Truman Committee Established to Investigate War Profiteering

Senator Harry S. Truman establishes the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program after witnessing widespread waste and profiteering during a 10,000-mile drive to inspect military construction sites. The bipartisan committee, formed in March 1941, will become one of the most successful investigative efforts ever mounted by the U.S. government.

The Motivation

Truman heard about needless waste and profiteering from the construction of Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Everywhere he went, he saw millions of government dollars going to military contractors who reaped excess profits from cost-plus contracts without being held accountable for poor quality goods. At Camp Blanding in Florida, contractors violated agreements by hiring subcontractors and doubling their profits. In Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, final construction costs totaled more than 10 times the original $125,000 estimate.

Investigation Successes

The committee uncovered:

• $6 million in defective wire and cable from Anaconda Wire and Cable Company, with Lend-Lease shipments to the Soviet Union 50% defective
• Defective aircraft engines from Curtiss-Wright’s Lockland, Ohio plant, which sold leaky motors with forged inspection reports
• Systematic construction fraud with cost overruns being the norm rather than the exception across military bases

Impact and Legacy

With an initial budget of just $15,000 expanded to $360,000 over three years, the Truman Committee saved an estimated $10-15 billion in military spending and prevented thousands of American servicemen’s deaths by uncovering faulty equipment. The committee’s work was largely apolitical and set a high standard for congressional oversight.

In 1948, the Senate made the committee permanent, forming the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, ensuring ongoing oversight of waste and fraud in the executive branch. The committee’s success propelled Truman to national prominence, leading to his selection as Vice President in 1944 and eventually the presidency.