Word: symington
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...admirals," Arthur Radford had opposed the building of the B-36 (as "a billion-dollar blunder") and had questioned the morality and military wisdom of "the atomic blitz." Now, across the table from him sat some of the Senate's strongest air-power advocates, among them Democrat Stuart Symington of Missouri, a Radford foe since his days as Truman's Secretary of the Air Force...
Ever since his days as Harry Truman's Secretary of the Air Force, Missourian Stuart Symington has been a man with a mission. A kind of national gadfly, he has stung the U.S. conscience with ominous reminders of the growth of Soviet military power. Last week, in Philadelphia, Freshman Senator Symington charged that the U.S. Government itself had soft-pedaled the Russian threat. Said he: "It is a sad fact that for a long time some of our national leaders-in both parties-have not told us the whole brutal truth about the world in which we live...
...Democrat Symington recalled to his listeners the complacency fostered by the Truman Administration. In October 1949, the month after the Russians exploded their first atom bomb, the Truman Administration decided to cut U.S. armed strength. Even Chinese intervention in Korea, said Symington, "did not bring us to our senses . . . We were told that we could handle this new Soviet aggression with one hand, while we piled the other hand high with butter and automobiles and television sets...
Concluded Symington: "The answer, in my opinion, is no-and I believe the facts prove it. In any case, why not give the facts to the people . . . Once the truth is understood, Americans will accept any challenge, will make any sacrifice to the end that they and their children can become strong-and therefore remain free...
Commented Senator Stuart Symington: "You are the most confused witness we have ever...