ABSTRACT
The election of 1980 reflected a shift in the national mood about government. The Administration was committed to a path of fundamental change, and it sought a new perspective of the role of government in science and technology. Many members of the Administration even saw the views of the scientific community as deriving from a political perspective that ran counter to the national sentiments that elected Ronald Reagan President. Among the agencies that supported basic research, this chapter focuses on particular attention on the National Science Foundation because it, alone among the agencies, directs virtually all its funding to support basic research in universities. The science community reacts strongly to suggestions that many of the science and technology supporting functions in government be collected into a single agency. The chapter suggests that Presidents do and will continue to need direct, personal advice on scientific and technical matters that come before them.
