Tackling war industry waste and worse. Senator Harry S Truman and the Truman Committee
With potential war profiteering coming to light in our present day military conflicts, I've been mentioning Harry Truman. His committee in the senate charged right through graft and corruption within the industries supplying our war effort and in a very big way helped us win WWII. Many people view Truman as a controversial historical figure but I hold him in high regard because of the integrity he brought forth while managing this committee.
BTW, many people disliked Truman in a big way. But when you fight corruption like Truman did, those who are corrupt are not going to like you. The buck really did stop with Harry Truman. The first few paragraphs and the link to the article are below.
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On Dec. 21, 1942, the Justice Department issued an eight-count indictment against the Anaconda Wire and Cable Company and five of its employees, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States by supplying the Army and Navy with defective wire and cable intended for combat use and the billing of false expenses. It was, according to Attorney General Francis Biddle, “one of the most reprehensible cases of defrauding the government and endangering the lives of American soldiers and sailors ever to come to the attention of the Department of Justice.” It was the latest example of action by the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, more commonly known as the Truman Committee.
In 1940 Congress authorized $10 billion to the U.S. military, enabling it to embark on the greatest expansion in its history. With the nation still recovering from the Great Depression, major corporations, seeing an opportunity to dramatically boost their bottom line, rushed to sign cost-plus military contracts. In 1941, Harry Truman, the junior senator from Missouri, began hearing reports of waste and profiteering in the construction of Fort Leonard Wood in his district.
In typical fashion, the plain-spoken Truman decided to jump into his car and embark on a road trip to Fort Leonard Wood to see things for himself. In an age before the Interstate Highway system and over a road network composed of narrow two-lane highways, the senator wound up traveling about 10,000 miles, stopping at military installations from the Midwest to Florida. On Feb. 10, 1941, Senator Truman delivered a speech on the Senate floor describing the many problems he had seen and recommending that the Senate create a special oversight committee on military contracts. As it turned out, his timing was perfect.
Read More: https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/senator-harry-s-truman-and-the-truman-committee/