The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two

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, [and] 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. (May)