Leslie Groves

Leslie Richard Groves (August 17, 1896 – July 13, 1970) was a United States Army officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and was the primary military leader in charge of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb during World War II. Download high resolution version (482x615, 32 KB)Picture of Leslie Groves from http://www. ... Download high resolution version (482x615, 32 KB)Picture of Leslie Groves from http://www. ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The United States Army is one of the armed forces of the United States and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... This article is about the U.S. military building. ... The Manhattan Project resulted in nuclear weapons, and the first-ever nuclear detonation, at the Trinity test of July 16, 1945. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Descended from French Huguenots who came to America in the 17th century, Leslie Groves was the son of a U.S. Army chaplain. He was born in Albany, New York, and educated at the University of Washington and MIT before attending West Point. Groves graduated in 1918, fourth in his class, and was commissioned into the Army Corps of Engineers, completing his engineering studies at Camp A. A. Humphreys (now Fort Belvoir), 1918–21. He married Grace Hulbert Wilson in 1922. Location in Albany County and the State of New York Coordinates: , ) Country United States State New York County Albany Founded 1614 Incorporated 1686 Government  - Mayor Gerald D. Jennings Area  - City  21. ... The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... USMA redirects here. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 military men and women. ... Fort Belvoir is a United States military installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. ... Fort Belvoir is a United States military installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ...

Groves worked in various assignments throughout the United States and served with distinction in Nicaragua. He was attached to the Office of the Chief of Engineers and received a promotion to Captain in October 1934, and, following courses at the General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth (1936) and the Army War College (1939), he was promoted to Major in 1940 and posted to the General Staff in Washington. He was deputy to the Chief of Construction and oversaw a number of projects including the construction of the Pentagon in 1940. In the same year, he was promoted to Colonel. Captain is a nautical term, an organizational title, and a rank in various uniformed organizations. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... In 1827, Colonel Henry Leavenworth established a post on the bluffs overlooking the western bank of the Missouri River to protect the fur trade, safeguard commerce on the Santa Fe Trail and maintain the peace among the inhabitants. ... The United States Army War College is a U. S. Army school located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, specifically in the historic Carlisle Barracks. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... Major is a military rank the use of which varies according to country. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... This article is about the U.S. military building. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ...

By this time Groves had developed a reputation as an officer of high intelligence, tremendous drive and energy, and great organizational and administrative ability, as well as considerable ruthlessness, arrogance, and self-confidence. His success in overseeing a huge number of construction projects costing billions of dollars during the mobilization period between 1940 and 1942 made him a natural choice to take charge of the fledgling atomic bomb program.

Manhattan Project

In September 1942, he was made temporary Brigadier General and appointed as the military director of the nascent Manhattan Engineer District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, replacing the first director, Col. James Marshall, who had proven indecisive and slow in getting the project moving beyond the research stage. He provided the code-name 'Manhattan' himself from the Corps practice of naming districts after their headquarters' city. He had been seeking action overseas and was initially highly dubious of attaching himself to a highly controversial weapons project. Nevertheless he quickly threw himself into the project with every ounce of energy he possessed. Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ...

Groves and Robert Oppenheimer

Groves was important in most aspects of the bomb's development, including determining the sites to be used, finally deciding on Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Los Alamos, New Mexico and Hanford Engineering in Washington state, as the primary sites for theoretical research and materials production. See Los Alamos National Laboratory for a detailed examination of the project. He made critical decisions on prioritizing the various methods of isotope separation, acquiring raw materials needed by the scientists and engineers, and in creating the army air force bomber unit which would deliver the finished bombs to their targets. He was involved in collecting intelligence on German atomic research and helped determine which cities in Japan were chosen as targets. Groves also blanketed the Manhattan Project with an unprecedented degree of security, which, however, failed to prevent the Soviets from conducting a successful espionage program which stole some of its most important secrets. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (526x689, 283 KB) General Leslie Groves (left), military head of the Manhattan Project, with Prof. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (526x689, 283 KB) General Leslie Groves (left), military head of the Manhattan Project, with Prof. ... Oak Ridge is an incorporated city in Anderson and Roane Counties in East Tennessee, about 25 miles northwest of Knoxville. ... Los Alamos is an unincorporated townsite in Los Alamos County, New Mexico. ... Hanford Site plutonium production reactors along the Columbia River during the Manhattan Project. ... Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ...

Though his conservative, rigid temperament and cold, blunt manner alienated some of the scientists he worked with, he also took the risky step of putting (against the advice of everyone he consulted) J. Robert Oppenheimer (a leftist intellectual and Groves' opposite in almost everything) in charge of Los Alamos, where the bomb was designed and assembled, trusting in the physicist's abilities. Groves' choice proved inspired, for Oppenheimer's brilliant, charismatic leadership was decisive in creating workable designs and getting them transformed into usable bombs. J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, served as the first director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, beginning in 1943. ...

