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August 3, 2007
Fever of '57
Fifty years ago, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first satellite. Sputnik proved the capacity of the Soviet R-7 multi-stage rocket to propel Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, thereby altering the balance of power with the United States. Both superpowers had relied on long-range bombers to deliver nuclear payloads. Just a month later, Sputnik II was launched, a 1,100 pound satellite that carried a dog, Laika, opening the possibility of sending human beings, possibly soldiers, into space. Two months later, the first American effort to launch a rocket was a huge embarrassment, with the launcher exploding on the take-off. America launched its first satellite into space in early 1958, a diminutive 11 pound unit. The space race was officially underway.
The public reaction in the United States was nothing short of hysteria. Sixty percent of Americans said they believed we would shortly be in a nuclear war (Gallup Poll, April, 1958). The issue became fiercely political, with Republican President Eisenhower, a hero of World War II, under fire from the Democrats for allowing the missile gap to happen. Various drills were conceived by public safety officials, from the “duck and cover” in school rooms (yours truly participated in several of these, where we had to move quickly under our desks at school—greatest risk was catching your hair on a stray piece of gum left by fellow students) to building of personal bomb shelters adjacent to the home to preparation of subway stops as fallout shelters. Millions of Americans participated in a countrywide civil defense drill on June 10, 1958. Meanwhile, the US and USSR regularly exploded hydrogen bombs in test areas during 1958, with a constant drum beat of national media coverage in the US magnifying the threat to peace. The Chicago White Sox won the American League pennant race to go into the World Series for the first time since 1917. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ordered the air raid sirens to be enabled to celebrate this event. Thousands of panicked Chicagoans, including my parents, were certain that the Russian missiles were coming; I think I hid under my bed.
There was a longer term impact on America, specifically a massive commitment to science and engineering. Some historians believe that DARPA, the basis for the Internet, was conceived as a reaction to the Sputnik shock. Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney, candidates for President, have both described the need for a “Sputnik moment” in the next decade, an event that drives us to address key issues such as environment and education.
All of this drama will be captured in an upcoming film called Fever of ’57 by David Hoffman, whom I met yesterday night at the home of Jay Walker, founder of Priceline and now CEO of Walker Digital. Hoffman made several interesting points during the dinner:
1) President Eisenhower channeled American fears into enthusiasm. He made it a patriotic duty to be a scientist
2) Eisenhower created an alternative to military control of space by authorizing NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), a civilian agency dedicated to space exploration
3) Eisenhower used his military credentials to tone down the rhetoric from his own military and from US media responding to inflammatory speeches by Democrats
4) Over the next two years, Eisenhower declined to release to the public America’s increasing capability in the missile arena for fear of causing the Soviets to overreact and escalate their spending. John Kennedy used the missile gap issue effectively in beating Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential race.
We are now in a very different communications climate. But the ability to turn crisis into opportunity exists for leaders in government or in business. You must have an alternative narrative that is constructive, measurable and creative. You need not respond to an adversary such as an NGO by threats or escalation; you can find a mutually advantageous outcome. Let me know your views on this.
Further Reading:
NYT Oct 13, 1957: The Sputnik--And Three Aspects of the Soviet Line
NYT Oct 20, 1957: Soviet Exploits Its New 'Sputnik Diplomacy'
NYT Nov 10, 1957: How World Reacted to Sputniks
NYT Feb 9, 1958: To Counter Russian Propaganda
NYT October 4, 1977: First Sputnik is Dim in Russians' Memory
Posted by Edelman at August 3, 2007 1:29 PM
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Comments
I would love to see a candidate from either party inspire us to greater heights and have a personal mission akin to The Great Society. America needs to be respected again in the world for our goodness, our creativity, and our willingness to reach for our greatest common potential. JFK pronouncing that we were going to the moon within the decade of the 60s lifted us all. Can we get the spirit again?
Posted by: Mark Rose at August 6, 2007 11:20 AM
I was just about to add a "#5": Just 12 years later, we were waving back to the Russians from the surface of the moon. \m/
A shame that we go through these cycles of complacency. However, when shocked into action, Americans can achieve amazing things.
Posted by: Phil Gomes at August 7, 2007 9:38 AM
Richard, next time you are in Canada -- over which most Soviet and American missiles would have flown in the event of nuclear war -- you should visit the Cold War museum outside Ottawa called the 'Diefenbunker' (www.diefenbunker.ca). Designed to withstand a nuclear strike, it was built during 1959-61 by the Diefenbaker government and was intended to house the Canadian federal administration in the event of atomic war. Today it has been left largely untouched; especially eerie is the CBC television studio from where the Prime Minister would have addressed a shattered nation.
Posted by: Bob Pickard at August 8, 2007 4:12 AM