Word: talbott
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...Harold Talbott, Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, wiped his lips on a fresh white handkerchief, picked up a typewritten statement, and began to read. Arkansas' Democratic Senator John McClellan, chairman of the Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, leaned forward in his chair, draping himself over his desk. Newsmen tensed, ready to spring for the nearest telephones. By that moment last week it was clear that Talbott had misused his position as Secretary of the Air Force to solicit business for Paul B. Mulligan & Co., the Manhattan clerical-efficiency firm in which he was a partner. Almost everyone in the subcommittee...
...That," said Harold Talbott. looking up from his statement as he read, "is my final action. I wanted to tell you that, and that is all, gentlemen." He made a gesture with his hand, as though closing the book on the entire affair. But the book was still wide open; at least one more chapter remained to be written...
...Goodness, Forget It." Harold Talbott had admitted using official Air Force stationery to drum up business for Mulligan & Co. (TIME, August 1), but he could see no wrong in this, even though some of the companies to which he wrote had defense contracts. He did not even see any wrong in his dealings with the Radio Corporation of America. Repeatedly and emphatically, he denied that he kept on trying to talk R.C.A. (which does vast amounts of work for the Air Force) into signing up with Mulligan, that he continued even after R.C.A. raised questions as to the legality...
...Talbott's request, the subcommittee quickly called a public hearing. The Air Force Secretary, at 67 still black-haired and straight-backed, marched into the hearing room with four officers, including a major general. "This is a shocking thing," he protested heatedly, "to point a finger of suspicion at a man that does not deserve it." Talbott, whose Government pay is $18,000 a year, said that his income from Mulligan & Co. is more than $50,000 a year (no significant change since 1953). Said he: "I was very anxious to retain my interest in Mulligan on account...
...Talbott replied: "RCA had questioned the propriety of having another contract with Mulligan with me as a partner [and requested] that a letter be procured from the Attorney General. I said, 'My goodness, if there is any such suspicion, forget it.' " Repeatedly, Talbott was asked whether he and his Air Force general counsel, John Johnson, had called RCA Attorney Sam Ewing to complain. "My memory," he said, "is very hazy." Next day, after checking with Air Force Counsel Johnson, Harold Talbott remembered that he had indeed complained over the phone to RCA's Ewing about the contract...