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Retort Prosaic. A reserved man, full of the knowledge that any Washington official has to dodge his share of flying tomahawks, Forrestal made little effort to counter the attacks. Goaded, he finally prepared a long, prosaic letter to send Congressmen who received anxious and puzzled inquiries from radio listeners.
Winchell's reference to an investigation of Forrestal's old Wall Street firm concerned a Senate committee hearing in 1933 on financial trading. Forrestal pointed out: "I stated that the applicable tax laws of the U.S. and Canada had led me to make" an investment in 1929 in a Canadian company. In effect, he had found a way to postpone tax payments. That same year (1929), said Forrestal, he had paid upwards of $300,000 in federal and New York State taxes. It was his behavior as a friendly witness in the Senate hearing which prompted Roosevelt to ask him to serve as one of his assistants. When Forrestal left Dillon Read to go into government, he sold all his interests in the firm.
Last week Forrestal was still in the Cabinet, Winchell, Pearson, Allen, et al. notwithstanding. He called on the President, and afterwards told waiting reporters, who asked him whether he expected to continue as Secretary of Defense: "Yes, that's right. I will continue to be a victim of the Washington scene."
Forrestal had not raised his finger in the election campaign, and in fact had embarrassed the President politically by his stand on Palestine. Forrestal plugged aggressively in Cabinet sessions for his policies, sometimes on subjects which the President didn't think concerned him. It was no secret that Harry Truman, while recognizing his ability as a Cabinet officer, would like to get rid of him in good time—perhaps after the military budget was settled.
Paradoxically, Forrestal last week still held his job largely because of the attacks on him. He himself wanted to get out, but he was unwilling to go out under pressure. Harry Truman was letting him stay on, at least a little longer, because the President also gets stubborn under pressure.
This situation was too much for Hatchetman Pearson, who likes to be influential, but not in a negative way. This week, in wrathful confusion, he broadcast: "The most important aspect of this incident is . . . the fact that Mr. Truman should let important decisions of state be made or reversed by a radio commentator, no matter who he is. It's probably going to make some of us think twice about criticizing inefficient public officials for fear Mr. Truman will then decide to continue them in office."