The US government is one of the largest funders of scientific study in the world. The National Institutes of Science alone funds more medical research than any other source globally. How does the federal government allocate funds to study science? Who decides what goes where? And what role does the President play in this funding? Today we will delve into the complicated process of funding allocations, and how that money funds science.
Our previous post began a series exploring the role of American presidents and the advancement of science, beginning with our Founding Fathers. Today we continue this discussion with examples of how presidents and science have interacted over the history of our nation. We discovered that the presidential role in science, while sometimes simply as leader or visionary, more often takes the role of facilitator - and most importantly, but modeling an acceptance of scientific authority for the nation. Let’s look at the events that bring us to this conclusion.
