TIME

September 15, 1947 12:00 AM GMT-4

When Harry Truman nominated his good friend, California Oilman Ed Pauley, to be Under Secretary of the Navy in January 1946, he got a rude shock. Senators, noting that the Navy buys great quantities of oil, were leary of Pauley’s behind-the-scenes activities in the great tidelands oil controversy and let it be known that they would refuse to confirm him. After six weeks of stormy hearings, Harry Truman withdrew the nomination.

Last week Ed Pauley, who had done a workmanlike job for the President as his special ambassador on reparations, came back to Washington. Harry Truman had appointed him as a special temporary assistant to Secretary of the Army Kenneth Royall. His duties would be to assist in industrial procurement; the War Department said that the job—which does not require Senate confirmation—would take about three months.

But Washington heard rumors that Harry Truman might be grooming Ed Pauley to take the place of Secretary Royall, who wants to run for Governor of North Carolina. In that case, another fight was brewing.

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