I have seen the dawn at Machu Picchu, the historic sights of mainland China, the ruins of Jordan and Persepolis, a Bedouin camp in Israel, the mosques of Iran, the island of Santorini, the wildflowers of Crete, the skeletons of Herculaneum, the kangaroos of Australia, the glaciers of New Zealand, the strange birds and marine life of the Great Barrier Reef, and many other remarkable sights. Sometimes with us on these trips was Lady Bird Johnson, with her security entourage. We have felt really fortunate to be a part of this lively, knowledgeable group.

In addition to the National Geographic, I have been involved with the National Cathedral in Washington (chapter member), the Carnegie Institution of Washington (trustee and vice chairman), the Boston Museum of Science (trustee), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (trustee), the New England Medical Center (board of governors), and the Trustees of Reservations (standing committee). I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with each, particularly knowing the participants and especially the movers and shakers. All of these organizations have had management challenges, and all have held major fund drives.

Finally, let me mention the Sea Education Association (SEA), which has classrooms and laboratories aboard two 130-foot schooners. Jimmy Madden got me involved soon after I returned from Washington in 1978. I was asked to serve first as a trustee and then as chairman (1989-1993). SEA was originally run out of a church basement in Woods Hole. In time, it acquired a ten-acre campus and built some houses around a small central building-enough to accommodate fifty students at a time living about eight to a house. I thought we needed a proper teaching facility ashore so I went to Tom Watson of IBM, a great friend of Jimmy Madden, and asked if he would be interested in supporting our effort to establish a marine center in Jimmy's memory. He sent me one of the nicest letters I've ever received, offering a substantial matching grant to get our fund-raising effort moving. He spoke at the dedication of the center in June 1993.

Write a Book?

Gene and I have been married over fifty years, and our family now numbers twenty-four, ages one to seventy-seven (myself). Our children and grandchildren are scattered, but we all enjoy each other's company

as often as possible. Traveling from Berkeley, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cambridge, and Beverly Farms, most of us still meet annually for spring skiing at Vail. Everyone is welcome for Christmas and summer pleasures at Sea Meadow, where Gene and I live year-round. Fortunately, the house holds us all. Our offspring's combined energies, desires, and special interests make these visits memorable. I don't know what we'll do when great-grandchildren enter the picture!

Since 1960 I have never completely lost contact with NASA, the great adventure of my professional life. While I was at the Air Force, I served on the President's Space Council, chaired by Vice President Spiro Agnew and charged with determining what NASA ought to do as a follow-up to the Apollo program. As administrator of ERDA, I was closely involved with NASA through ERDA's research work. I tried very hard to get NASA involved in energy issues. My next involvement with NASA came after the Challenger accident, when I chaired the effort to set up a NASA Alumni League.

More recently I was chairman of a special White House Committee on the Space Station. I also served on a space station committee chaired by MIT president Dr. Charles ("Chuck") Vest. Serving with me on the latter was Dr. Edward B. Fort, chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. He and I were chatting one day, when he asked, "Did you really know any of the astronauts?"

"Yeah," I said, "I knew quite a few of them."

"Did you ever meet Wernher von Braun?"

"Oh, sure, I knew Wernher."

He asked me for supper that evening to inquire further into my days at NASA. By the time supper was over, I had recounted several of the stories in this book. Afterwards he said, "That was worth the whole trip to Washington. Have you ever thought of writing a book?"

"I've given it a little thought," I said.

October 5 and 12, Letters from President Lyndon B. Johnson

240-242

1967

and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey
upon my resignation from NASA

August 4, 1969

Letter from me as secretary of the Air
Force to Vice President Spiro T. Agnew

242-244

April 1 and 5, 1971

April 10 and
May 15, 1973

January 18, 1977

My mid-term letter to Secretary of Defense 244-247
Melvin Laird and his reponse

My letter of resignation from the Air Force 247-249 and President Richard M. Nixon's response

My letter to James Schlesinger, assistant to 250-251 the President-elect (for energy)

January 18 and 19, My letter of resignation from ERDA to

1977

President Gerald R. Ford, his reply, and a
January 19 letter to me from Richard W.
Roberts of ERDA

252-254

December 16, 1985

Letter to me from former President

255

Gerald R. Ford upon his resignation from
the Aerospace Corporation

As head of the executive branch of the federal government, the President of the United States has responsibility for a dozen major departments (the largest being the Department of Defense), as well as a number of independent agencies. Of the agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Energy Research and Development Agency (ERDA) were prominent during my days in government. ERDA became part of the Department of Energy in President Carter's administration; NASA, although occasionally the center of criticism, continues to function on its own.

The President's responsibilities extend well beyond the departments and agencies to a wide variety of boards and commissions. Reporting to the President are on the order of 150 individuals, in all. Such a span of control in the management of a large enterprise is an order of magnitude larger than that dictated by the accepted wisdom. To obtain some degree of conformity throughout the executive branch, the President has an Executive Office employing about 1,000 personnel. Included within this inner circle is the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The President has the authority to hire (with the consent of the Senate) and fire about 1,000 key members of the administration. Within NASA, only two positions are filled by formal presidential appointment, those of the administrator and the deputy administrator. When I first joined NASA, I held an “excepted position," serving at the pleasure of the administrator. Subsequently, I received presidential appointments to three positions: NASA deputy administrator, secretary of the Air Force, and administrator of ERDA. The correspondence in this appendix relates to my appointments and my relationships with the Office of the President, as well as a number of key reports on policy and project issues.

July 15 and 26, 1960: NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan's letter to me and my response

Following our dinner meeting on Monday, June 27, 1960, I received a midweek call from Keith in which he indicated that he needed an early decision and was having final conversations with another candidate. After several soul-searching discussions with Gene, I threw my hat in the ring by week's end. We had planned a summer cruise aboard Serene. We sailed out of Manchester harbor with Bill and May English immediately after receiving the affirmative phone call referred to in Keith's letter but before any announcements had been made. By the time we reached the coast of Maine, the word had spread, and friends and acquaintances were offering congratulations. Upon my return, I received his letter with its somewhat ominous final paragraph. I sent him my acceptance on July 26, in which I mentioned a two-year stint for "family planning purposes.' this and all subsequent jobs, I have offered my services for two years, a period in which much can be accomplished but with a foreseeable end. Perhaps I was always a bit concerned about my loss of freedom.