The Truman Committee

I’m doing a little reading about Harry Truman, and I just want to share something that I found very striking.

Truman made his national reputation as Chairman of the Truman Committee (amazing coincidence, right?), which was a Senate committee that he started to investigate the government’s process for awarding military contracts. He identified the need for the committee in 1940 and it got underway in 1941. As you can imagine, he came under enormous pressure to postpone the work until after the crisis had passed, but he was confident that it was better to take care of the waste and corruption right away, anticipating how much national treasure was about to be poured in to the military-industrial complex.

The committee was a fantastic success, saving billions directly (real money back then, if you can believe it), but having a much farther-reaching impact as a threat to military contractors and defense procurement personnel. Here's the detail that struck me: The Higgins landing craft, which was instrumental in the invasion of France, because it gave the allies the ability to land soldiers directly on a shallow beach, instead of forcing them to a harbor, apparently would not have been produced if not for the Truman Committee; before a Committee investigation, the Navy was pursuing an inferior design.

I’m really glossing over details, but here’s my main point: What percentage of Americans do you think believe that today’s Congress is capable of effective defense oversight? What percentage of Americans do you think trust Congress to influence specific military procurement decisions?