Truman Committee
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Senator from Missouri
33rd President of the United States
First term Second term Presidential and Vice presidential campaigns Post-presidency
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The Truman Committee, formally known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, was a
Truman stepped down from leadership of the committee in August 1944 to concentrate on running for vice president in that year's presidential election. From 1941 until its official end, in 1948, the committee held 432 public hearings, listened to 1,798 witnesses and published almost 2,000 pages of reports.[3] Every committee report was unanimous, with bipartisan support.[7]
Background
The war production efforts of the US had previously been subject to congressional oversight during the
In 1940, Truman was reelected to the Senate as a
In early 1941,
On February 10, 1941, Truman spoke to the Senate about the problems he had seen on his long drive, and he put forward the idea to have a special oversight committee on military contracts. It was the first new idea that Truman presented to the nation and he received a positive reaction. Other senators were favorable to the notion that their views on spending would be heard and that valuable military contracts would be distributed more evenly to each state.
Military leaders were apprehensive of Truman's plan. They pointed to the Civil War-era Joint Committee which had a negative effect on war production.
Establishment
On March 1, 1941, the Senate voted unanimously (only 16 out of 96 senators were present) to establish the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Contracts Under the National Defense Program, with Truman as chairman.[17][18] It quickly became known as the Truman Committee. Roosevelt and his New Deal advisers had pushed for a majority of New Dealers as committee members, but Republican Party opposition and Truman's own energy prevented that. The committee was instead formed of a bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans, pragmatic men who Truman selected for their honesty, practicality, and steady work ethic.[19]
Truman asked for $25,000 to empower the committee's actions. Byrnes wanted to limit the committee by giving it only $10,000. A compromise of $15,000 was reached.[16] Serving under Truman were Democratic senators Tom Connally, Carl Hatch, James M. Mead, and Monrad Wallgren and Republican senators Joseph H. Ball and Owen Brewster.[16] Connally was the only senior senator, and the rest were juniors. Others on the Committee included chief counsel Hugh Fulton, attorneys Rudolph Halley and Herbert N. Maletz, and staff member Bill Boyle from the Kansas City, Missouri, political machine. Fulton, a US Justice Department prosecutor with a reputation for tenacity, asked for $9,000 as salary, 60% of Truman's total funding. Truman assented, hoping to increase the committee's budget after showing early results. Fulton proved to be a tireless, productive investigator. He and Truman were both early risers, and much of the committee's agenda was completed between them as they conferred in the morning.[2] Investigator Matt Connelly was brought onto the staff without diminishing the budget because he was "borrowed" from the Senate committee investigating campaign expenditures; he later served as Truman's vice-presidential executive assistant and then as his presidential appointment secretary.[20] By June 1941, after more borrowing and dealmaking, Truman had assembled a staff of 10 investigators and 10 administrative assistants.[17]
Truman's first target was chosen to give him quick results. He knew that an investigation of waste and inefficiency in military housing projects would save a great deal of money and also would serve as good publicity for the committee. On April 23, 1941, he began conducting hearings focusing on cost overruns related to the construction of
Because of its quickly demonstrated success, the committee had its funding increased to $50,000 towards the end of 1941. Republican senators
Unlike in other congressional hearings, witnesses were generally treated with respect by the Truman Committee and were neither rushed nor subjected to insulting or accusatory language.[23][26] Even so, Truman revealed his persistence and quiet determination.[23]
Roosevelt had created a confusion of agencies to supervise war production. In January 1941, he ordered into being the
Wartime work
After the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US into direct involvement in World War II, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson predicted that the Truman Committee would be a needless drag on war production. Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson agreed and called upon Roosevelt to pressure the Senate to abolish the committee. Patterson said that supplying the Truman Committee "all the information it desires" would "impair" the government's ability to respond quickly to the needs of war.[7] Roosevelt now realized the value of the committee; rather than striving against it, he publicly praised its progress. The Truman Committee issued a report to the Senate on January 15, 1942, detailing its achievements to date and its ongoing investigations.[7]
The committee had begun in August 1941 to assess Roosevelt's ungainly Office of Production Management (OPM), and by January 1942, the conclusion was ready for publication. The report severely criticized the OPM: "Its mistakes of commission have been legion; and its mistakes of omission have been even greater."[29] The dual leadership chain of command and the divided loyalties of Hillman and Knudsen were described as causing friction and wasted effort. It was a thorough indictment of poor administration.[30][31] Diplomatically, Truman made certain that Roosevelt had access to an advance copy of the report.[32] Roosevelt was thus able to save face by disbanding the OPM just prior to the release of the report and replacing both the OPM and SPAB with the War Production Board under former SPAB chief Nelson.[29] Nelson used the committee to help his department; when the board had disagreements with the military, Nelson would leak the issue to the committee, and the resulting investigation encouraged the military to cooperate.[13].
