Louis Johnson and the Arming of America: The Roosevelt and Truman Years

465 Pages·2005·3.1 MB·English

by  Keith D. McFarland

$35.00
U.S. HISTORY • POLITICS • BIOGRAPHY JL
LOUIS JOHNSON
The battles Johnson waged in the
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service of these presidents—with the “A perceptive account of the largely forgotten, but pivotal role of Louis
likes of Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Johnson in shaping national security not only during the Roosevelt-Truman “A shooting star, the authors say
Harry Woodring, Winston Churchill, era, but for generations to come. McFarland and Roll combine historical HU of Louis Johnson, who came down
ARMING
Harry Hopkins, Dean Acheson, Averell insight and literary fl air to unearth the driving force behind this powerful NI and the because he was intolerant, impatient,
Harriman, and Paul Nitze—fi nd fi gure.” —SENATOR JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV S and imperious. President Truman’s
contemporary parallels in the S second secretary of state was ‘driven
“Without question this is an important new addition to World War II–Cold
disagreements within the Bush War historiography, brilliantly researched and well-written. Keith McFarland O AAMMEERRIICCAA by politics, power, and personal
of
administration between the national and David Roll should be commended for reminding our nation about ambition but rarely by principle.’
defense establishment headed Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson. Highly recommended.” —DOUGLAS N This long-needed biography does
by Donald Rumsfeld and the BRINKLEY, Director, Roosevelt Center for American Civilization, Tulane much more than fi ll a gap. Here is a
internationalists, who were led by University, and author of Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years and Tour of Duty:
Washington insider if ever there was
Colin Powell during his tenure as John Kerry and the Vietnam War
aa one, whose career all readers will
Secretary of State.
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“Louis Johnson was fi erce, ambitious, and expedient. Almost forgotten M fi nd fascinating.”
Well written and persuasively dd
argued, Louis Johnson and the Arming of tboedfoayr,e h aen pdl aafyteedr aW coernldtr Wal arro IleI. iHn itsh cea rgereera ti sd ae bcaatuetsi oonvaerry a tramlei nogf hAomwe erivcean the th th cF —Robert H. Ferrell
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of American history of the mid- most ruthlessly effective men can become pawns in the Washington power A rla
game. Keith McFarland and David Roll bring Johnson to life in this thorough
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twentieth century.
and well-told history.” —EVAN THOMAS, Newsweek R d

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As FDR’s
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Keith D. McFarland is President of “A remarkably objective, yet sympathetic, study of Louis Johnson’s life and M d Assistant Secretary of
Texas A&M University-Commerce career. Now only half-remembered, primarily for his cutting of the defense R War Louis Johnson was the architect
and author of Harry H. Woodring: A budget (at the direction of President Truman) in the run-up to the Korean o of the industrial mobilization plans
Political Biography of FDR’s Controversial War—for which he became a convenient political scapegoat—Johnson was IN ll that put the nation on a war footing
a major national fi gure for several decades before his departure from the
SSSeeecccrrreeetttaaarrryyy ooofff WWWaaarrr aanndd The Korean War: An prior to its entry into World War II.
Pentagon in 1950. Colorful, aggressive, independent-minded, egotistical,
Annotated Bibliography. G Later, as Truman’s Secretary of Defense,
his strong views and confl icts with Dean Acheson proved to be his undoing.
Johnson was given the diffi cult job of
All in all, a fascinating tale.” —JAMES R. SCHLESINGER, former Secretary of
David L. Roll is a Steptoe & Johnson Defense oooo unifying the armed forces and carrying
partner whose practice focuses on ffff out Truman’s orders to dramatically
antitrust and regulatory law and “McFarland and Roll have performed a real service in rescuing from AA reduce defense expenditures. In
litigation. obscurity this Democratic mover and shaker who became the second both administrations, he was asked
Secretary of Defense. Their account of the rise and fall of Louis Johnson MM to confront and carry out extremely
provides us with the fullest depiction yet of an important Washington fi gure
unpopular initiatives—massive
employed for better or worse as a blunt instrument of policy change by both
EE undertakings that each president
Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. The authors also make sharp and
believed were vital to the nation’s
controversial assessments of the operating styles and effectiveness of both RR
security and economic welfare.
presidents.” —ALONZO L. HAMBY, Distinguished Professor of History, Ohio
II This book tells the story of Louis
University, and author of Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman and For
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the Survival of Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s Johnson and his role in the Roosevelt
and Truman administrations. It offers
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fresh insights into the core beliefs,
The
political and leadership skills, and the
ROOSEVELT strengths and weaknesses of two of
America’s greatest chief executives.
and
TRUMAN
Jacket photograph: President Franklin Roosevelt; INDIANA Keith D. McFarland
Commander, Army Air Forces, “Hap” Arnold; and Years
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Louis Johnson at Bolling Field, April 1940. Courtesy
and David L. Roll
Lillian Johnson. 1-800-842-6796
Louis Johnson and the Arming of America

