Thomas K. Finletter

In the past decade THOMAS K. FINLETTER, a New York lawyer, has come to know as much about our air power, and that of our enemies, as any man in the United States. He was appointed Chairman of the President’s Air Policy Commission in 1947, and the report which he and his committee members made was one of the most exhaustive studies of our national defense ever made in time of peace. That report established quotas of air power which we badly needed when aggression broke out in Korea; it pointed the way for a new strategic policy which, as Secretary of the Air Force, Mr. Finletter himself had the opportunity to implement from 1950 to 1953. That we can muster the strength to prevent a Russian attack is the kernel of his argument here and in his new book, Power and Policy, soon to be published by Harcourt, Brace.

A New York lawyer, THOMAS K. FINLETTERhas devoted the greater part of the past decade to public service and in that time has come to know as much about our air power as any man in the country. He was appointed Chairman of the President’s Air Policy Commission in 1947, and the report which he and his committee members made was one of the most exhaustive studies of our national defense ever made in time of peace. That report established quotas of air power which we badly needed when aggression broke out in Korea; it pointed the way for a new strategic policy which, as Secretary for the Air Force, Mr. Finletter himself had the opportunity to implement from 1950 to 1953.

The United States is spending huge sums each year for an inadequate military force, while with even less money we could achieve an air-atomic power which might of itself prevent World War III. Yet we are cutting back our air-atomic deterrent, THOMAS K. FINLETTER warns, in a mistaken attempt to perpetuate “balance” among the armed services. Mr. Finletter, who was Chairman of the Air Policy Commission throughout one of the most exhaustive studies ever made in time of peace, became Secretary for the Air Force in 1950.

In July of last year, THOMAS K. FINLETTER was appointed by President Truman chairman of a temporary five-man commission to inquire into all phases of aviation and to aid in the drafting of a national air policy. The report of that commission, entitled “Survival in the Air Age,” is must reading for any conscientious citizen. Part of it, the belligerent part, has been played up in the press, but the recommendations looking towards peace, says the chairman, have been almost ignored. A New York lawyer, partner in Coudert Brothers, Mr. Finletter served as a special assistant to the Secretary of State from 1941 to 1944.

» Thomas K. Finletter here defines the inescapable alternative which now confronts every thinking American: anarchy between nations, or law which will save us.