Patrick Henry League

The Patrick Henry League was founded in 1958 by Robert A. Heinlein and his wife, Virginia "Ginny" Gerstenfield. Provoked by an advertising campaign by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, whom Heinlein described as "communist-line propagandists", he mounted a petition drive to urge then President Eisenhower to resist communist-orchestrated pressure "to stop our nuclear weapons tests, turn our missile and space program over to the UN, and in other ways to weaken our defenses" and to oppose the proposal for a unilateral cessation of American nuclear weapons testing in 1958. The premise was based on both Patrick Henry's Give me liberty or give me death speech and the Soviet Union's poor record of promise keeping. President Eisenhower did initate the ban, the Soviets did not reciprocate and they even tested even larger and dirtier bombs.

Related Topics:
Robert A. Heinlein - Virginia "Ginny" Gerstenfield - Advertising campaign - National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy - President - Eisenhower - American - Patrick Henry - Give me liberty or give me death - Soviet Union - Dirtier bombs

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