Truman

by David McCullough

Stewart was among the first to appear on the day of the hearing, March 23, 1943, and he provided some of the most damaging of all testimony, as well as a touch of unintended humor, when Hugh Fulton encouraged him to explain how exactly the system worked: FULTON: In other words . . . you would make up a chemical analysis which you thought would fit what the steel should have been. STEWART: That is right. FULTON: And how would you deal with that in that particular record book? STEWART: In order to keep our records so that we would know when it was an incorrect heat number, we would enter it in this book in pencil. FULTON: How were the other entries made? STEWART: They were made in ink. FULTON: And did you, in addition to making them in pencil, put any prefix letter in front of them? STEWART: It was a common practice to put an “F.” FULTON: What did “F” mean? STEWART: Fake. FULTON: You told our investigator originally that it meant phone. STEWART: That is right. FULTON: But now under oath you desire to state it meant fake? STEWART: That is correct. The investigator was a stranger to me and I was sort of pressed for something to say at the moment.

Wow