The Shadowy Story of Oppenheimer and Congress

from The New York Times I'm Sabrina. tavernes and this is the. daily Hollywood's award season is. officially underway just the beginning. of the fun and glamour of award season. Oscar nomin nominations for the Academy. Awards one of Hollywood's biggest events. will be announced today I think we had a. barbin Heimer summer which was very it. was so much fun uh listen Oppenheimer. should lead the way I think Oppenheimer. right now is the movie to beat for the. Oscar.

and one movie that's expected to collect. a lot is Oppenheimer about the father of. the atomic. bomb the film captured the imagination. of millions of people last summer. including our Congressional. correspondent Katie. Edmonson today Katie describes how. Oppenheimer sent her on a quest to find. the secret story of how Congress paid. for the bomb and what that reveals about. the inner workings of Washington.

[Music]. it's Tuesday January. 23rd Katie you cover Congress for the. times as our listeners of course know. but you join us today to talk about. something a little out of the ordinary a. story which many of our listeners may. not immediately associate with a times. Congressional reporter and it has. everything to do with a Blockbuster. movie Oppenheimer so tell us how you.

ended up reporting this very unusual. story that's right well it all started. really when I went to go see Oppenheimer. like I'm assuming a lot of our listeners. did over the summer I was actually. working in Berlin I thought that I would. get a little break from covering. Congress I knew that there was going to. be a big spending fight in the fall and. I was kind of anxious to focus on. something else for a little bit and so I. went to this movie we're at War Hans.

which is of course about J Robert. Oppenheimer now let's calculate how much. more destructive it would have been if. it were a nuclear and not a chemical. reaction and the creation of the atomic. bomb expressing power in terms of tons. of TNT but it would be thousands well. then kilo. tons and the movie takes place or a lot. of it takes place in Los. Alamos physics and New Mexico huh. [Music].

my God which is this base that. Oppenheimer and the military built up. out of the desert really out of nothing. this way gentlemen this huge sprawling. base where scientists from across the. country. came to figure out how to build the Bomb. Dr Lawrence Les they had homes for the. families of the scientists there there's. no. kitchen.

really we'll fix that and something that. I couldn't stop thinking about while. these scenes were flashing on screen was. this looks really. [Laughter]. expensive did Congress approve the money. for that and if so how much were they. told because another big theme of this. movie was that this was a very secret. project that the number of people who. knew knew about what was really.

happening at Los Alamos was extremely. restricted and so I was thinking if that. was true H how do you get Congress to. approve what has to be a huge tranch of. money to fund this. thing it was very much an intrusive. thought that kept poking in throughout. the. movie Katie you were in Berlin so that. you weren't having to cover Congress but. yet there you were your head was back in. Congress you can take the girl out of. Congress but but yeah yeah it's a little.

[Music]. embarrassing so then what do you do well. I kind of just assumed that if I started. Googling it that I would come to some. sort of quick answer there's been so. much research and so much academic work. done on this period And I was surprised. to find that there really wasn't that. much there were a few lines on Wikipedia. I ended up finding a textbook that gave. a sort of brief version of how Congress.

had sort of surreptitiously approved. money in a bill it was at the beest of. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and. as I was reading just these few kind of. breadcrumbs I just kept thinking what. what do you mean what do you mean. Congress secretly passed this money and. not a lot of people knew about it. because look this is my job currently is. to go through the spending bills to look. for things that are peculiar I also know. that lomy are really bad at keeping.

secrets generally and so the idea that. this happened this huge secret was. smuggled through Congress Without Really. anyone knowing it just I just didn't see. how that could be true and this is not. just like some dumb Bridge or a road or. something right it was a whole different. scale like it was ushering in the dawn. of the atomic age well that's right and. Beyond the implications of the creation. of this weapon of mass destruction. there's also the cost right the amount.

of money that Congress ultimately was. asked to pass secretly was $800 million. for this project which in today's money. is about $13 billion wow and so every. time I picked up on another little. breadcrumb like this I just became more. incredulous essentially I wanted to. understand even more how they were able. to pull this off MH and so I pitched to. my editor well why don't I do like it'll. be a fun historical memo that I'll write.

about this and she agreed to let me do. that and so that really set off this. kind of obsessive search to figure out. the answer of exactly how Congress was. able to secretly pass $800 million for. the atomic bomb Katie I love your. nerdiness so what did that obsessive. search look like like where did you. start well at this point I was back in. DC I'd come back from Berlin and this. ended up becoming very much a side.

project because there was actually a lot. of spending drama Happening Here in DC. in real time that I was having to cover. of. course but it took me through the. digital Archives of a lot of different. libraries former president Roosevelts. archives and so it just kept happening. that you would kind of get close to some. sort of answer some sort of document. that seemed like it would unlock the. secret of this and you would get a few. pieces. but I was particularly obsessed with.