Louis Johnson
and the
Arming of America
The Roosevelt and Truman Years
Keith D. McFarland and David L. Roll
Indiana University Press / Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2005 by Keith D. McFarland and David L. Roll
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The As-
sociation of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the
only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American Na-
tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McFarland, Keith D., date–
Louis Johnson and the arming of America : the Roosevelt and Truman
years / Keith D. McFarland and David L. Roll.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-253-34626-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Johnson, Louis Arthur, 1891-1966. 2. Cabinet officers—United States—Biography.
3. United States. Dept. of Defense—Biography. 4. Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin
Delano), 1882-1945. 5. Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972. 6. United States—Politics and
government—1933-1945. 7. United States—Politics and government—1945-1953.
8. United States—Military policy. 9. United States—Defenses—History—20th cen-
tury. I. Roll, David L. 1940- II. Title.
E748.J738M38 2005
355'.0092—dc22

2005001853
1 2 3 4 5 10 09 08 07 06 05
To Carolyn and Dianna
Keith D. McFarland
To Nancy, together wing to wing; and to the traditions of
excellence and public service that de¤ne Steptoe & Johnson
David L. Roll

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Bedford Blood 4
2. Foot in the Door 11
3. Like Feuding Schoolboys 30
4. “Basic Shift in Mobilization Planning” 47
5. Understanding FDR 57
6. Surviving FDR 75
7. “But You Promised Me” 91
8. Personal Representative of the President 111
9. Long Shot Pays Off 133
10. Inside the Pentagon 153
11. Revolt of the Admirals 168
12. “Like a Meatchopper on Roundsteak” 188
13. “My God, the Russians Have the Bomb” 205
14. Entangling Alliance 234
15. “Till the Dust Settles” 250
16. Last Week in June 275
17. “Give Me Two American Divisions and I Can Hold Korea” 303
18. Means of Descent 320
vii
viii contents
19. “Lou, I’ve Got to Ask You to Quit” 339
20. “Lest Darkness Come” 352
Conclusion 359
Notes 365
Select Bibliography 427
Index 437
acknowledgments
O
ur first debt is to serendipity—the unexpected con¶uence of indi-
viduals and events which made this book possible. Keith McFarland began this
project nearly thirty years ago, early in his career as a history faculty member.
With two books completed and this project well under way, Keith got side-
tracked into university administration, beginning as an assistant dean and
eventually becoming president of Texas A&M University-Commerce. As a re-
sult, the research notes and initial drafts for this book languished in ¤le drawers
for twenty years. Meanwhile, Dave Roll, an antitrust partner with the law ¤rm
of Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C., who knew nothing of Keith Mc-
Farland and his work but had learned a good deal about Louis Johnson, was
beginning his research for a history of Johnson and the law ¤rm he co-founded
(Dave’s law ¤rm, Steptoe & Johnson). One day in 2001, Dave was talking to
Judge Frank Maxwell in Clarksburg, West Virginia, who recalled that “some
professor” had been in Clarksburg many years ago and was working on a biog-
raphy of Louis Johnson. Using the Internet, Dave located Keith and proposed
that they join forces to make this study a reality. Keith is convinced that if Dave
had not taken that initiative, this book would have never seen the light of day,
and he is grateful that Dave rescued the manuscript and turned it into a pub-
lished work. On his part, Dave will be forever indebted to Keith for allowing
him the pure pleasure of researching and writing about the fascinating and
controversial career of Louis Johnson and the two great presidents he served.
Together, we wish to acknowledge with gratitude a number of individuals
who early in this project provided the encouragement and support to do the
research. Keith’s department heads, Frank Jackson and John Carrier (who
would later be president of Concord College, West Virginia), gave him the
time and encouragement to pursue the research and write many of the early
ix