National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE)
The National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, commonly known as SANE, is an organization founded in 1957 by a coalition of environmental activists, scientists, and pacifists with the primary aim of protesting against nuclear weapons testing. Its formation was catalyzed by a gathering of prominent antinuclear activists in Philadelphia, where the urgency of the nuclear threat was highlighted in a New York Times advertisement featuring notable figures like Eleanor Roosevelt and theologian Paul Tillich. Initially starting as an informal collective, SANE rapidly gained traction and grew to a membership of approximately 25,000 by mid-1958.
SANE successfully raised public awareness about the environmental impacts of nuclear testing, contributing to the voluntary suspension of tests by both the United States and the Soviet Union in 1958. However, allegations of communist affiliations led to congressional scrutiny, which hurt the organization’s reputation and membership. Despite these challenges, SANE played a role in advocating for international disarmament, notably contributing to the signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
In subsequent years, SANE shifted its focus to various issues, including opposition to the Vietnam War and the development of antiballistic missile systems. Its influence waned in the late 1960s but revived in the early 1980s amid the nuclear freeze movement. SANE later merged with the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign to form SANE/Freeze, which became the largest peace organization in the U.S. before being renamed Peace Action in 1993, continuing its advocacy for nuclear disarmament and peace.
On this Page
Subject Terms
National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE)
IDENTIFICATION: Organization of environmental activists, scientists, and pacifists formed with the aim of protesting nuclear weapons testing
DATE: Founded in 1957
SANE experienced some success in increasing public awareness regarding the effects of nuclear testing on the environment.
In April 1957, prominent antinuclear activists and pacifists, led by Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins, met in Philadelphia; the ad hoc organization formed at this meeting evolved into SANE. In September, the group’s officials named their organization the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. The formation of what soon came to be known simply as SANE was announced in The New York Times on November 15, 1957, in an advertisement with the headline “We Are Facing a Danger Unlike Any Danger That Has Ever Existed.” The advertisement, which was sponsored by such notables as theologian Paul Tillich, social critic Lewis Mumford, novelist James Jones, and humanitarian Eleanor Roosevelt, brought the group many new members and donations.
SANE was at first an informal venture meant to make the public aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons testing, but it proved so popular that it became a permanent organization. The group’s initial membership consisted largely of scientists, writers, and other professionals, but as the antinuclear movement grew, thousands of other people joined. By mid-1958, SANE had approximately twenty-five thousand members and more than one hundred chapters.
Despite Cold War opposition, SANE and other groups pressed their campaign against nuclear testing. In August, 1958, the United States followed the lead of the Soviet Union and voluntarily suspended nuclear tests. The two countries further agreed to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, to begin negotiations for a test ban treaty.
In the early 1960s, SANE came under attack by members of the US Congress for the organization’s alleged harboring of communists. Investigations by SANE leaders established that some members did in fact have communist affiliations, and though congressional investigations eventually exonerated SANE’s leadership of wrongdoing, the effects of the investigations on SANE were disastrous. Membership declined drastically, and several prominent members and sponsors resigned.
In 1961, when the Soviet Union resumed the testing of nuclear weapons, SANE condemned the action and called for international protests. The organization also urged the United States to refrain from following the Soviet example, but to no avail.
Such concerns became secondary during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962, when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. In the aftermath, support for a treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union gained new life, and the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed on August 5, 1963. With the signing of the treaty, SANE’s initial goals were partially achieved.
SANE leaders subsequently chose to direct the group’s energies to opposing the Vietnam War, but this approach proved divisive; in 1967, many key SANE officials, including Cousins and the executive director Donald Keys, resigned from the organization. SANE’s membership and influence subsequently declined precipitately, and in 1969 the group changed its focus to campaign against the construction of antiballistic missile systems. The organization did not experience a resurgence until the early 1980s, when the nuclear freeze movement gathered momentum. In the late 1980s, SANE merged with another organization, the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, to become SANE/Freeze, the largest peace-promoting organization in American history. SANE/Freeze was renamed Peace Action in 1993.
Bibliography
Falzone, Catherine. "SANE, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy." PACE University, 2012, disarmament.blogs.pace.edu/nyc-nuclear-archive/antinuclear-movement-1950s-1960s/sane-the-committee-for-a-sane-nuclear-policy/. Accessed 23 July 2024.
Giugni, Marco. Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements in Comparative Perspective. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.
"Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy: A Conversation with HPSCI Chairman Mike Turner." Center for Strategic and International Studies, 20 June 2024, www.csis.org/analysis/nuclear-weapons-and-foreign-policy-conversation-hpsci-chairman-mike-turner. Accessed 23 July 2024.
"Peace Action Timeline." Peace Action, www.peaceaction.org/who-we-are/our-mission/timeline. Accessed 23 July 2024.
Wittner, Lawrence S. Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2009.