trying to get the account of one of the. lawmakers who was physically in the room. when these discussions were happening. who was in the room when the decision. was made because to me that was just. going to give me this most direct the. sharpest perspective of exactly how this. worked right so I had a list of the. seven lawmakers who were brought into. this secret I knew that one of the. lawmakers in one of these Secret. meetings was Sam Raburn who was the.

speaker of the house at the time in 1944. considered one of the most famous one of. the most legendary house speakers of all. time and so I contacted the library. where his papers are kept in Austin. Texas and I found out that those. documents have not been. digitized they were sitting in folders. in boxes and so well and so I struck up. an acquaintance with a reference intern.

there a very Intrepid man named Dion. Kaufman who I'm so ined to him for this. because I kept saying well what about. this folder and what about that folder. and he would go and he would look and it. just did not yield anything but at least. I could sort of rest knowing that. someone had physically paged through. those. folders so I was still looking for a. lawmaker in the room and then I found. that one of them was Senator Elmer.

Thomas of Oklahoma who had been invited. to a secret briefing in the senate about. this whole Gambit had actually written a. memoir okay so I've never heard of Elmer. Thomas from Oklahoma or of his Memoir. how bad is that no it's not I hadn't. either but it turns out he was actually. a pretty important guy on Capitol Hill. at the time when this all happened he. was the chairman of the Appropriations. subcommittee that over saw military.

spending and so he was one of just a few. lawmakers who were brought into this. secret and it turns out his Memoir 40. years a legislator perhaps. unsurprisingly was not in wide. circulation really uh but I did learned. that there was a copy actually at the. Library of. Congress so I got my Library of Congress. library card and uh on a quiet day I. went over there actually tunnels that. connect the capital building to the.

Library of. Congress I kept getting lost and so. around the third time that I was trying. to find the room where this book was I. was thinking like this is a lot of time. now that I'm spending on this book that. your editor is basically tapping her. foot yeah may or may not be. helpful but I finally got the. [Music]. book I opened it up and it was all there. [Music].

we'll be right. back so Katie what was the story you. ultimately pieced together I mean how. did they hide the building of the atomic. bomb in the budget so here's what I. learned initially the way that Roosevelt. officials were getting the money for the. research to create the bomb was they. were actually just taking money that. Congress had appropriated. under different Li items and they were.

funneling it to the Manhattan Project. got it so skimming from other things. basically yeah that's right but by 1944. looking through the documents it became. very clear that Roosevelt himself as. well as his top officials were growing. very anxious about the idea of Nazi. Germany maybe beating us to creating the. atomic bomb I came across this Memo from. FDR to vver Bush who at that time time. was overseeing the administration of the.

Manhattan Project and it was just one. line and he wrote do you have the money. FDR so the administration essentially. realizes Germany's close to getting the. bomb so time for some major money do you. have it you know that means Congress. exactly only Congress has the power of. the purse and so they decided we have to. ask Congress for a big infusion of cash. now so that also means we have to tell. members of Congress that we're doing.

this right we have to let them in on the. secret right and so Roosevelt gives the. word to really his point man on this was. Henry L Stimson who was then the. Secretary of War and he says I need you. to tell a very small group of lawmakers. exactly what's Happening Here I need you. to get them to agree to pass this money. and crucially I need you to get them to. keep it a. secret and so Stimson heads up to C. Capital Hill he has two separate secret.

meetings one in the house one in the. senate in one particular meeting in the. house he actually brings George Marshall. the incredibly famous General to the. meeting to kind of impress upon. lawmakers just the seriousness of what. he is asking them to do and we know from. Senator Elmer Thomas's memo what their. pitch was he writes that he received a. call from the Senate major aity leader.

saying I'm inviting you to this secret. meeting you need to come to my office in. an hour you cannot tell anyone where you. are going or that you are going to a. meeting at all keep it under wraps wow. okay so Elmer Thomas goes an hour later. to the Senate majority Leader's office. it's just him a couple other senators. and the war secretary and a couple of. his officers and in the meeting Henry. Stimson the War secretary tells these.

Senators that the United States has been. working on creating a bomb that can. quote do as much damage as 10,000 tons. of any explosive known at that time and. he writes that he recalls Stimson saying. that the Germans are working on a weapon. just like this and that whoever is able. to create this weapon first is going to. win the. war wow and so what does Elmer Thomas. think about this what does he say well.

he writes in his Memoir this was. something that absolutely floored him. and so the impression that Thomas and. the other senators get is that this is. absolutely something that must be done. that must be kept a secret and that they. are going to go to any lengths that they. can to pass this. [Music]. money okay so this tiny group of. lawmakers in Congress agreed to secretly.

fund this project but I guess the. question remains how do you do that how. do you hide it well this is maybe my. favorite part of the entire story and. it's something that Elmer Thomas's. Memoir again I love I love Elmer Thomas. now in this Memoir that he let us in on. the secret which is that they HIIT it. essentially in an innocuous sounding. line item I wasn't able to find a copy. of the bill but I did find a report from. the hearing where they considered the. bill and when you look through all of.

