Harold E. Talbott
Encyclopedia
United States Secretary of the Air Force
The Secretary of the Air Force is the Head of the Department of the Air Force, a component organization within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Secretary of the Air Force is appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate...
.
Biography
He was born in Dayton, OhioDayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, in March 1888 and died in 1957. He attended The Hill School
The Hill School
The Hill School is a preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia....
in Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States northwest of Philadelphia and southeast of Reading, on the Schuylkill River. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the...
, and spent two years at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
before returning to his father's construction company in 1911.
Family
Talbott's father was a wealthy engineer who was involved in the construction of the Soo LocksSoo Locks
The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario...
on Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
and had various railroad interests. He was also involved in the recovery of Dayton from the 1913 flood
Great Dayton Flood
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 flooded Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area with water from the Great Miami River, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history...
.
His mother was active in the Dayton anti-suffrage league
Anti-suffragism
Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed mainly of women, begun in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in the United States and United Kingdom...
which opposed giving women the right to vote. She was also involved in the Anti-Saloon League
Anti-Saloon League
The Anti-Saloon League was the leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. It was a key component of the Progressive Era, and was strongest in the South and rural North, drawing heavy support from pietistic Protestant ministers and their...
and was a patron of the Dayton Westminster Choir.
His brother Nelson "Bud" Talbott was the coach for the Dayton Triangles
Dayton Triangles
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park, which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north...
professional football team a predecessor to today's Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
.
His great-nephew Strobe Talbott
Strobe Talbott
Nelson Strobridge "Strobe" Talbott III is an American foreign policy analyst associated with Yale University and the Brookings Institution, a former journalist associated with Time magazine and diplomat who served as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001.-Early life:Born in Dayton, Ohio...
was a deputy secretary of state in the Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
administration.
In 1925 Talbott married Margaret Thayer (1898–1960) who was the daughter of Marian Longstreth Morris Thayer a survivor of the RMS Titanic Disaster and John Thayer II
John Thayer (cricketer)
John Borland Thayer, Jr. was a first-class cricketer and later a Pennsylvania Railroad vice president, who died shortly before his 50th birthday in the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912...
a railroad executive who perished aboard the ship. Harold and Margaret's children included Margaret Noyes, Pauline Toland, John Thayer Talbott, and H.E. Talbott III. In 1960 his wife (Margaret Thayer) committed suicide by jumping from the 12th story of their Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Runnymede Playhouse on the Talbott family estate in a residential neighborhood of Oakwood
Oakwood, Montgomery County, Ohio
Oakwood is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,202 at the 2010 census. Oakwood is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was incorporated in 1908...
, Montgomery County, Ohio
Montgomery County, Ohio
Montgomery County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. The population was 535,153 in the 2010 Census. It was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada. The county seat is Dayton...
(a suburb of Dayton) hosted the Dayton Project
Dayton Project
The Dayton Project was one of several sites involved in the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bombs. Charles Allen Thomas, an executive of the Monsanto Company corporation, was assigned to develop the neutron generating devices that triggered the nuclear detonation of the atomic bombs...
(the part of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
involved in creating the neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
generating triggers
Urchin (detonator)
A modulated neutron initiator is a neutron source capable of producing a burst of neutrons on activation. It is a crucial part of some nuclear weapons, as its role is to "kick-start" the chain reaction at the optimal moment when the configuration is prompt critical. It is also known as an internal...
for the first atomic bombs from radioactive polonium
Polonium
Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84, discovered in 1898 by Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. A rare and highly radioactive element, polonium is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and it occurs in uranium ores. Polonium has been studied for...
). Charles Allen Thomas
Charles Allen Thomas
Charles Allen Thomas was a noted American chemist and businessman, and an important figure in the Manhattan Project....
a Delco-GM and Monsanto Company chemist who was in charge of the project was married to Harold's sister Margaret.
Career
Talbott's interest in aviation dated from the early days of the Wright brothersWright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
. In 1915 he helped build one of the first wind tunnels for aviation experiments in Dayton. In the spring of 1916, Talbott's father, Edward A. Deeds
Edward A. Deeds
Edward Andrew Deeds was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio area.-Biography:...
