1155 S. Citrus Ave.
Los Angeles 35, Calif. 16 September 1948
Dear Herbert and Otto:
this afternoon i paid a visit to the RAND headquarters
in santa monica; and i thought you might possibly be interested
in a brief sketch about the project and its people many of
whom are so dear to your hearts. ,
the building itself looks like a former medical building:
clean, white, aseptic, and streamlined. it is located in the
center of santa monica. yuakxaxxgux policemen guard entrance and
exit. parking areas ( marked: government property ) are
separated according to the following status categories:
for executives, for executive visitors, for regular employees,
and, finally, for ordinary visitors. it will please otto
( who knows how deeply conscious i am in every situation of the
prestige and stctus angle ) to learn that i pxxke was permitted
to park in the area for "executive visitors", This because i
also inscribed myself in the log book as a representative from
the state department. besides this formality of signing a bookx
and identifying himself, the visitor also receives a badge
to be fastened to one's lapel or belt which is an exact
replica of the old OSS badge. the offices ave roomy, wiry,
amit well-lit, amd again very elean-looking. most of them are
occupied by one researchers’ sthe building houses kke at least
three different groups of researchers: the social scientists,
the mathematicians and statisticians, and the physicists.
there may be other groups or branches. the total impression of
facilities is that of a clean, quiet, smooth, and highly
sterilized outfit. one hesitates to drop one's ashes on the
floor # ( if you know what i mean ) and when talking to some
of the members of the group, it is noticeable that ash trays
are immediately emptied and cleaned if they contain some ashes
and two or three butts.
general information was supplied by my friend abe kaplan
( whose name appears jlsintly with that of hans speier on one
of the wf£x executive offices, ) i also talked at length to
@man by the name of joe goldsen, an old lasswellian and a
wizard in the arts of content analysis, policy research,
and formulation and manipulation of xm projects in the social
sciences, he is functioning in some kind of executive and
coordinating capacity. and these are some of the things i learned:
while RAND headquarters will remain in california, the orga—
nization is spreading and establishing branches in the east and
farming out more and more research eC as far as i know,
there, will, be » branch in washington ( with speier, alex george
phil fegeayainge a branch im yale ( with leites ) and a besnod ,
at harvard. the washington branch will be concerned primarily -
with psychological warfare; yale is already ummg engaging in
a gigantic study of "reactions to disastrous situation; haxehx
pa
harvard is engaged in what was described to me’as an "attitude
study" -- whatever that may mean. kaplan here is Rima finishing
a report on "social prediction".
the outfit is growing and definitely here to stay. the
people talk in terms of becoming a research institute and possibly
affiliating with the universities. there must be other projects
farmed out to other institutions of higher learning ofwhich
i don't know anything. pay is good and working conditions
comfortable. hence, it is not surprising that a lot of people
are attracted by the whole proposition. the general plan
is to leave the different researchers scattered at the various
places in the west and east and bring them al11 together, once
a year, for a couple of months in southern california -- which
is obviously a good solution from the point of view of comfort
of living.
while most people are full-time, some of them divide their
time or are on temporary appointments. goldhammer has taken a
year's leave of absence from chicago; and you will certainly
meet him in washington. my friend kaplan is only working for a
day or two per week. leites divides his time between RAND and
some kind of an appoittkment as "research professor" or "associate"
for political science at yale.-at any rate, he will not have to
do any teaching. i -was told that ( having finished his manuscript
on the movies 5 he has"throw himself" ( sic! ) completely
and without qualification into work on the sowiet union and has
mapped out a gigantic research project on the "elite structure
in the user". i was further informed that he had already
combed every available scrap of literature on the ideological
development and deviations of zaxkek communism in the ussr and
elsewheremand has begun to write up his findings, eventhally,
the study is to lead to a clear, definitional formxulation of
the "policy scope" ( or something like it ) and "manipulatory
freedom and efficacy" of the various members forming the
elite and sub-elites in the soviet union. i am not dwelling on
this subject or person at length because i am particularly
interested in it or him, but (a) because it was outlined to
me as what seemed to be the major project of the organization
and (b) because i thought you would welcome a new expert
in your respective fields and might wish to consider calling
him down to washington as a "consultant" to the department.
so much for to-night.-- i miss your kagxkkke special
mixture of friendship and aggressive hostility. it is
lonesome to crawl back into the womb.~—-
i remain, dear sirs, as everm, your obedient servant,
Kans
PS. CCoreceegtas asthe
— He RAND Capon
HANS SPEIER
CHAIRMAN, RESEARCH COUNCIL December 12, 1961
1700 MAIN STREET
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
eee
g Professor Otto Kirchheimer
2801 Beechbank Road
Silver Spring, Maryland
Dear Otto:
It was very kind of you to send me a copy of your work, Political
Justice, The Use of Legal Procedure for Political Ends. Tf arrived
in the office some time ago when I was in the hospital for a minor
operation on my eye. | have been unable to read or write for
several weeks and still am at home. But now that | am rejoining
the reading public, | am looking forward to reading your book care-
fully. When it arrived | could make out the Table of Contents with
the help of a magnifying glass and this venture whetted my appetite
greatly.
In the meantime, | hope that you have received a copy of the little
study on Berlin that | finished just before | went out of commission.
With kindest personal regards,
Sincerely,
Ae
Mote
Hans Speier
HS/kt
December 17,1962
Ur. tans Speler
The Hand Corporation
THs edn Street
Santa Koukca,val,
Deay HS;
Twas very sorry to cee from your Ieipd Linas
that you hed to undergo en eye oparetion, 2 de hove
that your vickon 4s concletely restored. | world aot
mind 2£ perhaps you could not find rll the wisvrints
end errors in tha book, thera va, unfortunately, tL too
wey.
Many thanke for sending me your BerLin book,
from the analyois of which | learned » lot, I used it
to good account ia a geaple of szeaches ¢ hed to msxe on
the subjoct. I ae sfraid you might not agroe withh 211 the
conclusions t drew from &t and Toonly would cave Ved
that you vould have extended you analysis to the tobsl
subject of DDR ~ Bonn relations. J do hove there will be
an opportunity in 1962 to discuss these oreb'ems da
person.
With beet regards and sishos for a apeedy
full recovery, T am,
Sinoerely youre .
