Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, National Security Affairs, Volume II, Part 2

G/PM files, lot 68 D 349, “Ivy”

Memorandum for the Files by R. Gordon Arneson, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Atomic Energy Affairs

top secret

[Washington,] October 9, 1952.

• Subject:
• Time of Thermonuclear Test

Prior to taking up other aspects of thermonuclear developments at a meeting in his office at 4 p.m. Thursday, October 9,¹ the Secretary inquired as to the exact status of timing of the thermonuclear test this Autumn. Secretary Lovett said that the President had asked him to see to it that the situation develops in such a way that the test did not take place until after November 4. Mr. Acheson inquired whether this view had been expressed to Mr. Lovett after the two of them had seen the President.² Mr. Lovett responded that this was the case and went on that what the President had in mind was that arrangements should be made for slowing up deliveries of equipment or some other technical obstacle be found to prevent the test from taking place before the election. The President wanted Mr. Lovett to get word to Mr. Dean to make sure that this would be taken care of. Mr. Dean said that no machinery to accomplish this objective had yet been set up. He had thought that inasmuch as General Clarkson, the Task Force commander, was responsible to General Collins it might prove necessary to work through that channel. Mr. Lovett pointed out, however, that the President wanted this to be done without the generation of any official documents. This, he went on, virtually necessitated using some channel other than the military. The President had asked Mr. Lovett when they talked last about this as to who would inform General Clarkson that all technical arrangements had been finalized. Mr. Lovett had said that this would be Dr. Graves.³ The President thereupon commented that the matter should be taken care of through Gordon Dean who could give the necessary instructions to Dr. Graves. Finally, Mr. Lovett said that the President wanted to be informed when the necessary arrangements had been made. In conclusion it was left that Mr. Dean would take the necessary steps to see that the President’s wishes were met.⁴

1. For the memorandum covering the major portion of the meeting, see infra.
2. The meeting under reference has not been identified.
3. Dr. Alvin C. Graves, Scientific Director, Pacific Proving Grounds.
4. The detonation of the thermonuclear device at the Eniwetok test site took place as originally scheduled on Oct. 31, 1952, local time, Nov. 1 Washington time. The reasons for the President’s request for postponement and for the decision to proceed with the test as scheduled have not been clearly established on the basis of documentation in Department of State files or the Truman Library. The events preceding the test are described in Hewlett and Duncan, Atomic Shield, pp. 590–592, and in Harry S. Truman, Years of Trial and Hope (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1956), pp. 313–314.