At the projects time of creation, the president of the United States was Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR did not view the threat of nuclear warfare as a pressing topic in 1939 when he received a letter from Albert Einstein alerting him of the issue. At the time, “Roosevelt saw neither the necessity nor the utility for such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly.” (U.S. History) Later that year Great Britain and France formally declare war on Nazi Germany marking the beginning of World War II. Shortly following that act …show more content…
The very next day the U.S. Navy Base, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, and the U.S. declared war on Japan the following day. On December 11 Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, with the U.S. following right behind to declare war on them. Roosevelt finally authorizes the nuclear bomb project on January 19, about a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This in essence puts the Manhattan Project on a fast track to completion as the U.S. Prepares for warfare on the European and Asian fronts. Now that the project is sponsored by the Government, research begins at a few major institutions such as the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of California at Berkeley. Research and production rates increased at astronomical speeds, and now the most pressing setback would be communication between research