The Pentagon: A History (78 page)

The secretary of war was pleased
Stimson diary, 31 Oct. 1942; Larrabee,
Commander in Chief,
171.

Marshall, even more
Stimson diary, 31 Oct. 1942; Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
42.

Open-faced
Goodwin,
No Ordinary Time,
71;
WP,
29 and 30 Apr. 1944.

Knox responded warmly
Stimson diary, 2 Nov. 1942; King letter to Marshall, 26 May 1944, Otto L. Nelson Papers, GCM Lib.

After their meeting
Stimson diary, 2 Nov. 1942;
Star,
3 Nov. 1942; Furman, author interview.

At a press conference
Star,
3 and 4 Nov. 1942;
WP,
4 Nov. 1942.

The admirals were less pleased
Washington Daily News,
4 Nov, 1942;
WP,
6 Nov. 1942.

Some Navy employees
“Pentagon Building, 1941–1944,” vertical files, MLK Lib.

Carry me back
WP,
6 Nov. 1942.

The real opening of the Pentagon

The convoys started rolling
memo, 31 Oct. 1942, NARA RG 107; memo for commanding general, Military District of Washington, 7 Nov. 1942, NARA RG 107; “Early Occupants’ Introductions,” about Robert Sanders, fiftieth-anniversary preparations, box 1303, OSD HO; Brinkley,
Washington Goes to War,
73.

The invasion of North Africa
Stimson diary, 7, 9, 15 Nov. 1942.

At 4
P.M.
Saturday
War Department memo, 19 Nov. 1942, NARA RG 407; Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
38.

Inspecting his new
Merrill Pasco, oral history with Pogue, GCM Lib.; author visit, George C. Marshall Museum, Lexington, Va., 6 May 2004;
NYT,
3 Oct. 1943;
The Papers of George Catlett Marshall,
vol. 3, xxix, 439–40.

Stimson arrived the next day
Stimson diary, 16 Nov. 1942;
Life,
21 Dec. 1942;
Star,
14 Nov. 1942; Isaacson and Thomas,
The Wise Men,
192.

The high command
William T. Sexton, undated interview, Forrest C. Pogue Collection, GCM Lib.; Helen McShane Bailey, author interview.

Those damned admirals

Stimson was hoping
Stimson diary, 19, 20, 24 Nov. 1942; McCloy diary, 12 Nov. 1942;
WP,
1 Dec. 1942.

The press was starting
Star,
21 Nov. 1942; Stimson diary, 20 Nov. 1942.

The beleaguered Renshaw
Renshaw memo to Chief of Engineers, 3 Nov. 1942, box 702, NARA RG 77; Renshaw memo to Groves, 20 Nov. 1942, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200; Alan Renshaw, author interview; Stimson letter to Roosevelt, 28 Nov. 1942, OF 380, FDR Lib.

Marshall told Stimson
Stimson diary, 24 and 26 Nov. 1942.

Stimson set to writing
Stimson diary, 28 Nov. 1942; Stimson, letter to Roosevelt, 28 Nov. 1942, OF 380, FDR Lib.

Roosevelt sent his regrets
Roosevelt letter to Stimson, 29 Nov. 1942, President’s Secretary’s File: Stimson, FDR Lib.; “Federal Diary,”
WP,
2 Dec. 1942.

Knox announced
Star,
1 Dec. 1942;
WP,
1 Dec. 1942. Pogue observed that “the Army had revenge of a sort, for the public assumed that all the services were operating from the Pentagon. The building became so identified with the direction of the war that many later writers had difficulty realizing that it was not there from the beginning. As a result occasional subsequent accounts of the attack at Pearl Harbor had officers rushing up and down in confusion in the fabled—and then uncompleted—Pentagon maze.” Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
42.

The Navy had legitimate
telephone transcript, Styer and Adm. Robinson, 14 Dec. 1942, entry 2, Styer, SDF, NARA RG 160; Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
42; Goldberg,
The Pentagon,
157.

Lost perpendicularly and horizontally

dozens of Army officers
WP,
2 and 3 Dec. 1942;
Star,
2 Dec. 1942; McCloy diary, 2 Dec. 1942.

We are in the Pentagon
Dorothy Potter Benedict, letter to the editor,
WP,
21 Nov. 1942.

Newspapers reported
AP, 17 Oct. 1942; Lauterbach, “The Pentagon Puzzle” “Race Between Claustrophobia and Agoraphobia for Those Pent Up in Washington’s Pentagon,”
Newsweek,
15 Feb. 1943.

“The generals are right”
G. Dorrance, letter to the editor,
WP,
3 Nov. 1942.

“Looming across”
Life,
21 Dec. 1942.

Somervell was impervious
Brenza, author interview; Somervell letter to van der Gracht, 12 Sept. 1942, series 45.1, White, RG 45, AOC;
WP,
3 Nov. 1942.

