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Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

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620 <strong>Pearl</strong> <strong>Harbor</strong>: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Seeds</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Fruits</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Infamy</strong><br />

Th e committee was to complete its testimony in four months<br />

<strong>and</strong> report to the Senate <strong>and</strong> House “not later than January 3,<br />

1946.” Th e resolution was passed unanimously by the Senate on<br />

September 6, 1945, <strong>and</strong> by the House on September 11. 8<br />

Ten members <strong>of</strong> Congress, all lawyers, were appointed to the<br />

committee. 9 On the Senate side, three Democrats: Barkley <strong>of</strong><br />

Kentucky, chairman; Walter F. George <strong>of</strong> Georgia; <strong>and</strong> Scott W.<br />

Lucas <strong>of</strong> Illinois; <strong>and</strong> two Republicans: Owen Brewster <strong>of</strong> Maine<br />

<strong>and</strong> Ferguson <strong>of</strong> Michigan. On the House side, three Democrats:<br />

Jere Cooper <strong>of</strong> Tennessee, vice Chairman; J. Bayard Clark <strong>of</strong><br />

North Carolina <strong>and</strong> John W. Murphy <strong>of</strong> Pennsylvania; <strong>and</strong> two<br />

Republicans: Bertr<strong>and</strong> W. Gearhart <strong>of</strong> California <strong>and</strong> Frank B.<br />

Keefe <strong>of</strong> Wisconsin.<br />

William D. Mitchell, who had served as solicitor general for<br />

four years under Calvin Coolidge <strong>and</strong> attorney general for four<br />

years under Herbert Hoover, was selected to serve as general<br />

counsel. 10 Gerhard A. Gesell was named Mitchell’s chief assistant<br />

counsel, with Jule M. Hannaford <strong>and</strong> John E. Masten as assistant<br />

counsels. 11<br />

Barkley stated that the JCC should conduct its investigation<br />

“without partisanship or favoritism. . . . Such an investigation<br />

should look solely to the ascertainment <strong>of</strong> the cold, unvarnished,<br />

indisputable facts so far as they are obtainable.” 12 Senator David<br />

I. Walsh <strong>of</strong> Massachusetts had praised Barkley for having “lifted<br />

this question above partisanship, <strong>and</strong> made an appeal for what<br />

the country wants—a high-minded, clean, judicial investigation<br />

8 Joint Committee, <strong>Pearl</strong> <strong>Harbor</strong> Attack, part 1, pp. 3–4.<br />

9 Ibid., p. 4.<br />

10 Ibid., part 4, p. 1587.<br />

11 Ibid., part 1, p. 4.<br />

12 Ibid., p. 12.

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