The author traces the gifted education movement in the United States from the beginnings in the early 1900s of the intelligence testing movement. Societal conceptions about the ignorance of the masses fed the movement. The emergence of gifted child theory is traced to Lewis Terman and Leta Hollingworth. Terman's association of mental ability with national issues such as selective immigration is noted, as is the conception that the new elite of gifted individuals was compatible with a modern industrial democracy. Trends in grouping gifted children and in identifying them are reviewed. The Major Works Program in Cleveland, Ohio, is considered, as are programs designed in opposition to grouping. Effects of the Second World War and the Depression denegated the role of IQ in human affairs and minimized the hereditary origins of intelligence. The Cold War's effect on science instruction for gifted students is detailed, illustrated by establishment of the Bronx High School of Science. The manpower model, which linked the development of a gifted aristocracy with national goals, was seen by many as undemocratic. (CL)