ABSTRACT
Any analysis of the objectives and accomplishments of the Atoms for Peace program must begin with the fact that President Eisenhower was its chief architect and builder. About fifteen years ago, Lewis Strauss and I presented papers at the same session of a historical convention in Philadelphia. Admiral Strauss's topic on that occasion was "The Origins of the Atoms for Peace Program," and I must admit that I believed at that time that he was overly modest when he claimed that the idea was Eisenhower's. It seemed likely to me that a man as resourceful and intelligent as Lewis Strauss might well have come up with the idea himself and, out of loyalty to his boss, did not take credit for it. I do not recall my reactions when the president delivered his famous message at the United Nations in New York, but I do remember hearing some people say that Strauss invented the Atoms for Peace idea as a propaganda scheme to convince the world that nuclear energy had some redeeming value beyond its use as a weapon.
