Leslie R. Groves - Director of the Manhattan Project

From the earliest days of American history, the nation’s leaders have turned to the military to carry out extraordinary missions involving threats to the national security or challenges to the national interest.

During the American Revolution, General George Washington was concerned about British naval power sailing up the Hudson River and cutting the colonies in two. So he ordered the forging of huge chains to be stretched across the river at West Point. The project was carried out under the supervision of the American military. To this day, links of that monstrous chain may be seen, most appropriately, at the U.S. Military Academy.

When President Thomas Jefferson wanted to explore the Louisiana Territory and seek a Northwest Passage to the Pacific, he sent an army expedition, under Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to carry out the mission. Both were army officers. In addition, Lewis was Jefferson’s private secretary. After several years of danger in the wilderness, the explorers returned to a heroes’ welcome.

President Theodore Roosevelt called on Lieutenant-Colonel George Goethals to solve all the problems attending to the construction of a canal across the isthmus of Panama. The result was an engineering marvel, the envy of the world. 

Taking Charge of the Manhattan Project

During World War II, the army was chosen once again to take on a multifaceted assignment: how to design, construct, test, and manufacture atomic bombs. And how to do it in absolute secrecy.

Leslie R. Groves was the army engineer who brought the people, places, and mate-rials together. Under his direction, the job got done.

Groves was born in Albany, New York, in 1896. He studied at M.I.T. before entering West Point. Shortly before World War I ended, he graduated from West Point. Groves was involved in army supply services as well as engineering projects, including work on the Pentagon building.

On September 17, 1942, he received orders to take over a new project. The project would have its code name changed several times: the DSM project, Tube Alloys, Manhattan Engineering Project, Manhattan District Project, and, finally, just plain Manhattan Project.

A Race for the Atomic Bomb

The Colonel—he would eventually rise to lieutenant general—overcame many obstacles during the course of the war.

To begin with, he knew he was in a race against Nazi Germany to solve the riddle of the atomic bomb. It was no exaggeration to think that the outcome of the war depended on who would get the bomb first. The thought of such weapons in the hands of Hitler (Number l) was the stuff of nightmares. So, as far as Groves was concerned, the clock was always ticking until Germany surrendered.

Secrecy was imperative, and the problem was not with the factory workers but with the scientists and engineers. The majority of workers were completely ignorant about what they were constructing. However, the scientists knew, and their normal instincts were to share what they had learned with others. This could be dangerous for security, and Groves had to impress on the scientific community to keep what they had learned within their own working groups. Some scientists could not take the security, the censored mail, and sometimes being shadowed by security officials. Several left the project before its completion.

Maintaining Absolute Secrecy

The Manhattan Project was divided into three parts: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Richland, Washington. Facilities for the scientists were at Los Alamos, about 15 miles from Santa Fe. This was lonely desert country where they could work without being disturbed. The desert location was perfect for testing the first nuclear bomb.

Factories for producing nuclear weapons were located at Oak Ridge and at the Hanford Engineer Works at Richland. 

It was Groves’s job to see to it that housing and other needs were provided for the workers. Both transportation and communication back and forth among the three widely separated sites was not without difficulty.

Congressional investigators had to be shooed away as discreetly as possible, with-out tipping anybody off about what was going on.

There were spies to worry about, and not just from Germany or Japan. Though England was working with the United States on the bomb, the Soviet Union was out of the loop and apparently casting about for information.There were always personnel problems. To begin with, there was J. Robert Oppenheimer (Number 30). The FBI suspected he might be a security risk because of his past left-wing associations. Groves, however, knew he was a brilliant scientist and insisted on keeping him.

The Atomic Age Begins

Groves was the one who had to arrange the testing of the first atomic device. Out there in the desert, in July 1945, Groves watched the great flash of light and realized that his job was almost over.

The Manhattan Project had taken nearly three years, had cost what was then a staggering $2 billion, and utilized more than l00,000 personnel. But in the end, the race against the Nazis had been won.

In August 1945, two bombs were dropped on Japan, and the war was over. Over-night, virtually all the secrets of the Manhattan Project were on the front pages of every newspaper in the world.

Leslie R. Groves performed his job during the war in complete anonymity. Though he became known after the war, he never received the recognition awarded to a George Goethals or a Lewis and Clark.He deserved better.

Groves died in 1970.