He was born in Hungary in 1908, "a land full of misery but optimistic about the future." He studied physics in Germany, "but I knew what was coming." He sidetracked into a favorite topic: "Those who brought Hitler to power argued with the same type of venom I hear here." But then he retrenched, looking at Tom Ward: "One difference between you and them is that you behave differently when you stop and listen to the other side ..." And then he was back to the life story. He fled Germany went to Copenhagen, 1934, and on to London, 1935. To the U. S. in 1935 as a physics professor at George Washington University. "I then believed that scientists should stay out of politics."
The confessional Teller went on: it was Franklin Roosevelt in a speech to the Pan American Union a few days before Hitler invaded the lowlands in 1939, which convinced him to join the war effort. Not surprisingly, the speech was a call to scientists to aid in the defense "not of the U. S., but of freedom."
Teller kept returning to his prepared-and undelivered-speech topic of the afternoon: the need to end secrecy in defense research. He also talked about freedom of speech-and appeared to practice it despite the insults hurled at him. Of course the students wanted to talk polities. Teller maintained that he had no opinion on socialism or capitalism. But communism-well-that's something else. It seems that this friend of his was sent to Siberia. A good scientist, too.... Often the lady in makeup had to intervene between him and the students.
It was nearing 10 o'clock. The room had been a pressure cooker for over two hours by now. Teller was tiring; his face was whitening and there were puckers under his eyes. He had been brandishing his cane and stomping his feet all along-but now his pant leg was lifted, revealing the brace on his right leg. He leaned often on the cane new, as though the frail hotel chair wasn't going to survive under his enormous frame. The Old-World courtesies droned out:
" And now, if you don't mind, I really must go. Or I will turn into a pumpkin. Ten minutes more. Only. "
It was going to end. Everyone had agreed to stop arguing. There was almost a visible sigh of relief. The lady in makeup began an elaborate speech of thanks to Dr. Teller. She patted his arm and smiled at him dewily through false eyelashes. "There , that wasn't so bad, was it?" Old-World courtesies sputtered back in reply. She gave him a loud kiss on the check. He winced.
And, of course, never to be cornered, he suddenly gained strength for another verbal charge: "Dear lady," he boomed, "if I had known how difficult it would be I would certainly not have come! "She recoiled a bit at that. At which point the huge frame lifted itself up from the chair and lumbered out of the room, where the bodyguards surrounded him and took him away.
The lady in makeup joined an informal de-briefing afterwards with the students, while Tom Ward slouched in the corner, unsmiling and talking in a low voice with his friends. The lady was sentimental and nodded towards Tom. "Teller says that boy's full of venom, but I think he's full of heartbreak. Think of the records he listens to, the heartbreak he's had. Think of what that boy's been through! Teller will never understand that."
Different students reacted differently:
"He must be completely insane to do what he does and yet talk the way he did tonight."
"I came away with a new appreciation of the man. He told us his life story. Not that he should be felt sorry for, but I saw that he was a man."
"I think he said what was really on his mind."
"I think he came clean with us and that scares me even more."
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