Newbold Morris

Newbold Morris was a respected New York lawyer and Republican appointed to investigate corruption in the Bureau of Internal Revenue. His effort became entangled in a dispute over how far the investigation could reach: a questionnaire demanding extensive financial disclosures turned the cleanup campaign into a conflict over privacy, management, and political responsibility.

Appointment and Investigation

In January 1952, Harry S. Truman entrusted Attorney General Howard McGrath with the cleanup effort, even though McGrath was a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The choice prompted accusations that the investigation might be a whitewash. McGrath appointed Morris, a respected Republican lawyer from New York, to lead it.

The Questionnaire Dispute

Morris soon quarreled with McGrath and annoyed Congress. He issued a lengthy, detailed questionnaire requiring all federal employees, including Cabinet members, to list their assets and sources of income. McGrath condemned the demand as an invasion of privacy and a violation of individual rights, and refused to complete it. After reviewing the questionnaire, Truman also decided it should not be used.

Dismissal and Aftermath

Truman was frustrated with McGrath’s inability to manage the investigation, though he later said he liked him and believed there was nothing personally wrong with him. On April 3, when McGrath announced that he had fired Morris—apparently believing that was what Truman wanted—Truman fired McGrath instead. Morris’s dismissal thus became part of the episode’s confused ending: the administration’s housecleaning effort appeared to collapse, and its handling of the investigation reinforced public criticism of disorder in Washington.