Mr. & Mrs. Kennedy and Oppenheimer

By the early 1960s, with the return of Democrats to the White House, Oppenheimer was no longer a political pariah. The Kennedy Administration was not going to bring him back into government, but liberal Democrats nevertheless thought of him as an honorable man martyred by republican extremists. …… Page 574

In the Spring of 1963, Oppenheimer learned that President Kennedy had announced his intention to give him the prestigious Enrico Fermi Prize, a $50,000 tax-free award and medal for public service. Everyone understood that this was a highly symbolic act of political rehabilitation. “Disgusting!” cried one Republican senator when he heard the news….. ~ Page 575

On November 22, 1963, Oppenheimer was sitting in his office, working on a draftacceptance speech for the December 2 White House ceremony, when he heard knocking on his outer office door. It was Peter, who said that he had just heard on his car radio that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Robert looked away. …. Page 575

On December 3, President Lyndon Johnson went ahead with the Fermi Award ceremony, as schedule. Standing next to Johnson’s hulking figure in the Cabinet room on the White House, Oppie seemed almost diminutive. He stood like a ”figure of stone, gray, rigid, almost lifeless, tragic in his intensity.” ….. Page 576