American Experience

The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

In the Spring of 1954, the U.S. government put J. Robert Oppenheimer, the country's preeminent atomic scientist and the man behind the atomic bomb, on trial for national loyalty. The setting was a hearing to determine the status of Opppenheimer's security clearance, but the drama that unfolded was a parade of all the fears of a paranoid Cold War government desperate not to be outgunned.

The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

1h 49m

In the Spring of 1954, the U.S. government put J. Robert Oppenheimer, the country's preeminent atomic scientist and the man behind the atomic bomb, on trial for national loyalty. The setting was a hearing to determine the status of Opppenheimer's security clearance, but the drama that unfolded was a parade of all the fears of a paranoid Cold War government desperate not to be outgunned.

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