11. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation1
TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH EDWARD TELLER CALLING FROM LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA
Edward Teller said he is a little worried. He was afraid that this trip on which the Secretary and I were about to embark,2 would result in tying their hands at Livermore. He said that on the general lines of my approach to the problem he thought that he and I were agreed.
He said there were, however, prospective developments to which he gave a real possibility in the near future. (I asked him what he meant by the near future; he said three years.) Information as to these prospective developments he said was not readily available in Washington. The [Page 38] Soviets have started down this line sooner than we have. To bind our hands at this time might be a bad mistake. He is suffering from colitis and is unable to leave Livermore. The ideas involved in these prospective developments came not from him but from a group of ingenious young friends in whom he has confidence. One of them, Lowell Wood, would be available to carry a classified letter to me. I said I had met Lowell Wood a year or so ago and had high confidence in him and would be happy to see him. Teller said the matter was not negligible. Many of our friends, in his opinion, take too conservative a view as to the prospects. He said that in addition to his other abilities, Lowell Wood has the exceptional ability to attract able young men to work with him.
We agreed that Wood would fly to Washington and that I would see him at 11 a.m. on January 2.
- Source: Department of State, Ambassador Nitze’s Personal Files 1953, 1972–1989, Lot 90D397, December 1985. No classification marking. Drafted by Nitze. Teller was in Livermore, California.↩
- See footnote 2, Document 9.↩