In May 1942 the committee was reorganized. "Contracts Under" was dropped from the name to make it the "Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program." Democratic Senator
In November 1942, the committee began investigating the
The reputation of the Truman Committee grew so strong that fear of an investigation was sometimes enough of a deterrent to stop underhanded dealings. An unknown number of people performed more honestly in war production because of the threat of a Truman visit.[36]
In March 1943, at the second birthday of the Truman Committee, Time magazine put "Investigator Truman" on the cover, showing Truman's craggy face squinting in the mid-day sun, in the background a spotlight shining on government and industry. The issue carried an associated article, titled "Billion-Dollar Watchdog," describing the Committee "as one of the most useful Government agencies of World War II" and "the closest thing yet to a domestic high command."[37] The article raised Truman's importance in the eye of the man on the street, cementing his well-earned position as one of America's most responsible leaders.[38]
In March 1944, Truman attempted to probe the expensive Manhattan Project but was persuaded by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to discontinue with the investigation.[39]: 634
After Truman
In August 1944, to focus on campaigning for the vice-presidency, Truman stepped down as chair of the investigative committee, and Fulton resigned as chief counsel. Truman was also concerned that his campaign on the Democratic Party ticket would call into question the committee's bipartisan nature. The committee's members composed a laudatory resolution thanking "Colonel Harry S. Truman" for his service, writing "well done, soldier!"[38] Senator Mead took over as chairman to continue the work. Truman became vice president, and upon the death of Roosevelt in April 1945, he immediately became president. World War II ended in August 1945.
After the war was over, investigator George Meader became chief counsel from October 1, 1945, to July 15, 1947. In 1947, with Senator Owen Brewster as chairman, the committee conducted widely publicized hearings investigating Howard Hughes.
On March 1, 1948, the Senate formed the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, under Senator Ferguson and chief counsel William P. Rogers, the subcommittee answering to the larger Committee on Government Operations.[40] The new subcommittee subsumed the old remit of the Truman Committee and became responsible for its records.[41] The Truman Committee's final report was issued April 28, 1948.[42]
Legacy
The Truman Committee is known for indirectly helping Truman become president. It made his name prominent across the United States, giving him a reputation for honesty and courage.[13] In May 1944, Look magazine asked a pool of 52 Washington correspondents who were the top ten civilians, after Roosevelt, helping the war effort. Truman was named; he was the only member of Congress on the list.[43][44][45] A few months later, Truman was among the few names put forward as possible vice-presidents under the seriously ill Roosevelt; the vice-presidency was very likely to turn into a presidency. Truman's broad experience with industrial, economic, and military issues gained by three years of investigative work with the Committee served to make him one of the most well-informed men in US government and gave him a reputation for fair dealing.[31][46][47][48]
The largely apolitical Truman Committee is also known for setting a high standard of practicality and neutrality in congressional investigative committees. Observers have occasionally compared the situation faced by the Truman Committee in the early 1940s with later political and military issues. In January 2005, in the face of an additional $80–100 billion requested by President
See also
- President's Committee on Civil Rights (1948), sometimes called Truman's Committee on Civil Rights
References
Notes
- ^ McCullough 1992, p. 259
- ^ a b Daniels 1998, p. 224
- ^ ISBN 978-0-74256142-7.
