ABSTRACT
The scientific and technological enterprise in the United States is still by far the largest in the world. The United States spends more on research and development activities than do France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom combined. In the modern era, the Adviser tradition effectively dates back to Vannevar Bush and President Roosevelt in the late 1930s and throughout the years of World War II. Formal mechanisms for providing science advice to Presidents of the United States has a lengthy history, and the relationship between the Presidents and their respective Advisers and Advisory councils has been anything but a smooth one. Although the 1976 legislation provided for a President’s Science Advisory Committee, neither Presidents Ford nor Carter saw fit to establish such committees. The United States is unique in that more than 20 agencies support substantial science and technology programs and the cooperation of the heads of these agencies is essential if any effective coordination is to be achieved.
