美国国家公共电台 NPR--Truman Committee became the model for scrutinizing giant public expenditures

Truman Committee became the model for scrutinizing¹ giant public expenditures²

Transcript³

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep talks to NPR's Steve Drummond about his book, The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption⁴ and Helped Win World War Two.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have a little-known chapter in the life of a well-known president. Harry⁵ S. Truman of Missouri assumed office when Franklin Roosevelt died in 1945. That was near the end of World War II. Truman oversaw⁶ the allied⁷ victory in Europe and also ordered the use of a new kind of weapon against Japan.

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HARRY S TRUMAN: It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.

INSKEEP: President Biden expects to witness some of Truman's legacy⁸ next week when he visits Japan, which is now a U.S. ally, and while there stops at Hiroshima, which on Truman's orders was destroyed. In many ways, Truman presided over the creation of the world order we live in now. But how did Truman ever rise to that position in the first place? Our colleague Steve Drummond investigated that story by researching an earlier part of Truman's political career. In 1941, shortly before the U.S. entered the war, Senator Harry S. Truman set up a Senate committee. He began investigating the mass of U.S. spending to prepare for war. Drummond writes of Truman's work in a new book called "The Watchdog."

STEVE DRUMMOND, BYLINE⁹: Franklin Roosevelt was not crazy about this idea of a junior unknown senator poking¹⁰ his business into the administration's handling of the defense¹¹ buildup at the time. There was very fierce opposition¹² in the Senate among Truman's Senate leaders. However, it soon became clear that if a Democrat¹³ didn't do this, there were plenty of Republicans itching¹⁴ to launch their own investigations¹⁵. So what they did was toss Truman a bone. They gave him a teeny, tiny appropriation¹⁶. They said, you go. It was a bit of a steam valve to say, hey, it looks like we're keeping an eye on things. And nevertheless, Truman took that little bitty window and drove a truck through it.

INSKEEP: What did Truman find?

DRUMMOND: So not surprisingly, in this incredible race to get the U.S. ready for war, there were contracts being let overnight, over the phone, handshake deals. Many of them would go on to, you know, be the story that we know. It helped win the war. But there was a lot of money being spent, a lot of it being wasted. There was some corruption. There was just incredible mismanagement. With the Army camps - their very first report, they found $100 million being wasted on Army camps. They found that after World War I, when the government had done this once, nobody could find the plans for building Army camps. He criticized the Army for building camps, what he said, along civil war lines. There was no concrete for parking tanks. There were no facilities for mechanized war, which - that was the deal. That was the way war was being fought, and the Army was, you know, way outdated¹⁷. So the very first report was very critical, made headlines around the country. And it got the Truman Committee started.

INSKEEP: In addition to saving money, did this save lives?

DRUMMOND: Impossible to count that number, I say in the book. It's very difficult. But yes, there were the landing boats that famously took the men ashore¹⁸ at D-Day and on islands in the Pacific. The Navy had stubbornly favored a very dangerous and poor design of its own making when there was a New Orleans businessman who had invented a much better design. That businessman, Andrew Higgins, went to Truman and said, hey, help me out here. Truman came up with the idea. He told the Navy, take your design and his design. Let's put them together in a test and see how they work.

INSKEEP: I just want to pause for a moment. You go to New Orleans today. That's where the D-Day Museum is.

DRUMMOND: Yes, exactly. And it's in a large part because of Andrew Jackson Higgins, who designed this boat. He couldn't get the Navy to listen to him.

INSKEEP: Now, we mentioned that FDR, Franklin Roosevelt, did not love this, but it seems that over time he grew to like it.

DRUMMOND: Yes.

INSKEEP: And we found some archival tape here. This is Harry S. Truman himself talking about his work on the committee and the way that Roosevelt began to realize he could use this guy. Let's listen. And also, you and I are going to look here at this video of him.

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TRUMAN: He'd call me up and ask me to come down to the White House. And I'd go down there, and I'd say, Mr. President, what's on your mind? And he'd say, So-and-So over here is upsetting the apple cart. We're trying to do something with him without ourselves upsetting the apple cart. I want you to get after him. Well, I'd usually get after him, and we'd straighten him out. He didn't have to do anything. Just have somebody say that good for nothing Truman's going to come and investigate you, and then they'd do the right thing. And that's all there was to it.

