No Tradition of Responsibility ...

by Cliopatria

After looking at a number of cases, Eugene Volokh tentatively concludes that there is no recent tradition of high government authority in the United States resigning because of their own or their subordinates' policy errors. If he is correct, and I'm having trouble lining up a series of countervailing evidence, that's a fairly remarkable conclusion, one that we may need to correct. In the meantime, Geitner Simmons at Regions of Mind tells the remarkable story of German prisoners of war in American internment camps. In order to reduce American administrative commitments in those camps, German prisoners were largely self-governed and SS troops murdered at least five German prisoners suspected of cooperating with their American captors. The scandal did not threaten the position of Secretary of War Henry Stimson, but Eleanor Roosevelt apparently insisted on a program of"de-nazification."

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Richard Henry Morgan - 5/12/2004

Here's the bits and pieces. I'm not sure what the cover-up was, unless it is that only a handful were tried and convicted for what was probably a larger group.

http://ktwu.washburn.edu/journeys/scripts/2003/1610a.html

Name Removed at Poster's Request - 5/12/2004

Ralph, what I know I heard on a radio show some years ago. If it happened the way I remembered, I imagine Geitner Simmons would already know about it.

Ralph E. Luker - 5/11/2004

Josh, Tell us more. I'm sure that Geitner Simmons would love to hear about it, as well.

Name Removed at Poster's Request - 5/11/2004

From what I recall, these SS guys ran the camps for us very efficiently, only occasionally murdering fellow German POWs with democratic sympathies. Leon Jaworski was brought in to investigate at least one of these murders, and some call that investigation his first coverup.