, and Charles Kettering
Charles Kettering
Charles Franklin Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. He was a founder of Delco, and was head of research for General Motors for 27 years from 1920 to 1947. Among his most widely used automotive inventions were the electrical starting motor and...
formed the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, which reused the factory buildings of the 1909-1916 Wright Company
Wright Company
The Wright Company was the commercial aviation business venture of the Wright Brothers, established by them in 1909 in conjunction with several prominent industrialists from New York and Detroit with the intention of capitalizing on their invention of the practical airplane. It maintained a...
but was a completely different business. The young Talbott became the company's president, while Orville Wright received a courtesy position as a consulting engineer.
At the beginning of World War I, Deeds joined the US Army with the rank of colonel and became Chief of Aircraft Production. Deeds supervised aircraft aircraft procurement at McCook Field, a precursor to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Dayton-Wright Company took over the newly built Delco
Delco
Delco may refer to:* Delaware County, Ohio* Delaware County, Pennsylvania* Delco, North Carolina* Delco Electronics...
-Light plant. The expanded plant turned out about 400 training planes and constructed the two-seat fighter, the DeHaviland–4, later modified to the DeHaviland–9. In 1918 the plant, which employed 12,000 people, produced 38 planes per day and manufactured more wartime aircraft overall than any other U.S. plant.
During September 1918, Talbott was commissioned a major in the Air Service of the Signal Corps. His assignment as one of a group of officers in charge of aircraft maintenance and repair in France was canceled by the armistice.
In 1919 General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
acquired Delco-Light, Dayton-Wright, and the Dayton Metal Products Company. All were businesses associated with Talbott, Deeds, and Kettering.
Talbott was an original investor in Chrysler Corporation in the 1920s and was a director of Chrysler by the early 1950s.
In the early 1930’s Talbott served as chairman of North American Aviation
North American Aviation
North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...
and was a director of TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
. At the time North American held shares in Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
which was building military aircraft. Talbott prevailed on Donald Douglas
Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.
Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. was a United States aircraft industrialist and founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1921 .-Early life:...
to enter the commercial market by building the DC-1
Douglas DC-1
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920. London: Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-370-00050-1....
and DC-2
Douglas DC-2
The Douglas DC-2 was a 14-seat, twin-engine airliner produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247...
aircraft to TWA’s specification.
Talbott was an active Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential campaign fund-raiser in 1940, 1948 and 1952. He was chairman of the Republican national finance committee in 1948 and 1949. He also had been a member of the War Production Board during 1942 and 1943.
He became the third Secretary of the Air Force on February 4, 1953, during a period when the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
had jolted Congress into authorizing additional wings and their supporting infrastructure. Consequently, he was able to focus his efforts on the needs of airmen and their families. He succeeded in obtaining more military housing than had his predecessors. Combining better housing with pay increases and other needed improvements, he raised the service personnel retention rate by linking enhanced military benefits to reenlistment.
During his tenure, Talbott appointed a commission to assist him in selecting the permanent site for the Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
. After considering 580 proposed sites in 45 states, the commission recommended three locations. From those, he selected the site near Colorado Springs.
In 1955, the Chattanooga Times uncovered that Talbott was using Air Force stationary to solicit business for an engineering firm which he owned fifty percent of, from contractors who sold to the Air Force. After a Congressional investigation, Talbott resigned from his position as Secretary in August 1955.
It is possible that the Talbott Cluster in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
native David Weber
David Weber
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
's science fiction writings is named for Harold E. Talbott Jr. Since David Weber's books, especially those set in the Honorverse
Honorverse
The Honorverse refers to the military science fiction book series and sub-series created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. The series is set primarily after Honor Harrington's October 1, 3961, birth; although she is the protagonist in most of the stories, more recent entries make only...
, frequently criticize interference by politicians in military matters.
Talbott died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 2, 1957.
External links
- Official USAF bio
- http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5811/664.html?967209967Encyclopedia TitanicaEncyclopedia TitanicaEncyclopedia Titanica is an online reference work containing extensive and constantly-updated information on the . The website, a nonprofit endeavor, is a database of passenger and crew biographies, deck plans, and articles submitted by historians or Titanic enthusiasts...
discussion] - Time magazine article 23-Mar-1925
- Time magazine article 29-Dec-1952