John Jay McCloy

John Jay McCloy 1895-1989, U.S. government official, b. Philadelphia. A lawyer, he gained an international reputation when after a long investigation he fixed responsibility on the German government for the Black Tom munitions explosion in Hoboken, N.J., in 1917. He was Assistant Secretary of War in World War II and in 1947 became president of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank). He resigned in 1949 and was U.S. military governor and high commissioner for Germany (1949-52). He returned (1961-63) to government service to act as President Kennedy's principal disarmament adviser. He is the author of The Challenge of American Foreign Policy (1953) and The Atlantic Alliance (1969).

Bibliography: See K. Bird, The Chairman (1992).

McCloy, John Jay, Jr. (1895–1989) diplomat, born in Philadelphia. McCloy was assistant secretary of war (1941–45) and U.S. high commissioner for occupied Germany (1949–52). As assistant secretary during wartime, McCloy had broad duties and played a central role in many controversial decisions of the period, such as those to intern Japanese Americans and not to bomb the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz. McCloy, who considered espionage a fact of international relations, participated in the creation of the Office of Strategic Services. His willingness to countenance a significant increase in the power and secrecy of the national government makes him one of the founders of the national security state. In Germany, together with Konrad Adenauer he laid the foundation for West Germany's integration into the economies and military forces of Western Europe. McCloy later pursued a career in banking but continued to be an advisor to presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. During World War I McCloy had served in France but saw little action; he remained with the army of occupation until fall 1919.

McCloy, a prominent Wall Street lawyer, gained fame through his successful pursuit of the so-called Black Tom case, in which Bethlehem Steel sought compensation for a 1916 explosion at a munitions depot on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor. Despite two losing efforts before the World Court, McCloy eventually won the case in 1939, demonstrating that the explosion was sabotage ordered by the German government.

McCloy, John J. (1895–1989), advocate of national security in the Cold War era.Born in Philadelphia, McCloy was educated at Amherst College and Harvard Law School. After attending the Plattsburgh military training camps for civilians in 1915–16, McCloy developed a lifelong interest in the military. He joined the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, and later became a Wall Street lawyer, best known for his success in pursuing the “Black Tom” sabotage case against Germany in the 1930s. During World War II, McCloy was assistant secretary of war, handling the political dimension of military problems. He advocated the racial integration of the U.S. military on grounds of increased “efficiency.” However, McCloy also was a central figure in the controversial decisions to intern Japanese Americans and not to bomb the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz. Along with Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, McCloy helped defeat the Morgenthau Plan to deindustrialize Germany, and he advocated an international tribunal to investigate German war crimes. His willingness to countenance a significant increase in the power and secrecy of the national government places him as one of the founders of the so‐called national security state. After the war, McCloy served as president of the World Bank (1947–49) and as high commissioner to Germany (1949–52), strongly supporting the rearmament of West Germany and its entry into the NATO alliance.

Although his position as high commissioner was his most significant public office, McCloy played a continuing role in formation of U.S. policy on national security in the nuclear age. He was John F. Kennedy's adviser on disarmament, and served Lyndon B. Johnson in the Trilateral Negotiations of 1966–67, which readjusted NATO's financial burdens after the withdrawal of France. An unapologetic advocate of a Pax Americana, McCloy never wavered in his view of America's international responsibilities and the need for a strong military to exercise global leadership.
[See also Germany, U.S. Military Involvement in; Holocaust, U.S. War Effort and the; Japanese‐American Internment Cases; Morgenthau, Henry.]

Bibliography

Thomas Alan Schwartz , America's Germany: John J. McCloy and the Federal Republic of Germany, 1991.
Kai Bird , The Chairman: John J. McCloy, 1992.

Thomas A. Schwartz