traced that gap to a systemic failure in public education. Its recommendation for reform helped trigger widespread changes in American schools. George Kistiakowsky took over as chairman in 1959. He would lead the committee into a period when its advice would be tested against the preferences of the president himself.
About half of all studies the committee conducted were focused on how science could support national security. Three dedicated panels gave that focus visible form: one for Arms Limitations and Control, one for Limited Warfare, and one for Space Science. Two themes ran through most of the committee's work. One was the recurring problem of funding large projects. The other was the pressure of staying competitive with the Soviet Union.
Hans Bethe, Frank Press, Edward Purcell, Frederick Seitz, Herbert York, and Alvin Martin Weinberg were among the members who served. The committee held no executive authority; its role was purely advisory, providing analysis to the president and to the wider federal government. A succession of chairmen led the body across more than two decades.
In 1965, a panel on environmental pollution delivered a major report. It examined threats ranging from sewage and lead pollution to the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Jerome Wiesner, who chaired the committee from 1961 to 1964, would preside over its most consequential disagreement with a sitting president.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy renamed the committee the Office of Science and Technology. The advisory body retained the same function under the new name. During Kennedy's time in office, the committee took a position that put it directly at odds with the president. It recommended against pursuing a human Moon landing, citing cost as the reason. Kennedy rejected the recommendation. He then committed to the goal with force, aggressively pursuing the aim of landing an American on the Moon before the end of the decade. Edward E. David Jr., who chaired the committee from 1970 to 1973, would be the last person to hold that role.
In 1973, shortly after winning re-election in a landslide, President Richard Nixon eliminated the President's Science Advisory Committee. Nixon was frustrated with what he saw as a lack of support from the committee for his administration's agenda. One committee member had even spoken publicly against the Nixon administration's backing of research into supersonic transport. After the committee was removed, the White House Office of Science and Technology and Congress were directed to rely on federal agencies for scientific guidance. In 1976, the Office of Science and Technology Policy was established. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush established the United States President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Three subsequent presidents renewed it.
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Common questions
When was the President's Science Advisory Committee created?
The President's Science Advisory Committee was created on the 21st of November 1957, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was established as a direct response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 into orbit. It upgraded and relocated to the White House an earlier body, the Science Advisory Committee, which Truman had set up in 1951.
What was the purpose of the President's Science Advisory Committee?
The committee's purpose was to advise the president on scientific matters in general and on defense issues in particular. About half of its studies were directed at how science could support national security, and it provided analysis to both the president and the wider federal government. The committee held no authority to carry out programs; its role was purely advisory.
What did the Killian Report conclude about nuclear defense?
The Killian Report, formally titled Meeting the Threat of Surprise Attack and delivered on the 14th of February, 1955, concluded that meaningful defense in the nuclear age was not achievable. It projected that an all-out exchange with the Soviet Union could kill up to 90 percent of the American population. The report argued that deterrence was the only viable strategy, and its logic laid the groundwork for the doctrine of mutually assured destruction.
Did the President's Science Advisory Committee support the Moon landing program?
No. During the Kennedy administration, the committee recommended against pursuing a human Moon landing, citing cost as the reason. Kennedy rejected the recommendation and aggressively pursued the goal of landing an American on the Moon before the end of the decade.
Why did Nixon dissolve the President's Science Advisory Committee in 1973?
Nixon was frustrated with what he saw as a lack of support from the committee for his administration's agenda. One specific source of tension was a committee member who had spoken publicly against the Nixon administration's backing of research into supersonic transport. Nixon eliminated the committee shortly after winning re-election in a landslide.
What replaced the President's Science Advisory Committee after Nixon abolished it?
In 1976, the Office of Science and Technology Policy was established. A similar advisory body, the United States President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, was created in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush and was renewed by three subsequent presidents.
All sources
7 references cited across the entry
- 1The origins of strategic stability: the United States and the threat of surprise attackMichael S. Gerson — Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press — 2013
- 2BookBiographical Dictionary of Modern American EducatorsFrederik Ohles et al. — Greenwood Publishing Group — 1997
- 3BookRestoring the Quality of our Environment: Report of the Environmental Pollution Panel, President's Science Advisory CommitteeThe White House — November 1965
- 4NewsWhat it takes to be a presidential science adviserMelinda Baldwin — November 26, 2016
- 5BookIn Sputnik's Shadow: The President's Science Advisory Committee and Cold War AmericaZuoyue Wang — Rutgers University Press — 2008
- 6BookScience and Technology Advice to the President, Congress and JudiciaryTransaction Publishers — 1994
- 7NewsBending the president's earEli Kintisch — January 2, 2009