Groves and Brig. Gen. Thomas F. Farrell, 1945

Groves' greatest contribution to the Manhattan Project was in imparting his own driving energy and determination to get the bomb built as quickly as possible to the program in general. He was the key leader in transforming what had been a slow paced, poorly coordinated, theoretical and laboratory research effort of a few universities into a fast moving, highly articulated, truly massive juggernaut involving thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians, workmen, and soldiers, as well as hundreds of companies and governmental organizations, spread all over the United States and indeed the world. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 492 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2261 × 2756 pixel, file size: 896 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) General Leslie Groves (left) and Brig. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 492 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2261 × 2756 pixel, file size: 896 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) General Leslie Groves (left) and Brig. ... General Thomas Francis Farrell (December 3, 1891 –April 1967) was the Deputy Commanding General and Chief of Field Operations of the Manhattan Engineer District, acting as executive officer to General Leslie Groves. ...

Some activists believe, incorrectly, that Groves was one of the early proponents of using depleted uranium. A memo alleged to be on that subject, is often cited on the Internet. However, a close reading of the memo, which is actually a composite of several documents, including some pages not attributable to Groves, shows that the material under discussion was fission products and not uranium.

Groves was promoted to temporary Major General in 1944. After the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war with Japan, Groves was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

As chief of the atom bomb program during the wartime emergency, Groves accrued an enormous amount of power. In the words of a subordinate, he, "...planned the project, ran his own construction, his own science, his own Army, his own State Department and his own Treasury Department." Doing so, Groves ran roughshod over many people and made many enemies, some of them quite powerful. These enemies eventually succeeded in drastically reducing Groves' power and authority as control over atomic energy was transferred from military to civilian hands (from the Manhattan District to the Atomic Energy Commission) in January, 1947. Shield of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. ...

For a time, Groves continued to play a role at Los Alamos as head of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, but he eventually realized that in the rapidly shrinking post-war Army he would not be given any assignment approaching in importance the one he had held in the Manhattan Project(such posts would go to combat commanders returning from overseas). He decided to leave the Army, though he was made Lieutenant General in recognition of his leadership of the bomb program, just before his retirement on February 29, 1948. US Lieutenant General insignia In three branches of the United States Army, United States Marine Corps and United States Air Force, a Lieutenant General is also called a three-star general, named for the three stars worn on the uniform. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

After retirement from Army

Groves went on to become a Vice-President at Sperry Rand. He moved to Darien, Connecticut in 1948.^[1] He retired from Sperry Rand in 1961 and moved back to Washington, D.C. He also served as president of the West Point alumni organization, the Association of Graduates. He presented Douglas MacArthur the Sylvanus Thayer Award on the occasion of MacArthur's famous Duty, Honor, Country speech to the Corps of Cadets in 1962. His account of the Manhattan Project, NOW IT CAN BE TOLD, was originally published in 1962.^[2] The American company Univac began as the business computer division of Remington Rand formed by the purchase of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC) in 1950. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was an American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ...

Cultural references

Groves and others at remains of the Trinity test

• Groves is a key figure in Harry Turtledove's alternate history series Worldwar.
• Richard Herd played Groves in the 1980 TV-movie Enola Gay.
• Paul Newman played a gruff Groves in Fat Man and Little Boy (a "box office bomb").
• Brian Dennehy (physically much closer to Groves than was Newman) portrayed Groves in a three-hour PBS television production about the bomb, DAY ONE: Before Hiroshima and After (1989).
• In 1955, a reporter asked Groves how the secret of the atomic bomb was "so well kept," (apparently forgetting that it wasn't well kept from the Soviets) and recorded this reaction: "If you have ever been the object of his direct look, you will know why I dropped my pencil in utter confusion when he said, 'Mainly by not talking to reporters.'" (The reporter laughed, Groves laughed and the interview went on.)^[1]
• Leslie Groves Park along the Columbia River, not more than five miles from the Hanford Site in Richland bears his name.

Image File history File links Trinity_Ground_Zero. ... Image File history File links Trinity_Ground_Zero. ... The Trinity test was the first test of a nuclear weapon, conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945 at , thirty miles (48 km) southeast of Socorro on what is now White Sands Missile Range, headquartered near Alamogordo, New Mexico. ... Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American historian and prolific novelist who has written historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction works. ... Alternate history (fiction) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Worldwar is a series of four alternate history science fiction novels by Harry Turtledove. ... Richard Herd (born September 26, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American character actor in television and film. ... Paul Leonard Newman (born January 26, 1925) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Cannes Award, and Emmy Award winning American iconic actor and film director. ... Fat Man and Little Boy (aka Shadow Makers in the UK) is a 1989 film that reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret Allied endeavor to develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. It is named after the nuclear weapons known as Fat Man and Little Boy, and also... Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman Brian Dennehy parodied in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Brian Dennehy (born July 9, 1938 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA) is an Irish-American actor who has appeared in movies, television shows, and stage productions. ... The Columbia River (French: fleuve Columbia) is a river situated in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... Hanford Site plutonium production reactors along the Columbia River during the Manhattan Project. ... Richland Police Station in foreground. ...

Footnotes

March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External link

• Annotated bibliography for Leslie Groves from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues