159. Editorial Note
From the President’s office on November 7, at 8 p.m., Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a radio and television address to the American people on science and national security. In his talk Eisenhower discussed the present security posture of the United States in light of the Soviet Union’s successful launching of an earth satellite (Sputnik I) on October 4, and future problems involving American scientists and their relationship to the enlarged effort within the Federal government in the fields of science, technology, and missiles. For text of the President’s speech, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957, pages 789–799.
President Eisenhower also reported several steps he had taken to utilize the expertise of the scientific community in government programs. He mentioned first the creation of the office of Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and the acceptance of Dr. James R. Killian, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to fill this position. He also announced that the Department of Defense would establish a Guided Missile Director directly responsible to the Secretary of Defense to establish missile policy and prevent administrative and interservice disruptions in the missile program. The Department of Defense immediately created the Office of the Division of Guided Missiles. William M. Holaday, who had been serving as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Guided Missiles, became the Director.
Subsequently, on November 22, Eisenhower approved the transfer of the Science Advisory Committee of the Office of Defense Mobilization to the White House, reconstituting and enlarging it as the President’s Science Advisory Committee. The purpose of this action was to promote a more direct relationship among the President, Dr. Killian, and the committee.
For text of a note summarizing the White House statement of the transfer of the Science Advisory Committee, see ibid., page 799.