The Pentagon: A History (72 page)

Delano sent the Senate
Delano, letter to Committee on Appropriations, 31 July 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.; Clarke, memorandum for the press, 1 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66; NCPPC minutes, 1 Aug. 1941.

Roosevelt’s fishing expedition

Two days later
Theodore Wilson,
The First Summit: Roosevelt and Churchill at Placentia Bay, 1941,
1–6.

Before leaving town
FDR letter to Senator Adams, 1 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.; Conferences with the President, 1941, Harold Smith papers, FDR Lib.

With all final business
Wilson,
The First Summit,
4.

Somervell confidently
Somervell memo to Donald Nelson, 2 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO; “The Pentagon Project-EHD,” 17, CEHO; Stimson diary, 14 Aug. 1941; U.S. Senate Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, 77th Congress, 1st sess., Hearings on the First Supplemental National Defense Appropriations Bill for 1942, 8 Aug. 1941, 60–64; Ickes diary, 27 Aug. 1941, 5841.

Clarke, the fine arts
Clarke letter to Senate, 2 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66; Somervell, letter to Clarke, 5 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO.

The newspapers had indeed
Star,
5, 6, and 7 Aug. 1941;
NYT,
8 Aug. 1941; Leo Sheridan letter to Clarke, 7 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66; Senate hearing, 31 July 1941.

Barely noticed
Caemmerer letter to Clarke, 6 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66; Senate hearing, 8 Aug. 1941, 150–1; Delano, telegram to A. E. Demaray, 7 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66;
NYT,
8 Aug. 1941; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
draft, 74, box 1310, OSD HO.

A hell of a mess with Congress

Brigadier General Brehon
Senate hearing, 8 Aug. 1941, 135–203;
Star,
8 Aug. 1941; Ickes diary, 27 Aug. 1941, 5842; Clarke, oral history, 147, CU;
WP,
9 and 12 Aug. 1941.

But the only opinion
WP,
13 Aug. 1942 and 29 May 1946; Ickes diary, 27 Aug. 1941, 5842;
Star,
13 and 14 Aug. 1941.

On top of that
WP,
13 Aug. 1941; Ickes, letter to Stimson, 12 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO; Stimson, letter to Ickes, 19 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO; Frank C. Waldrop,
WT H,
23 Aug. 1941.

Most shockingly extravagant proposal

The Reverend Barney T. Phillips
Cong. Rec.,
14 Aug. 1941, 7111–13, 7132–45;
Star,
15 Aug. 1941.

Harold Ickes held
Ickes diary, 27 Aug. 1941, 5841;
WP,
16 Aug. 1941;
Star,
15 Aug. 1941.

Clarke ceded battle
Clarke letter to Caemmerer, 15 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66.

You’ve got to build it in a hurry

“You’ve got to”
Paul Caraway, oral history, 1971, 10, MHI.

Somervell had not waited
Minutes of staff conference, 15 Aug. 1941, box 700, NARA RG 92.

Paul Hauck
“The Pentagon Project—EHD,” 25, CEHO; Groves diary, 25 July 1941, entry 7530G, NARA RG 200.

Bergstrom and his team
Colglazier, oral history, 37, MHI; architects’ historical memo, NARA RG 200; Witmer biographical sketch, Witmer membership file, AIA;
Los Angeles Times,
Witmer obituary, 8 May 1973; Robert Farquhar membership file, AIA.

Groves would oversee
Groves memo to Army Headquarters Commandant, 28 June 1946, Leslie R. Groves Collection, GCM Lib.

Renshaw, from
Alan Renshaw, author interview, 6 Feb. 2004;
Assembly,
March 1981; Clarence Renshaw, F&R interview, VII, box 33, CEHO; F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
51; author visit, Wright Brothers National Memorial, 16 Aug. 2004.

Assigned to the Washington
F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
280; Karen Byrne Kinsey, “Battling For Arlington House: To Lee or Not to Lee?”
Arlington Historical Magazine,
Oct. 2003.

Renshaw had developed
Pagan, F&R interview, CEHO; Richard Groves, author interview; Furman, author interview.

“I wasn’t so sure”
Clarence Renshaw, F&R interview, CEHO.

This rape of Washington

Bronzed and refreshed
Wilson,
The First Summit,
201, 204–205; Roosevelt,
The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
1941 vol., 319; Jon Meacham,
Franklin and Winston,
122.

His secretary of the interior
Ickes diary, 27 Aug. 1941, 5842; Delano telegram to Harold Smith, 16 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.; Delano letter to FDR, 17 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.

