Although radio astronomy began in the US with the pioneering work of Karl Jansky and Grote Reber, by the early 1950’s the United States had fallen behind the exciting new developments in other countries, especially in Australia and the UK. Aside from the potential astronomical opportunities, Cold War politics convinced American power brokers that the United States needed to be more active in this rapidly growing field of research. However, there was no consensus on who should take the lead, or indeed if the effort should be concentrated in national facility or spread among several groups – issues which still exist today. AUI had a well deserved reputation in establishing and operating a national facility for high energy physics research, but a bitter battle developed among AUI, DTM, Caltech, NRL, and Harvard/MIT and the newly established NSF for control of a national radio astronomy facility. I will describe the roles of AUI President, Lloyd Berkner and other scientific leaders in establishing the NRAO, the struggle to complete the 140-ft telescope which almost killed NRAO, and the subsequent transition of radio astronomy from an experimental science to a “big science” observing culture.