Post-war Activities & Media Attacks On Secretary James Forrestal
Following World War II, Pearson was largely responsible for the "Friendship Train" which raised over 40 million dollars in aid for war-torn Europe. On December 18, 1947 the much-needed food, medicine, and supplies arrived in France.
He had a role in the downfall of U.S. Congressman John Parnell Thomas, Chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, in 1948. After revelations in Pearson's column, Thomas was investigated and later convicted of conspiracy to defraud the government for hiring friends who never worked for him, then depositing their paychecks into his personal accounts. Pearson was a staunch opponent of the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy and other attempts by Congress to investigate Soviet and communist influence in government and the media, and eagerly denounced the political opportunism, demagoguery, and scurrilous allegations by Senator McCarthy and the House Committee.
In May 1948, Pearson leaked news in the Washington Post that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Justice Department were talking to Preston Thomas Tucker of the Tucker Corporation, an automobile company in Chicago. Pearson stated that the agencies would uncover financial crimes at the company. Tucker stock dropped from $5 to $2 based on Pearson's charges. The SEC and Justice later found Tucker and his company innocent of any wrongdoing, but the damage was done. The Tucker Corporation was never able to recover and went out of business.
In the 1940s, Pearson made several allegations against the Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal, who served under both Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Although Forrestal was admired for his efficiency and hard work, he was despised for his Wall Street background and strong anti-communist views by some in the media, particularly Pearson, who began attacking Forrestal while Roosevelt was in office. Pearson told his associate Jack Anderson that he (Pearson) believed Forrestal was "the most dangerous man in America" and claimed that if he was not removed from office he would "cause another world war". Pearson also insinuated that Forrestal was guilty of corruption, though he was completely unable to prove any wrongdoing. The lowest blow came in January 1949, when Pearson related that Forrestal's wife had been the victim of a holdup back in 1937 and falsely suggested that Forrestal had run away, leaving his wife defenseless.
After President Truman took office, Forrestal attempted to moderate President Truman's policy of large-scale defense economization, which was radically reducing the size of the U.S. armed forces at a time of increased Cold War tensions. The policy had infuriated the U.S. armed forces chiefs, and Pearson, sensing an opportunity, began to publish information he had received from Pentagon sources on Forrestal's mental condition. Pearson unrelentingly continued his attacks on Forrestal in his columns and radio broadcasts, openly berating Truman for not firing Forrestal. President Truman asked for Forrestal's resignation, replacing him with Louis A. Johnson.
After Forrestal's death in May 1949 (caused by a fall from a 16th-floor window of the Bethesda Naval Hospital), Pearson stated in his column that Forrestal suffered from "paranoia" and had attempted suicide on four previous occasions. Pearson's claim of paranoia and previous suicide attempts by Forrestal was completely contradicted by the testimony of Forrestal's attending physicians at Bethesda and is not corroborated by the doctors' reports, Forrestal's medical file or the official Navy investigative report of his death. Pearson's own protege, Jack Anderson, later asserted that Pearson "hounded Jim Forrestal with dirty aspersions and insinuations until at last, exhausted and his nerves unstrung, one of the finest servants that the Republic ever had died of suicide."
Read more about this topic: Drew Pearson (journalist)
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