John F. Kennedy’s first involvement with J. Robert Oppenheimer was an indirect one. In 1958, when Kennedy was still serving in the U.S. Senate, Lewis Strauss was the acting secretary of commerce for the Eisenhower administration. Strauss had a long history of private commercial success and headed the Atomic Energy Commission for five years. He was also a vindictive and manipulative man who nursed a long grudge against Oppenheimer for humiliating him at a hearing and opposing the development of the hydrogen bomb.
It is now a matter of public record that Strauss used his contacts in the media and the FBI to savage Oppenheimer’s standing in government and in the eyes of Dwight D. Eisenhower (detailed by History). The campaign culminated in the hearing that stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance. Strauss’ hand in the campaign against the scientist was brought to bear in his confirmation hearing before the Senate, necessary to win a permanent position as commerce secretary.
Reporting at the time by the Lewiston Daily Sun indicated that Kennedy was initially leaning toward voting in Strauss’ favor. But in the nail-biting final vote, which went 46-49 against Strauss, the senator from Massachusetts was ultimately a nay. In his explanation, published in the Boston Globe, Kennedy did not mention Oppenheimer or the campaign against him. Instead, he was more upset by Strauss’ supporters haranguing senators with furious lobbying and contradictory promises after the hearing. But it was still a crucial vote against the man who destroyed Oppenheimer’s public career — a fate Strauss would share after his own hearing.
