Editing J. Robert Oppenheimer (section)

=== Relationships and children ===
In 1936, Oppenheimer became involved with [[Jean Tatlock]], the daughter of a Berkeley literature professor and a student at [[Stanford University School of Medicine]]. The two had similar political views; she wrote for the ''Western Worker'', a Communist Party newspaper.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=111–113}}</ref> In 1939, after a tempestuous relationship, Tatlock broke up with Oppenheimer. In August of that year, he met [[Katherine Oppenheimer|Katherine ("Kitty") Puening]], a former Communist Party member. Kitty's first marriage had lasted only a few months. Her second, [[common-law marriage|common-law]], husband from 1934 to 1937 was [[Joe Dallet]], an active member of the Communist Party killed in 1937 in the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=153–161}}</ref>

Kitty returned from Europe to the U.S., where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in [[botany]] from the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. In 1938 she married Richard Harrison, a physician and medical researcher, and in June 1939 moved with him to [[Pasadena, California]], where he became chief of radiology at a local hospital and she enrolled as a graduate student at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]]. She and Oppenheimer created a minor scandal by sleeping together after one of Tolman's parties, and in the summer of 1940 she stayed with Oppenheimer at his ranch in New Mexico. When she became pregnant, Kitty asked Harrison for a divorce and he agreed to it. On November 1, 1940, she obtained a quick divorce in [[Reno, Nevada]], and married Oppenheimer.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=160–162}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Streshinsky|Klaus|2013|pp=111–119}}</ref>

Their first child, Peter, was born in May 1941, and their second, Katherine ("Toni"), was born in [[Los Alamos, New Mexico]], on December 7, 1944.<ref name="Cassidy, pp. 186-187">{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|pp=186–187}}</ref> During his marriage, Oppenheimer rekindled his affair with Tatlock.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=231–233}}</ref> Later, their continued contact became an issue in his security clearance hearings because of Tatlock's communist associations.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=232–234, 511–513}}</ref>

Throughout the development of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer was under investigation by both the FBI and the Manhattan Project's internal security arm for his past left-wing associations. He was followed by Army security agents during a trip to California in June 1943 to visit Tatlock, who was suffering from [[Major depressive disorder|depression]]. Oppenheimer spent the night in her apartment.<ref name="Herken, pp. 101-102">{{harvnb|Herken|2002|pp=101–102}}</ref> Tatlock killed herself on January 4, 1944, leaving Oppenheimer deeply grieved.<ref name="Bird 2005 249–254">{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=249–254}}</ref>

At [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos]], Oppenheimer began an [[emotional affair]] with [[Ruth Sherman Tolman|Ruth Tolman]], a psychologist and the wife of his friend Richard Tolman. The affair ended after Oppenheimer returned east to become director of the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] but, after Richard's death in August 1948, they reconnected and saw each other occasionally until Ruth's death in 1957. Few of their letters survive, but those that do reflect a close and affectionate relationship, with Oppenheimer calling her "My Love".<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=363–365}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Streshinsky|Klaus|2013|pp=290–292}}</ref>