President Ronald Reagan and George (Jay) Keyworth in the Oval Office. Courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Each president dating back to World War II has chosen an individual to serve as his chief advisor for all things science. These White House officials aid the president and other senior staff in the executive branch in finding solutions to policy issues, especially those linked to science and technology. George A. (Jay) Keyworth II was one such individual, serving as President Reagan’s first science advisor from 1981 to 1985. Keyworth passed away on August 23, 2017.
Keyworth had his critics, who objected to many of Reagan’s policies, but he was a strong advocate for federally funded basic research carried out in universities and national laboratories. Since John Holdren, President Obama’s long-serving science advisor, left in January 2017, the position has been vacant. Many within the science community worry that President Trump will forego appointing someone who can advise him on critical issues relating to science and technology.
Keyworth was a physicist, with degrees from Yale and Duke, and a nuclear weapons expert at Los Alamos. He is best known for his strong vocal support of Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars. The objective of Star Wars was to create an antimissile defense system—an impenetrable shield—to protect the United States from a Soviet nuclear attack, even a massive one, from land and sea. In 1987, the American Physical Society’s Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) released an influential report, written by a subpanel of weapons experts, who concluded that the proposed system was technically unfeasible. I was chair of POPA at the time but was not on the subpanel. While Star Wars never achieved its goals nor moved beyond the research phase, it was this defense system, alongside the build-up of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, that some historians have credited with leading to the end of the Cold War. More likely, it was the larger technological capability of the U.S. that helped trigger that outcome. The current limited missile defense system is, to some extent, a successor of Star Wars, although its design, scope and objectives are different.
Much of what past presidents’ science advisors accomplished during their tenures stays out of the public eye, given their role as confidential advisor to the commander in chief. While defense funding, including defense research and development, were clear Reagan priorities, Keyworth once stated that as science advisor, he worked to generate “a widespread realization of the role of science and its importance to our economic growth . . . [with] bipartisan support and broader recognition in Congress.” Fortunately for science, his efforts within the White House likely contributed in the rise of funding for basic research, especially in the physical sciences and engineering, toward the end of Reagan’s first term. I recall a meeting with Keyworth in his White House office, during which he made clear that National Science Foundation (NSF) research programs would do particularly well in future budgets. Reagan later signed the NSF Authorization Act of 1988, which authorized the doubling of the NSF budget over the next five years. This shift is notable in light of Reagan’s historically low budget requests for science agencies at the start of his presidency, as well as steep cuts to many other domestic programs. Additionally, Keyworth worked to rebuild strong partnerships between the White House, the scientific community, and industry that were lost during the Nixon administration. Controversy over Star Wars made that particularly challenging. During a period when many within the scientific community were critical of the president about his failure to appoint a council of scientific advisors reporting directly to the president, Keyworth built his own advisory council of scientists and engineers that helped resolve internal conflicts between agencies, and quietly made an impact on policy decisions.
There are some parallels one can draw between the early days of the administrations of Presidents Reagan and Trump, e.g., the defense buildup and deep cuts in non-defense budgets, including R&D programs. But while Reagan announced the choice of Keyworth as his science advisor on May 19, 1981, roughly four months into his presidency, Trump has yet to announce his selection more than eight months into his presidency. Nor has there been much comment from the White House about the importance of filling the position and other presidential appointments in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. But this lack of expert advice has not stopped the president from launching policies that impact America’s leadership in science and technology as well as policies relating to health and safety, energy, security, the economy and environmental protection that should be based on scientific knowledge.
Keyworth served in this role during difficult political times. He was a loyal advisor to the president and, though criticized for his vocal defense of Star Wars, was a strong advocate for science in decision-making. We also live in difficult political times, and face large policy challenges, all of which have scientific or technical underpinnings. As we reflect on the impact of one of the nation’s past science advisors—Jay Keyworth—many scientists fear that this position may not be filled at all, at least during the Trump presidency. That leaves the question: If the position is left vacant, who will speak for science in the White House? It matters.
Neal F. Lane, Ph.D., is the senior fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute. He is also the Professor of Physics and Astronomy Emeritus at Rice University. Previously, Lane served in the federal government as assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from August 1998 to January 2001, and he served as director of the National Science Foundation and member (ex officio) of the National Science Board from October 1993 to August 1998. Before his post with NSF, Lane was provost and professor of physics at Rice, a position he had held since 1986.