The newspapers
Washington
Sunday Star,
17 Aug. 1941.

Roosevelt already felt
Rhoads, “Franklin Roosevelt and Washington Architecture.”

On Monday, August 18
FDR, memo to Harold Smith, 18 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.

Smith was only
Smith memorandum to the President, 19 Aug. 1941, Conferences with the President: 1941, Harold Smith papers, FDR Lib.

A mere formality

The mood was euphoric
F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
435; Ohl,
Supplying the Troops,
50; construction authorization, 19 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO; “The Pentagon Project—EHD,” 17, CEHO.

Groves and Renshaw were there
“Conference on New War Department Building,” 19 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO.

I should be kept out of Heaven

Across town at the White House
WP,
20 Aug. 1941; Roosevelt,
The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
1941 vol., 325–33.

News bulletins hit
Watson, memorandum for the president, 19 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.

Gilmore Clarke read the news
Clarke letter to FDR, 20 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66;
WP,
21 Aug. 1941;
NYT,
22 Aug. 1941;
New York Herald-Tribune,
21 Aug. 1941.

Indeed, Roosevelt
NYT,
20 Aug. 1941;
WP,
20 Aug. 1941; Memorandums to the President, 20 and 25 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.

Somervell scrambled
McCloy, interview with Eric Sevareid, 1975, John J. McCloy Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library; Stimson,
On Active Service,
343.

Somervell and McCloy reported
Somervell, memorandum to the Secretary of War, 20 Aug. 1941, NARA RG 107.

“Put three shifts”
Star,
20 Aug. 1941.

Emerging from the conference
Star,
21 Aug. 1941; summary of minutes of Quartermaster staff conference, 22 Aug. 1941, I, CEHO;
WP,
22 Aug. 1941.

“We are proceeding”
Somervell, memorandum to the Secretary of War, 20 Aug. 1941, NARA RG 107.

That was news to McCloy
McCloy, memorandum for General Somervell, 26 Aug. 1941, NARA RG 107, McCloy papers, entry 182.

Returning to Washington
Smith, memorandum to the president, 25 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.;
Star,
25 Aug. 1941,
WP,
26 Aug. 1941.

The following afternoon
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Complete Presidential Press Conferences of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
vol. 17–18, 113–116.

The whole thing is all up in the air

No one could imagine
Star,
27 Aug. 1941,
WP,
28 Aug. 1941; Caemmerer, letter to Francis P. Sullivan, Chairman, Committee on the National Capital, 26 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66.

That was not the lesson
Watson, memorandum to the President, 26 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.;
WP,
28 Aug. 1941.
Star,
27 Aug. 1941.

Delano drafted an agreement
NCPPC minutes, 18 Sept. 1941, 65; NCPPC minutes, 17 Oct. 1941, 114; Delano, letter to Somervell, 11 Oct. 1941, I, CEHO.

Consulting with McCloy
McCloy diary, 28 Aug. 1941, John J. McCloy Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library (hereafter McCloy diary); “Memorandum for the President: Subject: War Department Building,” 28 Aug. 1941, OF 25, FDR Lib.

“It is a compromise”
Star,
29 Aug. 1941.

“I am going out”
Roosevelt,
Presidential Press Conferences,
vol. 18, 127.

I’m still commander-in-chief

The president’s limousine was waiting
Vogel, “The Battle of Arlington,”
WP,
26 Apr. 1999.

Gilmore Clarke had received
Clarke, oral history, 149–52, CU.

Shortly after finishing
“The President’s Day,” International News Service; 30 Aug. 1941;
Star,
30 Aug. 1941; Clarke, memorandum for the Commission of Fine Arts, 30 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66.

“Gilmore…, don’t you like it?”
Clarke, oral history, 150, CU. All subsequent FDR quotes during the trip are drawn from Clarke’s account unless otherwise noted.

Inspecting the site
Jay Downer, letter to Delano, 2 Sept. 1941, NARA DC RG 66.

Roosevelt wanted to know
Ibid.

The entourage rode
Clarke, oral history, 152, CU.

Somervell had no intention
Clarke, memorandum for the Commission of Fine Arts, 30 Aug. 1941, NARA DC RG 66; Clarke, oral history, 152, CU; Downer, letter to Delano, 2 Sept. 1941, NARA DC RG 66.

With that, the president
“The President’s Day,” International News Service, 30 Aug. 1941.