Over seven years (1941–1948) the committee heard from 1,798 witnesses during 432 public hearings. It published nearly two thousand pages of documents and saved perhaps $15 billion and thousands of lives by exposing faulty airplane and munitions production.
- ISBN 978-0-67165853-3.
- ^ "Manhattan Project: CTBTO Preparatory Commission".
- ^ a b c "March 1, 1941 – The Truman Committee". United States Senate. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
- ^ a b c McCullough 1992, p. 318
- ^ McCullough 1992, p. 304
- ^ a b McCullough 1992, p. 258
- ISBN 978-0-81312392-9.for the Democratic presidential nomination), Truman returned to the Senate with a reputation as an anti-Roosevelt Democrat.
Having been reelected in 1940 without FDR's endorsement (and having supported favorite-son candidate Missouri Senator Bennett Clark
- ^ Riddle 1964, p. 14
- ^ Wilson, Theodore (1975). "The Truman Committee, 1941". In Roger Bruns; Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (eds.). Congress Investigates: A Documented History 1792–1974. Vol. 4. New York: Chelsea House. pp. 3115–3124.
- ^ OL 6193934M.
- ^ McCullough 1992, pp. 256–257
- ^ ISBN 978-0-69104926-7.
- ^ Snyder, John W.; Hess, Jerry N. (November 22, 1967). "Oral History Interview with John W. Snyder". Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-82621050-0.
- ^ Glass, Andrew (March 1, 2008). "Truman Committee formed March 1, 1941". This Day In Politics. Politico.com.
- ^ Hamilton 2009, p. 300
- ^ a b c McCullough 1992, p. 305
- ^ McCullough 1992, p. 307
- ^ Riddle 1964, p. 76
- ^ a b c McCullough 1992, p. 311
- ^ "Truman at Truman Committee hearing". Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. November 22, 1967. Retrieved October 19, 2012. (photograph)
- ISBN 978-0-81312020-1.
- ISBN 978-0-46502465-0.
- ^ McCullough 1992, p. 314
- ^ Riddle 1964, p. 160
- ^ a b c McCullough 1992, p. 315
- ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
- ^ a b Daniels 1998, p. 221
- ^ Riddle 1964, p. 61
- ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
- ISBN 978-0-87332636-0.
- ^ Truman Committee Exposes Housing Mess. Life Magazine. November 30, 1942.
- ^ McCullough 1992, p. 338
- ^ "Billion-Dollar Watchdog". Time. March 8, 1943. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-80712515-1.
- .
- ^ "Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations". Senate Report 108–421: Activities of the Committee on Governmental Affairs During the 107th Congress. US Government Printing Office. December 7, 2004. p. 118.
- ISBN 978-1-43798004-2.
- ^ Riddle 1964, p. 9
- ^ "Timeline: The Life of Harry S. Truman". American Experience. PBS. p. 1. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-19510972-6.
- ISBN 978-0-46501890-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-30758760-2.
- ISBN 978-0-80474774-5.
- ISBN 978-0-74322374-4.
- ^ Huffington, Arianna (January 20, 2005). "Not this time, Mr. President". Salon. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ^ Huffington, Arianna (February 9, 2005). "Rebuilding Iraq: The Buck Stops Where?". Arianna Online. Arianna Huffington. Archived from the original on February 10, 2005. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-41206420-0.
Bibliography
- Daniels, Jonathan (1998). The Man of Independence. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-82621190-3.
- ISBN 978-0-671-86920-5.
- Riddle, Donald H. (1964). The Truman Committee: a study in congressional responsibility. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
External links
- "Concrete Barges: Truman Committee exposes $23,000,000 shipyard mess", February 22, 1943. Life magazine.