the different line items for the. spending bill I mean they had the horses. that they were going to use over in. Italy horses and donkeys and then there. was this one line item that said. Expediting. production and that was the shell that. they used to conceal this $800 million. for the bomb Expediting production so. that's in pretty bland language I mean. it sounds like a good disguise right you.

can completely see why it would not have. raised any eyebrows at the time there. was a short description in that hearing. report that said well you know this is a. line item intended to speed Munitions to. our boys in Europe to make sure that. we're using the most modern weapons on. the battlefield possible which is you. know a huge understatement when you know. what was actually hidden there right so. Katie did anybody notice it well you. know there were a few close calls and. one of them that was probably the most.

amusing to me actually came through in. the form of an anecdote told by former. speaker Sam rabburn who told this story. to a historian at his home in Texas many. years after the fact he said that he was. walking around one day shortly after. that secret meeting with the war. secretary where the lawmakers all agreed. to hide this money and that he saw one. of the congressmen who had been in that. meeting talking to a.

reporter and he said the congressman. when I saw him looked funny hm at least. in raburn's interpretation the. congressman had been leaking the. contents of this secret meeting to the. newspaperman and what is he do well so. Raburn goes up to the newspaperman and. he said and this is what Raburn recalled. he went up to the newspaperman and said. you are a good American aren't you you. love your country the newspaper said of.

course rurn said then don't print. anything about what he just told. [Music]. you wow so the newspaper man caves right. how do you understand what happened here. well I think you also have to understand. the context of this time period right. the United States was in this protracted. war with Germany and with Japan it was a. time period where I think everyone. including the Press were being expected. to sort of rally around the flag to.

support our troops and so I think he was. just let into a secret of the highest. national security in a hallway by one. member of Congress only to be then. abruptly headed off by the very powerful. speaker of the house who appeals to his. sense of. patriotism but I mean this would have. been an enormously difficult decision I. mean if I were that reporter now this. would be something that I would escalate. up to our highest editors and probably.

would be the subject of a really Fierce. debate at our. newspaper so it sounds like it was no. small feat to keep this thing under. wraps until of course it wasn't a secret. and the whole world learned of the US. Atomic program in you know shocking. detail when the United States dropped. the bomb on. Hiroshima what was it like Katie to be. doing this Congressional historical. sleuthing you know uncovering in all of. this maneuvering in the.

1940s while at the same time covering. Congress over the past year any. conclusions you draw from the. comparison well you know since the story. has come out the question that I've. gotten from a lot of readers is and I. think this is what you're driving at. could something like this happen today. could a few members of Congress today. hide some sort of big program or top. secret activity within the spending. bills and I found a number of interviews. from some of the participants in the.

Manhattan projects that were done years. after we bombed hoshima and the answer. they gave was that they didn't think it. would be possible to hide a program or a. project of that magnitude outside the. context of a huge War at a time when. there was this sense of patriotism among. so many people but look I currently. cover federal spending and I do read. through the spending bills that are. passed into law and these are bills that.

are typically hundreds if not thousands. of pages long they are written in. extremely archaic dense legislative. language and I look through trying to. see if there's any programs that seem. peculiar or strange or warrant sort of. Greater investigation as to what they're. doing in that spending Ville but the. phrase Expediting production I mean it's. so innocuous if I were a reporter back. in 1944 coming through that bill I don't.

think it would have caused me to raise. any eyebrows I think I would have read. it and thought yeah that makes sense of. course we're trying to send weapons more. quickly over to Europe and so I do think. kind of the moral of that story if there. is one is that just a few. lawmakers can hide something like this. if there's the will to do. so.

Katie thank you thank you. [Music]. Sabrina we'll be right. back here's what else you should know. today on Monday the Supreme Court sided. with the Biden Administration allowing. Federal authorities to cut or remove. parts of a concertina wire barrier along. the Mexican border that Texas directed. to keep migrants from Crossing into the.

state the ruling by a 5 to4 vote was a. temporary measure that lifted a lower. courts ban on removing the wire while it. considered the case the justices gave no. reason for their decision which is. typical when they act on such emergency. applications the ruling was a victory. for the Biden Administration in the. increasingly bitter dispute between the. White House and Governor Greg Abbott of. Texas an outspoken critic of president. Biden's border. [Music].

policy today's episode was produced by. Rob zipco and Ricky nety it was edited. by Mark George and Lexi Dio contains. original music by Rowan Nimo Dan Powell. and Marian Lozano and was engineered by. Alyssa Moxley our theme music is by Jim. brunberg and Ben Lanser of. [Music]. wonderly. [Music].

[Applause]. that's it for the daily I'm Sabrina. taveri see you. [Music]. tomorrow.