Andrew J. May
Andrew Jackson May (June 24 1875 — September 6, 1959) was a Kentucky attorney and influential New Deal-era politician, best known for his chairmanship of the House Military Affairs Committee during World War II, and his subsequent conviction for bribery. May was a Democratic member of United States House of Representatives from Kentucky during the Seventy-second to Seventy-ninth sessions of Congress.[1]
Education and early career
May was born on Beaver Creek, near Prestonsburg in Floyd County, Kentucky on June 24, 1875. On June 25, 1898 he and his twin brother William H. May graduated from Southern Normal University Law School, in Huntingdon, Tennessee (later named Union University, Jackson, Tenn.) and was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing his law practice in Prestonsburg, Ky. May and his brother formed the law firm of May & May which was not dissolved until the death of his brother on February 20, 1921. May was county attorney of Floyd County, Kentucky 1901–1909; special judge of the circuit court of Johnson and Martin Counties in 1925 and 1926. During this time, May also engaged in Democratic Party politics, agricultural pursuits, coal mining, and banking.[1]
May was elected as a New Deal Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress and to seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1947). He was Chairman of the powerful Committee on Military Affairs during the Seventy-sixth through Seventy-ninth Congresses, and a consistent supporter of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. During World War II, May became involved with Murray and Henry Garsson, New York businessmen who sought lucrative munitions contracts then being awarded by the U.S. Government.[2]
The May Incident
During World War II, May was responsible for a major release of highly confidential military information, known as the May Incident. In that incident, U.S. submarines had been conducting a successful undersea war against Japanese shipping during World War II, frequently escaping Japanese anti-submarine depth charge attacks. However, the deficiencies of Japanese depth-charge tactics were revealed in a press conference held in June 1943 by Congressman May, a member of the House Committee on Military Affairs. May had visited the Pacific Theater and received various confidential intelligence and operational briefings. At this press conference, May revealed the highly sensitive fact that American submarines had a high survival rate because Japanese depth charges were typically fuzed to explode at too shallow a depth. Various press associations sent this leaked news story over their wires and many newspapers (including one in Honolulu, Hawaii), published it.[3][4]
Japanese naval forces heard of May's security breach and were quick to exploit the information. The inevitable result was that in future, Japanese depth charges were adjusted to explode at a more effective average depth of 250 feet (80 m). Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, later estimated that May's highly damaging security breach cost the United States Navy as many as ten submarines and 800 crewmen killed in action.[3]
Though the Roosevelt administration and the Navy Department in particular were furious with May's disclosures, they could do little about it. At the time, Roosevelt was preparing his election run for the 1944 presidential campaign, May was Chairman and ranking Democratic member of the powerful Military Affairs Committee, and public revelation of the consequences of May's indiscretions could have come at a high political price for the Roosevelt administration.
War profiteering allegations
Sometime shortly before or during the U.S. entry into World War II, May became involved with Murray and Henry Garsson, New York businessmen with no prior arms manufacturing experience who sought lucrative munitions contracts then being awarded by the U.S. Government. May was known to frequently telephone army ordnance and other government officials on the Garsson's behalf to award war contracts, obtain draft deferments, and secure other favors for the Garssons and their friends. So numerous were these interventions that one ordnance official referred to them as "blitz calls."[5] After the war, a Senate investigating committee reviewing the Garsson's munitions business discovered evidence that May had received substantial cash payments and other inducements from the Garssons.[6]
Conviction and postwar life
Following news reports of irregularities concerning his conduct in office, May was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. The bribery scandal was intensified by testimony of excessive profit-taking in the Garsson munition business, and that the Garsson factory produced 4.2-inch mortar shells with defective fuzes, resulting in premature detonation and the deaths of 38 American soldiers.[7] After less than two hours of deliberation,[8] May was convicted by a federal jury on July 3, 1947 on charges of accepting bribes to use his position as Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee to secure munitions contracts during the Second World War. Murray and Henry Garsson also received prison terms.[9] After protracted efforts to avoid incarceration,[8] May subsequently served nine months in federal prison.
However, he continued to retain influence in Democratic party politics, and President Truman decided to grant May a full pardon in 1952.[1] Unable to revive his political career, he returned home to practice law until his death.[1]
May died in Prestonsburg, Kentucky on September 6, 1959 and is buried in Mayo Cemetery.[1]
The lodge at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonsburg, KY was named after May by Governor Bert T. Combs.
See also
Books
- Blair, Clay, Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan (Vol.1), The Naval Institute Press, 2001
- Lanning, Michael Lee (Lt. Col.), Senseless Secrets: The Failures of U.S. Military Intelligence from George Washington to the Present, Carol Publishing Group, 1995
References
- ^ a b c d e Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Andrew Jackson May, URL accessed 2008-02-14.
- ^ Time magazine, "Murray Garsson's Suckers", August 12, 1946.
- ^ a b Blair, Clay, Silent Victory Vol. 1, pg. 397.
- ^ Lanning, Michael Lee (Lt.Col), Senseless Secrets, p. 82.
- ^ Time magazine, "Handy Andy", June 9, 1947.
- ^ Time magazine, "Still Calling Yankel", July 29, 1946.
- ^ Time magazine, "Garsson Sequel", September 16, 1946.
- ^ a b Time magazine, "Artful Dodger", December 5, 1949.
- ^ Time magazine, "No Taste For Liquor", August 4, 1947.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress