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Andrew Jackson May (June 24, 1875—September 6, 1959) was a Kentucky attorney and influential New Deal-era politician, best known for his central role in the May Incident. May was a Democratic member of United States House of Representatives from Kentucky during the Seventy-second to Seventy-ninth sessions of Congress. He served as a ranking Democratic member and Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (Seventy-sixth through Seventy-ninth Congresses). [1] is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...
is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area Ranked 37th - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ...
The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ...
United States Capitol (1906) // The Seventy-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprised of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. ...
Senators George David Aiken (R-VT) Charles Oscar Andrews (D-FL) Warren Robinson Austin (R-VT) Josiah William Bailey (D-NC) Raymond Earl Baldwin (R-CT) Joseph Hurst Ball (R-MN) John Hollis Bankhead (D-AL) Alben William Barkley (D-KY) Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (D-MS) Ralph Owen Brewster (R...
Education and Early Career May was born on Beaver Creek, near Langley in Floyd County, Kentucky on June 24, 1875. In 1898 he graduated from Southern Normal University Law School, in Huntingdon, TN (later named Union College, Jackson, TN) and was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing his law practice in Prestonsburg, KY. 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] Floyd County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ...
Jackson is a city located in Madison County, Tennessee. ...
Prestonsburg is a city located in Floyd County in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky on the eastern bank of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. ...
Floyd County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ...
Surface coal mining in Wyoming. ...
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] FDR redirects here. ...
The May Incident During World War II, May was responsible for a major release of 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. Unfortunately, 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 many confidential intelligence and operational briefings. At the press conference, May revealed that American submarines had a high survivability rate because Japanese depth charges were typically fused to explode at too shallow a depth. Various press associations sent this leaked news story over their wires, compounding the disaster, and many newspapers (including one in Honolulu, Hawaii), published it.[3] [4] Depth Charge used by U.S. Navy later in World War II The depth charge is the oldest anti-submarine weapon. ...
Soon, Japanese forces were resetting their depth charges to explode at a more effective average depth of 250 feet. Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, later estimated that May's revelation cost the United States Navy as many as ten submarines and 800 crewmen lost in action.[5] [6] Charles Andrews Lockwood (6 May 1890 – 7 June 1967) was an admiral of the United States Navy. ...
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."[7]. 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.[8]
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 fuses, resulting in premature detonation and the deaths of 38 American soldiers.[9] After less than 2 hours of deliberation[10], 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.[11] After protracted efforts to avoid incarceration,[12] May subsequently served nine months in federal prison. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...
However, he continued to retain influence in Democratic party politics, and President Truman decided to grant May a full pardon in 1952. 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. Jenny Wiley State Resort Park is a mountain resort park located on 1100 acre Dewey Lake and is named for the legendary pioneer woman, Jenny Wiley. ...
See also A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information. ...
Books - Blair, Clay, Silent Victory (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
Articles - Time Magazine, Still Calling Yankel, July 29, 1946 [1]
- Time Magazine, Murray Garsson's Suckers, August 12, 1946[2]
- Time Magazine, Garsson Sequel, September 16, 1946 [3]
- Time Magazine, Handy Andy, June 9, 1947 [4]
- Time Magazine, No Taste For Liquor, August 4, 1947 [5]
- Time Magazine, Artful Dodger, December 5, 1949 [6]
References - ^ a b c d Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Andrew Jackson May entry accessed url 08/16/2006.
- ^ Time Magazine, Murray Garsson's Suckers, August 12, 1946
- ^ Blair, Clay, Silent Victory Vol.1, pg 397.
- ^ Lanning, Michael Lee (Lt.Col), Senseless Secrets, p. 82
- ^ 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
- ^ Time Magazine, Artful Dodger, December 5, 1949
- ^ Time Magazine, No Taste For Liquor, August 4, 1947
- ^ Time Magazine, Artful Dodger, December 5, 1949
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