ALBERT EINSTEIN (VOICEOVER): Based on this new phenomenon,
it is conceivable, though much less certain,
that an extremely powerful bomb of a new type
may be constructed.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT: A single bomb of this type,
carried by boat and exploded in a port,
might very well destroy the whole port together with some
of the surrounding territory.
Good god.
I don't need to tell you what could
happen if the Germans developed this technology before we do.
I'll be doing the goose step.
--[chuckles] Or worse, which is why I'm asking you
to take charge of a program to research
and develop an atomic weapon.
It would require tremendous resources.
Of that, I have no doubt.
I need wide latitude to manage the project--
the scientists, the military, clandestine operations.
Secrecy would be vital, sir.
You couldn't let the crowds get onto us.
Everyone involved will need security clearance.
EDGAR: Oppenheimer, Teller, Fermi, Einstein.
Hm.
No.
[closes notebook] No, Einstein is out.
MILITARY OFFICIAL: You haven't even run his background, Edgar.
EDGAR: The Bureau has been concerned
about Einstein for years.
He's a radical, most certainly communist.
MILITARY OFFICIAL: He's the man who informed the president
of the urgency of this matter.
He cannot be trusted to be loyal to our country.
I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of
the United States of America.
Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
JUDGE: That I will bear arms on behalf of the United States
when required by the law.
That I will bear arms on behalf of the United States
when required by the law.