How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two
December 1, 2022
Anticipating the entry of the United States into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt saw that he needed to transform the U.S. economy and put Washington newcomer Harry S. Truman in charge of a bipartisan committee tasked with getting corporations and the Pentagon in line. NPR executive producer Drummond draws on oral histories, personal letters, newspaper archives, and interviews to chronicle the committee's efforts. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
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March 15, 2023
The complex history of a campaign to ferret out profiteering and graft on the homefront during World War II. Corruption among military contractors? No one will be shocked at the thought, not within living memory of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, it's something of a revelation that in America's most patriotic war since the Revolution, the corridors of Washington filled with "power brokers, lobbyists, and contractors" who sought to steer lucrative military contracts to themselves and their clients--and then often delivered substandard goods. Enter Harry Truman, at the beginning of the war an essentially unknown senator who immediately uncovered evidence of malfeasance. Equipped with a budget that, over the years, was less than $1 million to cover travel and salaries for a small staff, Truman proved a scourge to the profiteers. He and his investigators uncovered numerous examples of military camps built on entirely unsuitable sites--in swamps or on waterless plains, for example. Not all of his cases involved outright corruption so much as the military's habit of handing out contracts without enough due diligence. Even so, many more involved the use of shortcuts with poor-quality materials that endangered the lives of service personnel. The investigations, writes NPR senior editor Drummond, had two significant effects. One was to elevate Truman in the public eye, drawing enough attention that Franklin Roosevelt finally--and somewhat reluctantly--offered him the job of vice president. The other was to save countless lives that might have been lost due to failed engines or broken hulls. Not all of the intended aims were achieved, including reallocating contracts to small companies rather than major corporations and investigating job-site discrimination against minority workers. Still, by the author's insightful account, in the end, the Truman Committee delivered the goods, making the committee one of the federal government's great success stories. Drummond shines a light on a dark, forgotten corner of wartime history.
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April 10, 2023
NPR senior editor Drummond debuts with a robust examination of Harry Truman’s efforts to fight corruption, fraud, and waste as the American economy shifted into high gear before and during WWII. “Virtually unknown” outside his home state of Missouri, then Senator Truman recognized the need for oversight after investigating complaints about a new army camp being built in the Ozarks. He next made an inconspicuous tour of military sites in several other states (“just a small man in a nice suit and a crisp fedora, wandering around and taking notes”), where he saw the same “waste, inefficiency, incompetence, profiteering.” After obtaining President Roosevelt’s approval, Truman launched the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program in March 1941. Drummond packs the narrative with juicy tidbits from the committee’s more explosive hearings, and details dustups within the Democratic Party as it issued one damning report after another. Peppered throughout are excerpts from Truman’s letters to his wife and daughter, which shed a tender light on his rise to national prominence. Though Drummond slips into hagiography at times, he makes a convincing case that the Truman Committee showed “what could be accomplished by honest, aggressive, bipartisan inquiry aimed at protecting the public interest.” It’s a spirited and thorough reconsideration of Truman’s legacy. Photos.
April 15, 2023
WWII was the good war, the one that was honorably fought against implacable foes. America was the arsenal of democracy, its mighty industries mass-producing weapons and supplies for the Allies. Business patriotically mobilized for war without corruption, and management and labor put aside their differences. How did this home front cooperation come about? Journalist Drummond tells the little-known story about legislative oversight and accountability and the effective and humble use of the law and government to efficiently marshal an economy for war. He does an excellent job illustrating the personality and experience of then-Senator Harry Truman, the perfect person to analyze and remedy problems and fight profiteering, corner cutting, and poor planning. Truman didn't do it alone; Drummond highlights his colleagues and the lawyers and investigators who did so much to fix problems and save taxpayer money. Drummond used a trove of documents to create this excellent narrative, including Truman's correspondence, transcripts of hearings, and investigative reports. The result is a well-written, engaging analysis of an often-overlooked and instructive aspect of Truman's career that was essential to the war effort.
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