1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [97]
Oppenheimer, J. Robert (1904–1967) A brilliant and charismatic theoretical physicist, Oppenheimer was tapped as director of the Los Alamos laboratory during World War II. His mission was to lead a large team of scientists in the Manhattan Project, which built the atomic bomb. The effort was a success—two bombs dropped on Japan ended the war—and Oppenheimer went on to direct the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton from 1947 to 1966. His opposition to the development of the hydrogen bomb (much more powerful than the atomic bomb) after the war led to accusations of disloyalty and his removal as adviser to the highest levels of government.
Osceola (1804–1838) Osceola was a Seminole chief and war leader who led the resistance to the removal of the Seminoles and closely allied Creeks from the Southeast to “Indian Territory” west of the Mississippi. His unifying leadership during the early part of the Second Seminole War (1835–1842) was both brilliant and highly effective. Despite a flag of truce, he was seized and imprisoned in 1837 and died in captivity.
O’Sullivan, John L. (1813–1895) In May 1845, New York Post editor O’Sullivan wrote an article in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review proposing annexation of the Republic of Texas. He declared: “It is our manifest destiny to overspread and possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.” The phrase “manifest destiny” electrified the nation and was instantly seized upon as a justification for United States’ possession of territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific—even if acquiring the land meant war. Most immediately, “manifest destiny” became a justification for the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846–1848.
Oswald, Lee Harvey (1939–1963) A disaffected U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Soviet sympathizer, and pro-Castro activist, Oswald was employed by the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. From the sixth floor of the depository on November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m., he shot President John F. Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally as their motorcade passed below his window. The president died within a half hour; the governor recovered. In an escape attempt, Oswald shot and killed Dallas police officer J. D. Tippet and was himself shot to death on November 24, while in police custody, by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Both Oswald’s role in the assassination and Ruby’s killing of Oswald instantly drew the speculation of conspiracy and remain controversial to this day.
Otis, Elisha Graves (1811–1861) In 1852, this mechanic and inventor designed a “safety hoist” to aid in the installation of heavy machinery. The hoist had an automatic brake, which would prevent the load from falling if a cable broke. In 1853, he adapted this to passenger elevators, which he began manufacturing. The Otis elevator made practical the skyscraper, which, later in the century, would become the iconic feature of the American urban landscape.
Otis, James (1725–1783) A Massachusetts attorney and early advocate of American independence, Otis resigned as Boston’s chief enforcer of British taxes and duties, explaining his resignation in a speech of February 24, 1761, by declaring that “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” This phrase electrified and defined the American independence movement.
Outcault, Richard (1863–1928) Outcault was a popular illustrator who contributed to humor magazines in the late 19th century. When Joseph Pulitzer