Richard Russell, the Senate Armed Services Committee & Oversight of America’S Defense, 1955-1968
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BALANCING CONSENSUS, CONSENT, AND COMPETENCE: RICHARD RUSSELL, THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE & OVERSIGHT OF AMERICA’S DEFENSE, 1955-1968 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Joshua E. Klimas, M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2007 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor David Stebenne, Advisor Professor John Guilmartin Advisor Professor James Bartholomew History Graduate Program ABSTRACT This study examines Congress’s role in defense policy-making between 1955 and 1968, with particular focus on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), its most prominent and influential members, and the evolving defense authorization process. The consensus view holds that, between World War II and the drawdown of the Vietnam War, the defense oversight committees showed acute deference to Defense Department legislative and budget requests. At the same time, they enforced closed oversight procedures that effectively blocked less “pro-defense” members from influencing the policy-making process. Although true at an aggregate level, this understanding is incomplete. It ignores the significant evolution to Armed Services Committee oversight practices that began in the latter half of 1950s, and it fails to adequately explore the motivations of the few members who decisively shaped the process. SASC chairman Richard Russell (D-GA) dominated Senate deliberations on defense policy. Relying only on input from a few key colleagues – particularly his protégé and eventual successor, John Stennis (D-MS) – Russell for the better part of two decades decided almost in isolation how the Senate would act to oversee the nation’s defense. Russell’s oversight concept weighed multiple competing considerations: the reality that modern presidential power was an outgrowth of the Congress’s acknowledged inability to manage the expanded scope of government; the requirement that the Executive Branch demonstrate ii wisdom and managerial competence; the duty to conduct thorough oversight as a prerequisite for congressional consent to presidential proposals; and the Cold War imperative to buttress presidential leadership with at least the appearance of a broad governing consensus. While initially hesitant to craft a substantive policy role, perceived shortcomings in presidential wisdom and managerial competence steadily prompted Russell to insert himself and his committee more directly into the policy-making process. The principle vehicle became incremental expansion of the annual defense authorization bill, although in practice this impacted only at the margins of the defense program. In any case, Russell never fundamentally rejected the necessity for presidential leadership, nor the desirability of relatively closed congressional oversight procedures – both of which proved increasingly out of step with the emerging Senate majority of the late 1960s. iii Dedicated to Lisa iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this manuscript would not have been possible without the guidance and support, whether direct or indirect, of countless individuals. While it is not possible for me to thank here all those who are due, I would like to note my particular gratitude to the following. I owe a special debt to my two doctoral advisors, Professor Allan R. Millett – now Professor Emeritus at Ohio State – who guided me through my candidacy exams and the early development of my research proposal, and Professor David Stebenne, who graciously stepped in after Professor Millett’s retirement to guide me through the project’s completion and defense. My work and my understanding have each benefitted greatly from the guidance and commentary they provided. While having gained enormously from personal and professional interaction with so many of Ohio State’s faculty, I would also like to note in particular Professors John Guilmartin, James Bartholomew, and Warren Van Tine for their comments and support in bringing this manuscript to a successful completion. I likewise owe a special debt to the History Department’s Graduate Studies Coordinator, Joby Abernathy, who guided me through the mechanics of completing the candidacy process, and guided my paper work through the university’s bureaucracy as I completed requirements while residing in the Washington, DC area. v The archival research on which this study was founded would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance provided by The Ohio State University through its Presidential Fellowship program, which enabled both a year’s residence in Washington and the extensive research opportunities in the National Archives that such residency permitted. In addition, The Ohio State University’s Mershon Center for International Security Studies provided travel grant assistance that allowed research trips to the Richard Russell, John Stennis, and Lyndon Johnson libraries. Similarly, the John Kennedy Library provided travel grant assistance that permitted research into the manuscript collections housed there. I am indebted to these institutions, and I hope the quality of the finished work demonstrates a sufficient return on their investments. I likewise owe an enormous debt to the research and archivist staffs at the National Archives and each of individual libraries mentioned above. The time an advice of the dozens of knowledgeable and dedicated individuals I had the pleasure of interacting with at these locations improved the quality of the supporting research immeasurably. I would like to note in particular the assistance provided by two individuals. Richard McCulley, historian at the Center for Legislative Archives of the National Archives, provided valuable advice that helped to frame this study’s research focus and interpretations, as he shared his own interests in the development of the Senate Armed Services Committee during the period in question and after. Archivist Rodney Ross, also of the Center for Legislative Archives, spent countless hours helping to identify and sort through the archive’s extensive holdings. I owe both tremendously for their help. vi In addition, I am personally indebted to the following individuals for the encouragement they provided at various steps toward this study’s completion. As a visiting professor at The George Washington University, Williamson Murray provided the “push” toward Ohio State and into the advanced study of history, without which I would have likely ended my graduate studies at the master’s level. Similarly, I owe a tremendous debt to E. B. Vandiver, Director of the Center for Army Analysis, who continually demonstrates his commitment to the education and professional development of his analysts. This commitment manifested in my case through the allowance of time and the subtle (or not so subtle) encouragement to finish the manuscript, without which I may never have brought this project to completion. Most importantly, I am indebted to the constant love, support, and encouragement of my family – to my mom, my grandma, and my Uncle Ed, who instilled in me from an early age a respect for education and an expectation that I would someday complete a doctorate in something, and to my always supportive and eternally patient wife, Lisa, who always knew I could get to this point, but must have often wondered if I actually would. I cannot repay the sacrifices these wonderful people have made for me, but I will do my best to try, and they will always most dear to me, to the end of days. vii VITA April 28, 1973 . Born – Detroit, MI 1996 . B.A. Physics and History, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 2000 . M.A. Security Policy Studies, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 2001, 2003 . Distinguished University Fellow, The Ohio State University 2002 . Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow, The Ohio State University 2004 – present . Analyst, The Center for Army Analysis, Ft. Belvoir, VA FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………………………………..…ii Dedication. ...............................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments .....................................................................................................v Vita……….............................................................................................................viii Chapters: 1. Introduction...........................................................................................................1 Notes on Sources.............................................................................................23 2. Power and the Senate...........................................................................................29 The Growth of Executive Leadership ..............................................................29 Power in the Senate: An Overview..................................................................42 Power in the Senate: Richard Russell ..............................................................52 3. Richard Russell ...................................................................................................71 Russell, the Executive Branch, & National Security Policies and Processes.....71 Goals and Motivations: An Overview.......................................................71 Defusing Congressional Investigations & Interventions............................77 Foreign Aid: The Occasional Helping Hand .............................................88