THE FLYING WHITE HOUSE

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2021

TRUMAN SIGNS NATIONAL SECURITY ACT ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE

Air Force One (JFK+50) Sixty-nine years ago today, President Harry S Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 on board the Presidential airplane, Sacred Cow*, designated as Air Force One.

The act restructured the armed forces of the United States along with foreign policy and the intelligence community.   NSA merged the Departments of War and the Navy under the Department of Defense.

The act also established the National Security Council to coordinate national security policy in the executive branch and created the Central Intelligence Agency.

*Sacred Cow, Douglas VC-54C was the 1st airplane built for the exclusive purpose of transporting the POTUS.  Although officially named "The Flying White House," it was called Sacred Cow because of its special status as the presidential aircraft.

The SC was designed for a crew of 7 and accommodated 15 passengers.  It was equipped with four engines and had a maximum speed of 300 mph.

The cabin included a conference room & desk with a rectangular bullet-proof window.  SC carried FDR to Yalta in 1945 and was equipped with a battery-powered elevator to accommodate his wheel chair.  SC was retired in October 1961 and is now housed in the National Museum of the Air Force.

SOURCE

"Douglas VC-54C, 'Sacred Cow,'" National Museum of the United States Air Force, October 1, 2015, www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

Sacred Cow

October 17, 1961

USAF Photo

HARRY TRUMAN & THE CIA

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1809

TRUMAN CALLED FOR CIA TO END OPERATIONAL DUTIES

Independence, Missouri (JFK+50) Former President Harry S Truman* died forty-three years ago today, December 26, 1972, here in Independence. He was 88 years old.  Mr. Truman, who retired from the presidency in January 1953, referred to himself as "Mr. Citizen." 

Mr. Truman was sworn in as President of the United States on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 12, 1945.  By August 1945, President Truman approved the use of atomic weapons on Japan.

During World War II, FDR had authorized the creation of the Office of Strategic Services, O.S.S. to handle intelligence operations for the United States.  Truman dissolved the O.S.S. on September 20, 1945 by executive order.

For a few months, intelligence activities were shared by the Departments of State and War, but on July 26, 1947, President Truman signed into law the National Security Act of 1947 which created both the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.

The original charge of the CIA was to provide a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis.  One month after the death of President John F. Kennedy, however, former President Truman had come to the conclusion that the "operational duties" of the CIA should "be terminated."

Writing in the Washington Post, Mr. Truman expressed concern that the agency had "been diverted from its original assignment" becoming instead "a policy-making arm of the Government."

JFK FACTS argues that "the circumstances" of JFK's death
"propelled Truman's radical proposal."  In original notes written by President Truman available at the Truman Library, he expressed the view that the CIA worked as intended "only when (he) had control."

During his visit with President Kennedy in January 1961, Mr. Truman said...

"Within the first few months I discovered that being president is like riding a tiger.  A man has to keep riding or be swallowed."

*Harry S Truman (1884-1972) was born in Lamar. Missouri.  He served in WWI and was partner in a men's clothing store in Kansas City after the war.
HST was elected to the US Senate in 1934 and was selected as FDR's running mate in 1944.  He became president upon FDR's death on April 12, 1945. HST won an upset victory over Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. 

SOURCE

"After JFK was killed former president Truman called for the abolition of CIA covert operations," JFK Facts, December 22, 2015, www.jfkfacts.org/

Former President Truman

At his desk at the Truman Library

HST Library Photo (1959)

JFK ANNOUNCES TEST BAN AGREEMENT

July 26, 1963


JFK ANNOUNCES TEST BAN AGREEMENT


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy announced today that an agreement has been reached in Moscow on a nuclear test ban treaty.


The President, speaking to a national television audience tonight, said:


"Yesterday a shaft of light cut into the darkness.  Negotiations were concluded in Moscow on a treaty that will ban all nuclear tests in the air, outer space & under water."*


This treaty, negotiated by representatives of Great Britain, US & USSR,  will accomplish a major goal of the Kennedy administration.


The President concluded with these words:


"Let us...step back from the shadows of war & seek out the way of peace.  And if that journey is a thousand miles, let history record, that we, in this land, at this time, took the 1st step."


*Although the treaty was "limited" in that nuclear testing underground was not banned, JFK considered it his "greatest achievement" as President.

        JFK Announces Test Ban Agreement
                            July 26, 1963
                     JFK Library Photo


July 26, 1962


JFK SIGNS WELFARE-REFORM ACT


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy signed into law today a welfare-reform bill that will assist more than 7 million Americans that are now on the relief rolls.


The measure stresses services, rehabilitation & training for useful work.


JFK said:


"Our objective is to prevent or reduce dependence & to encourage self-support."

        Seal of the Dept. of Human Services
             Formerly the Dept. of Health, 
              Education & Welfare (HEW)


July 26, 1947


NATIONAL SECURITY ACT SIGNED BY TRUMAN


Sacred Cow (JFK+50) President Harry S Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 today on board the Presidential airplane, Sacred Cow.


The act will restructure the US armed forces, foreign policy & the intelligence community. 


NSA merges the Departments of War & the Navy under the Department of Defense.


The act also establishes the National Security Council to coordinate national security policy in the executive branch & creates the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).


The bill was signed by the President aboard Sacred Cow which is the 1st aircraft to be designated Air Force One.

                            Sacred Cow
                       October 17, 1961


July 26, 1945


CHURCHILL STEPS DOWN AS PRIME MINISTER


London, England (JFK+50) Winston Churchill, who led his nation through the darkest days of WWII, was forced to resign as Prime Minister here today.


Churchill's Conservative Party was defeated by the Labour Party.


Clement Attlee was also sworn in today as the new Prime Minister.*


*2 years later Churchill will reclaim the office of PM & serve until 1955.

       Statue of Sir Winston Churchill
          Parliament Square, London
                Photo by Ziko (2004)


July 26, 1908


NEW FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS REPORT TO DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) US Attorney General Charles Bonaparte today ordered a group of newly hired federal investigators to report to the Office of Chief Examiner in the Department of Justice.*


*A year later the Office of Chief Examiner is renamed the "Bureau of Investigation".  In 1935, the BI became the "Federal Bureau of Investigation" or FBI.


J. Edgar Hoover joined the Department of Justice in 1917 & within 2 years became Special Assistant to the Attorney General.  Hoover was appointed Director of the Bureau in 1924 & held that position until his death in 1972.

                     FBI Badge & Gun
                            FBI Photo