LEADER 03819pam a2200349 a 4500003 hubpceuo 005 20240201114839.0 008 920225s1993 nyu b 001 0 eng 010 92008835 020 0195050088 (acidfree paper) : |c$25.00 040 DLC |cDLC |dDLC |dhubpceuo |beng 041 eng 043 n-us--- 050 00 E835 |b.D535 1993 082 00 973.921 |220 100 1 Divine, Robert A., |d1929-2021. 245 14 The Sputnik challenge / |cRobert A. Divine. 260 New York : |bOxford University Press, |c1993. 300 xviii, 245 p. ; |c25 cm. 504 Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-235) and index (p. 237-245). 520 On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched a 184-pound metal ball called Sputnik into orbit around the Earth, and America plummeted into a panic. Nuclear weapon designer Edward Teller claimed that the United States had lost "a battle more important and greater than Pearl Harbor," and magazine articles appeared with such headlines as "Are We Americans Going Soft?" In the White House, President Eisenhower seemed to do nothing, leading Kennedy in 1960 to proclaim a "missile gap" in the Soviet's favor. Rarely has public perception been so dramatically at odds with reality. In The Sputnik Challenge, Robert Divine provides a fascinating look at Eisenhower's handling of the early space race--a story of public uproar, secret U-2 flights, bungled missile tests, the first spy satellite, political maneuvering, and scientific triumph. He recreates the national hysteria over the first two Sputnik launches, illustrating the anxious handwringing that the Democrats (led by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson) aggressively played for political gain. Divine takes us to private White House meetings, showing how Eisenhower worked closely with science adviser James Killian, allowing him to take the lead in creating a civilian agency--NASA--which provided intelligent and forceful leadership for American space programs. But the President also knew from priceless intelligence from U-2 flights over the U.S.S.R. that he had little to fear from the touted missile gap, and he fought to limit the growth and multiplication of military missile programs. Eisenhower's assurance, however, rested on classified information, and he did little to instill his confidence in the public. Nor could he boast of his early support for the secret spy satellite program (which quickly replaced the U-2 plane after Gary Powers was shot down in 1960). So the public continued to worry, feeding the national movement for educational reform as well as congressional maneuvering over funding for numerous strategic projects. Eisenhower, Divine writes, possessed keen strategic vision and a sure sense of budgetary priorities, but ultimately he flunked a crucial test of leadership when he failed to reassure the frightened public that their fears were groundless. As a result, he ultimately failed in his goal to limit military spending as well--which led to a real missile gap in reverse. Incisively written and deeply researched, The Sputnik Challenge provides a briskly-paced history of the origins of NASA, the space race, and the age of the ICBM. 580 HU OSA 300 - RFE/RL collection 600 10 Eisenhower, Dwight D. |q(Dwight David), |d1890-1969. 650 0 Artificial satellites |xSocial aspects |zUnited States. 651 0 United States |xPolitics and government |y1953-1961. 880 |6245 942 |2ddc |cBK 952 |00 |10 |2ddc |40 |6973_921000000000000_DIV |70 |8GEN |9162423OSA |bOSA |d2023-06-21 |eRFE/RL |l0 |o973.921 DIV |r2023-06-21 |w2023-06-21 |yBK |cOSA Repository 920 01 BXnd0Ee2 992 01 973_921000000000000_DIV |bQSW_QXYZZZZZZZZZZZZ_MH4 966 |cIn the Research Room