Zach-week+10

In Einstein’s letter to the president of the time, Franklin Roosevelt, he seems to put a lot on himself. He basically tells the president the best course of action for him to take when he is supposed to have no involvement in the Manhattan project at all. Einstein was not cleared due to his German upbringing. However, he tells that president that he “may think it desirable to have some permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America.” Not only does he say that this should be done, he tells the president that he should create a job for somebody to do this and “entrust the task with a person who has your confidence.” He then goes on to say all of the things that this person would be expected to do.

Einstein’s letter to Roosevelt seems to come completely on his own. In his first paragraph, he tells the president about what he has heard, and writes, “I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations.” He just comes right out and says not only that he is allowed to give recommendations to the president of the United States, but that he should, because it is his duty, to tell the president how he should handle the situation.

The United States was in a tough situation when it came to the Manhattan Project. They knew that they couldn’t’ trust anybody about the project, yet they also knew that they people that they should trust weren’t necessarily the people with the “cleanest” record. Einstein was German and therefore was not trusted, yet everyone knew that he really should be trusted. Roosevelt and Churchill released an official deal to make sure that the work of Bohr and others working on the project would stay private, and out of the hands of other countries, especially Russia. As this was one of the most dangerous projects of all time it is clear why all of the security was necessary, yet to a point it was almost too secure.