INSKEEP: Now, here - I wish...

DRUMMOND: Ah, look at that smile.

INSKEEP: I just love the look of joy on his face.

DRUMMOND: Steve, you have to say, Truman's a lot of fun. It's very fun to write about him. One of the very smart things Truman did was his goal was not to call a public hearing, not to get this on the front page. A lot of times he would call up the secretary of the Army and say, hey, something's going on over here. Hey, secretary of the Navy, fix this. And if they did, fine. Truman was perfectly¹⁹ happy to see - not have Roosevelt be embarrassed. It was when the military or the defense contractors²⁰ would stonewall Truman. He had a terrible temper. When he didn't get what he wanted, that's when he would issue subpoenas²¹. He would go to a public hearing.

INSKEEP: I'm thinking that in the end, Franklin Roosevelt chose Truman to be the vice²² president for his fourth term. Does this mean that Roosevelt came to trust Truman as well as to use Truman?

DRUMMOND: Yes. Truman was a very loyal soldier to the New Deal. He admired Franklin Roosevelt greatly. Everyone at the time who was in the know knew that Franklin Roosevelt was not a well man, that he might not likely survive his next term. So there was a lot of drama over who would be the vice president, most likely the next president. And slowly, Truman's name rose to the top of the list. And it was finally Roosevelt at the Chicago Convention who got on the phone and told Truman to take it. Truman didn't want to be vice president.

INSKEEP: Didn't want to be vice president?

DRUMMOND: Well, Steve, many, many people then and since have said they don't want to be vice president. By all accounts, Truman actually meant it. Truman very reluctantly was sort of drawn²³ into taking this job.

INSKEEP: I'm having a memory of Senator Truman, who enjoyed meeting other congressional leaders for a drink, and when he became vice president, he tried to drop by, and they said, actually, you can't come here anymore. It's constitutionally inappropriate.

DRUMMOND: Yes. Yes, it was a different time.

INSKEEP: Yeah. Yeah. But what does this say about our time and Congress today?

DRUMMOND: I think the biggest legacy of the Truman Committee was Truman's invention of this model for scrutinizing giant public expenditures. And virtually every time we have a giant expense bill - $1.5 trillion for pandemic relief or whatever - we see calls from people all over the country saying, you know, we need a new Truman Committee to look into this. We should take a look at this.

INSKEEP: Has writing this book affected²⁴ the way that you think about the news that you cover today?

DRUMMOND: Oh, very much so. It's - we live in a time when a lot of people have contempt for the people who serve them in Washington, and it seems that contempt is reciprocated²⁵. And the Truman Committee was a time at which people all over the country looked and they saw, here's a guy in Washington looking out for us thousands of times during the war. I've read these letters in the National Archives. They took their pen. They wrote in. They said, thank you, Senator Truman. You're doing a great job. I have a son overseas. Thanks for looking out for us. It was kind of inspiring.

INSKEEP: Steve Drummond is the author of "The Watchdog: How The Truman Committee Battled Corruption And Helped Win World War II." Thanks for coming by.

DRUMMOND: Thanks, Steve. Fun talking with you.

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1 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

2 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

14 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

16 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

17 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

18 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

19 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

20 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 subpoenas   

n.（传唤出庭的）传票( subpoena的名词复数 )v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My company has complied with committee subpoenas by supplying documents confirming all that I have said. 本公司按照委员会的要求，提供了能够证实我刚才发言的文件。 来自辞典例句
• Congressional Investigations: Subpoenas and Contempt Power. Report for Congress April 2, 2003. 金灿荣：《美国国会的监督功能》，载《教学与研究》2003年第2期。 来自互联网

22 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

23 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

24 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

25 reciprocated   

v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动

参考例句：

• Her passion for him was not reciprocated. 她对他的热情没有得到回应。
• Their attraction to each other as friends is reciprocated. 作为朋友，他们相互吸引着对方。 来自辞典例句