CHAPTER 6: HELL’S BOTTOM

A hot time in the old town

As the southbound train
Dorothy Ellis Lee,
A History of Arlington County, Virginia,
33; Jack Hamilton Foster, “Crandal Mackey, Crusading Commonwealth’s Attorney.”
Arlington Historical Magazine,
1984. Rose,
Arlington County, Virginia,
150–156.

Jackson City, at least
Jackson City history, vertical files, ACL; Rose,
Arlington County, Virginia,
92–3;
Northern Virginia Sun,
28 Aug. 1957;
Star,
20 Jan. 1892; J. Elwood Clements, oral history, 1977, ACOHP.

Just inland, occupying
Frank L. Ball, “The Arlington I Have Known,”
Arlington Historical Magazine,
1964;
WP,
4 Dec. 1926.

By the turn
Foster, “Crandal Mackey” Ball, “The Arlington I Have Known.”
WP,
9 May 1904.

Jackson City was the prime
Lee,
A History of Arlington,
37–39; Foster, “Crandal Mackey.”

The place where fish are caught

The land where
Rose,
Arlington County, Virginia,
9–15; Junior League of Washington,
The City of Washington: An Illustrated History,
9–11; Arlington Historical Society, “Historic Arlington,” on Arlington Historical Society Web site,
www.arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/learn/
; Daniel Koski-Karell, “Historical and Archaeological Background Research of the GSA Pentagon Complex Project Area,” 12–31, box 1312, OSD HO; “Final Environmental Assessment of the Pentagon Reservation Master Plan,” 68–90, box 1312, OSD HO.

The Civil War
Koski-Karell, “Historical and Archaeological Background Research” Ruth Ward, “Life in Alexandria County During the Civil War,”
The Arlington Historical Magazine,
1984.

A community of escaped slaves
Sherlock, “Arlington National Cemetery, Historic Background Southern Portion” Roberta Schildt, “Freedman’s Village: Arlington, Virginia, 1863–1900,”
Arlington Historical Magazine,
1984; Freedman’s Village vertical file, ACL.

Some residents
Susan Gilpin, unpublished paper on Queen City, 1984, Queen City vertical file, ACL; Schildt, “Freedman’s Village.”
Star,
26 Jan., 1908.

That was not the case with Hell’s
WP,
25 June, 1910, 12 May 1923, 15 May 1925, 1 Dec. 1925, 28 Apr. 1926, 7 May 1926, 30 Apr. 1970.

Nearby, on the old site
Arven H. Saunders, “Airports in Northern Virginia, Past and Present,”
Arlington Historical Magazine,
1967; Author visit, Arlington County Visitors Center.

Constant burning
WP,
7 Oct. 1934, 13 Jan. 1957, 9 Aug. 1936.

Legislation for a new airport
Saunders, “Airports in Northern Virginia.”

FDR, as usual
Rhoads, “Franklin D. Roosevelt and Washington Architecture” Cowdrey,
A City for the Nation,
55;
Star,
20 Nov. 1940.

There was only one problem
Reynolds, “John McShain—Builder.” The plaque remains on the wall in the old terminal.

Much change was afoot
WP,
17 Sept. 1941; “The Pentagon Project—ASF,” NARA RG 160.

The latter site
Federal Architect,
Jan.–Apr. 1943; Sheilah Kast, “Not Everyone Thought It Was So Dreamy,”
Star,
1 Sept. 1975; Rayfield Barber, oral history, 1991, ACOHP; Perry West, oral history, 1975, ACOHP; Final Environmental Assessment of the Pentagon Reservation Master Plan,” 82, box 1312, OSD HO.

The whole county
NCPPC minutes, 29 July 1941, 23, 27; Rose,
Arlington County, Virginia,
175–6, 197–203;
Star,
25 July and 8 Nov. 1941; Arlington County Board minutes, 13 Nov. 1943.

Faced now with the prospect
WP,
26 July 1941; Kast, “Not Everyone Thought It Was So Dreamy” Senate hearing, 8 Aug. 1941, 195;
Star,
25 July 1941.

Somervell’s building would require
John J. O’Brien, memorandum for Col. Clarence Renshaw, 31 July 1943, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200; “The Pentagon Project-EHD,” 36, CEHO; War Department press release, “General Plans Announced for New War Department Building in Arlington County, Va.”, 7 Oct. 1941, I, CEHO.

A new pentagon

The original rationale
“Basic Data on the Pentagon,” IV, file 4, box 15, SDF, NARA RG 160; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
8–10 (see also draft manuscript, 11);
Architectural Record,
Jan. 1943; Witmer planning memorandum, OSD HO.