Albert J. and Roberta Wohlstetter papers, 1929-2007

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Summary

Creators:
Wohlstetter, Albert and Wohlstetter, Roberta
Abstract:
Speeches and writings, correspondence, notes, memoranda, reports, studies, and printed matter relating to American military and national security policy, nuclear warfare strategic planning, and nuclear proliferation issues. Includes the papers of Roberta Wohlstetter, wife of Albert J. Wohlstetter. Digital copies of select records also available at https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Extent:
847 manuscript boxes, 5 card file boxes, 8 oversize boxes (344 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Albert J. and Roberta Wohlstetter papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

Speeches and writings, correspondence, notes, memoranda, reports, studies, and printed matter relating to American military and national security policy, nuclear warfare strategic planning, and nuclear proliferation issues. Includes the papers of Roberta Wohlstetter, wife of Albert J. Wohlstetter.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1913 December 19
Born, New York City, New York
1934
B.A., College of the City of New York
1934-1935
Studied, Columbia University Law School
1937
M.A. in mathematical and symbolic logic from Columbia University, Graduate School of Philosophy
1939
Married Roberta Morgan
1941-1942
Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
1942-1943
Consultant, Planning Committee, War Production Board
1942-1945
Factory Manager and Quality Control Manager, Atlas Aircraft Products Corporation
1945-1946
Director of Research, General Panel Corporation, New York
1946-1947
Program Director, National Housing Agency, Washington, D.C.
1947-1951
Vice President, then President, General Panel Corporation, Burbank, California
1951-1997
Senior Analyst and Consultant, Rand Corporation, Economics Department
1958
Adviser to United States delegation, Geneva Conference on Surprise Attack
1961-1967
Consultant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, and thereafter consultant to the Department of Defense throughout his career
1962
Adviser to President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis
1962-1964
Ford Professor, University of California at Berkeley, and visiting professor at University of California, Los Angeles
1964-1972
Served as consultant to various corporations and institutions, including Research & Analysis Corp., Stanford Research Institute, General Electric, and the Northrop Corporation
1964-1980
University Professor, later University Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago
1965
Author (with Roberta Wohlstetter), Controlling the Risks in Cuba
1965, 1976
Awarded Medal for Distinguished Service, Department of Defense
1969-1971
Consultant to the National Security Council, Washington D.C.
1970-1971
Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford, England
1970-1992
Member, Executive Committee and Director, Strategy Group, California Seminar on Arms Control and Foreign Policy (also known as California Seminar on International Security and Foreign Policy)
1971?-1997
Member, Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel
1974-1997
Founding partner and Senior Consultant, PanHeuristics, affiliated with Science Applications Inc., and subsequently with RDA
1975-?
President, European American Institute for Security Research (EAI)
1975-1988?
Chairman, New Alternatives Workshop
1979
Author (with Roberta Wohlstetter), Swords from Plowshares: The Military Potential of Civilian Nuclear Energy
1979-1992?
Vice President, Security Conference on Asia and Pacific (SECAP)
198?-1997
President, American Institute for Strategic Cooperation (AISC)
1980-1997
Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University
1985
Author, Between an Unfree World and None: Increasing Our Choices
1985 November
Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter jointly awarded Medal of Freedom by President Reagan
1985-1992
Member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB)
1986-1992
Member, Defense Policy Board
1986
Appointed Co-Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Integrated Long-Term Strategy
1990-1997
Active in the affairs of the Balkan Institute
1994
Honorary Ph.D., City University of New York
1997 January 10
Died, Los Angeles, California
Date Event
1912 August 22
Born, Duluth, Minnesota
1930 Summer
Studied, Stanford University
1931 Summer
Studied, Sorbonne, Paris
1932 Summer
Studied, University of Heidelberg
1933
B.A., Vassar College
1934-1935
Studied, Columbia University Law School
1936
M.A. in psychology, Columbia University
1937
M.A. in comparative literature, Radcliffe College
1937-1938
Teaching assistant, University of Southern California
1939
Married Albert Wohlstetter
Early 1940s
Taught at Barnard College
Mid 1940s
Taught at Howard University
Attended Washington School of Psychiatry
1947-2002
Consultant, Rand Corporation, Social Science Department
1962
Author, Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision
1962
Awarded the Bancroft Prize in Diplomatic History
1963
Named the Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year
1965
Author (with Albert Wohlstetter), Controlling the Risks in Cuba
1965-1968?
Taught at the University of Chicago
1970-2007
Member, Council on Foreign Relations (first woman to be invited to join)
1970-1971
Fellow, St. Hilda's College, Oxford, England
1970-1992
Member, California Seminar on Arms Control and Foreign Policy (also known as California Seminar on International Security and Foreign Policy)
1979
Author (with Albert Wohlstetter), Swords from Plowshares: The Military Potential of Civilian Nuclear Energy
1979-1982
Member, Defense Science Board
1981-1985
Member, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Advisory Board, Ad Hoc Task Force on Terrorism
1982-1984
Consultant, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
1985 November
Awarded (with Albert Wohlstetter) the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan
1986-1989
Consultant, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
1988-1998
Consultant to the Director, Net Assessment
1994-2007
Served on Board of Advisors, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC)
1997
Awarded the Defense Special Weapons Agency Lifetime Achievement Medal
2007 January 6
Died, Manhattan, New York
Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1997.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Boxes 1-61, 201-354, 385-754, 815-821, and 838-859 closed. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Albert J. and Roberta Wohlstetter papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website