ABSTRACT
Selecting a starting date for the United States ocean policy program is largely an arbitrary judgment. Initial federal inquiry into the nature of America’s land-sea interface began as far back as the administration of George Washington, and was, to some degree, a reflection of Washington’s own personal interests. In the 1920s, Frank Schofield convened a US Navy board to determine what contribution the Navy might make to a national effort in oceanography. The advent of World War II provided a spectacular stimulus to oceanography in the United States and illustrates the dramatic impact that a single event can have upon national policy. The end of World War II allowed resumption of a number of oceanographic projects which had been subordinated to military effort. Industrial participation in the national ocean program began, and has progressed in fits and starts. In 1964, the National Academy of Sciences published a report on the economic benefits to be gained from ocean research.
