It’s Council for a Livable World’s birthday! Our first board meeting was 58 years ago today, when it was decided that founder Leo Szilard would be a co-chair along with William Doering. Other board members included Ruth Adams of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Daniel Singer of the Federation of American Scientists, and others.
We’ve done a lot since 1962, but there are still a few things you might not know about us.
- The Council was founded by nuclear physicist Leo Szilard, who realized the dangers of the weapon his discovery helped create, and wanted to do everything in his power to prevent further use.
- According to The New York Times, the original name Szilard came up with was the Council to Abolish War.
- The Council has helped elect nearly 400 Members of Congress, and is likely to reach 400 by 2022.
- The Council raises more money for endorsed candidates than any other peace and security organization, including nearly $1.2 million in 2018.
- All donations made to candidates via the Council are given directly to their campaigns; the Council simply serves as a conduit.
- The Council has endorsed Republicans, Democrats and Independents – historically, nuclear arms control has been a nonpartisan issue.
- The Council has provided information and resources to Members of Congress to help them ratify the…
- New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
- and Chemical Weapons Convention
- and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
- and Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
- and Biological Weapons Convention.
- The Council was instrumental in garnering support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal.
- The Council was key in urging Congress to support and establish a U.S. nuclear testing moratorium in 1992, which remains in force today.
- While touring the United States in 1962 to build support for the Council, Szilard declared, “The policies of the great powers have consistently followed the line of least resistance, and this line leads to an unlimited arms race. I do not believe that America can be made secure by keeping ahead in such an arms race.”
- Council members are able to contribute to the Council’s Candidate Fund, a political action committee that the Council uses to help our endorsed candidates in tight races as elections near.
- The Council has had many famous board members, including…
- Astrophysicist and Pulitzer Prize and Emmy-winning author Carl Sagan,
- Nobel Prize-winning physicist Hans Bethe,
- Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and Manhattan Project physical chemist George Kistiakowsky,
- Jerome Wiesner, former science advisor to President John F. Kennedy and president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
- and Father Robert F. Drinan, the first Roman Catholic priest elected to Congress, known for his commitment to peace and human justice.
- The Council staff includes experts on nuclear weapons policy, Congress and defense spending.
- The Council’s Executive Director, John Tierney, served in Congress for nine terms and was endorsed by the Council as a Member of Congress for his strong stances on reducing unnecessary Pentagon spending and eliminating nuclear threats.
- The first candidate the Council endorsed was George McGovern, a World War II veteran and outspoken opponent of the Vietnam war.
- The Council was among the first groups to endorse a young Senate candidate from Delaware, Joe Biden, who has advocated for diplomacy and arms control his entire career.
- The Council has endorsed 41 current United States senators and 74 current members of the House of Representatives.
- The Council’s current boards of directors and advisors are made up of retired military officers, former ambassadors, former Members of Congress and others.
- To be endorsed by the Council, Congressional candidates must fill out a questionnaire stating their positions on a variety of national security issues, including defense spending, nuclear weapons policy and ongoing wars in the Middle East — and that is just the first step of the process.
- Along with our sister organization, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, we engage in hard-hitting, fact-based analysis and advocacy to work for a more livable world.