Those least impressed
Hastie memo to Under Secretary of War, 31 Oct. 1942 Hastie papers, NARA RG 107.

It was not an isolated
Laura Freeman and Constance J. Riley, letter to Hastie, 9 July 1942; investigation of reports of segregation on buses at Pentagon, 12 Nov. 1942; memo to secretary of war, 16 Dec. 1942, all in Hastie papers, NARA RG 107.

In January, he would resign
NYT,
Hastie obituary, 15 Apr. 1976; Hastie, oral history, HST Lib.

“It is ironic”
Dorothy J. Williams, letter to chief of ordnance, August 1943, NARA RG 107.

The glorious chords of free men singing

By Christmas Eve
War Department press release, 22 Dec. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Stimson diary, 24 Dec. 1942; Gene Gurney,
The Pentagon: A Pictorial Story,
11.

A vast crowd
Star,
25 Dec. 1942;
Washington Daily News,
25 Dec. 1942; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
12; program for Christmas celebration, 24 Dec. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Stimson diary, 24 Dec. 1942.

Somervell spoke first
Somervell remarks, 24 Dec. 1942, entry 18, box 88, SDF, NARA RG 160.

Stimson was relieved
Stimson remarks, 24 Dec. 1942, Henry L. Stimson Papers, Manuscript Division, LOC; Stimson diary, 24 Dec. 1942.

As darkness approached
Program for Christmas celebration, 24 Dec. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160;
Washington Daily News,
25 Dec. 1942.

Able and fearless constructors

The Pentagon was still not
“The Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Miscellaneous,” Renshaw and McShain, 4 Feb. 1943; memo to adjutant general, 17 Dec. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Furman, author interview.

The goal
Groves memo to Styer, 1 Jan. 1943, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200; field progress report, 31 Mar. 1943, NARA RG 319.

thousands of employees
“Occupancy During Construction of the Pentagon,” undated graph, I, CEHO. The population as of Jan. 15 was 26,086.

The main holdup
checklist of work to be completed, 7 Jan. 1943, I, CEHO; McShain, Doyle, and Paschall, letter to Groves, 14 Jan. 1943, I, CEHO.

The auditor
Bureau of the Budget, “Report Covering Pentagon Building,” 31 Aug. 1942, I, CEHO. It is perhaps more appropriate to consider the building’s opening to be Apr. 30, 1942, when the first employees moved in, or Nov. 14, 1942, when the secretary of war moved in.

The Pentagon

In the Pentagon
Frierson,
The Pentagon,
draft, 25, Records of the Office of Chief of Military History, entry 145, NARA RG 319.

Originally proposed
memo to the chief of engineers, 17 Jan. 1944, I, CEHO; Hadden report to Renshaw, 14 Jan. 1944, I, CEHO.

At a price
Goldberg,
The Pentagon,
112; “Estimate—Pentagon Building,” 8 Jan. 1943, Records of the Office of Chief of Military History, entry 145, NARA RG 319; Commissioner of Public Buildings, letter to Woodrum, 15 Mar. 1944, entry 145, NARA RG 319; Defense Project Agency audit, 22 Aug. 1942, I, CEHO.

the Pentagon’s first cost
Jacob Weisberg, “Edifice Wrecked,”
The New Republic,
1 Apr. 1991.

Upon its creation
Charles E. Brownell, Calder Loth, William M.S. Rasmussen, and Richard Guy Wilson,
The Making of Virginia Architecture,
400.

As time goes on
Surles memo about designation of War Department headquarters, 12 Feb. 1943, box 3905, NARA RG 407.

not everyone
Complete Presidential Press Conferences of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
vol. 19–20, 11 Dec. 1942, 292;
WP,
7 Mar. 1943; Hadden, memo with suggested revisions to “Basic Data on the Pentagon,” 28 Sept. 1943, I, CEHO.

The miraculous takes a little longer

At the Casablanca conference
Burns,
The Soldier of Freedom,
323; Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
23, 31, 182, 209.

Marshall’s routine
Life,
3 Jan. 1944; Russell Lynes letter to Pogue, 8 Mar. 1961, GCM Lib.; Cora Thomas, oral history with Pogue, 1961, GCM Lib.; author visit, Gen. Lib., 6 May 2004; Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
55–61.

Early on the agenda
Handy oral history, GCM Lib.; Pogue,
Organizer of Victory,
65–66;
NYT,
3 Oct. 43;
Life,
3 Jan. 1944.

Somervell was a frequent
Millett,
The Army Service Forces,
174; Styer memo to Somervell, 8 May 1942, SDF, NARA 160; Styer memo about move to Pentagon, 30 Sept. 1942, I, CEHO; Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.” Frierson,
The Pentagon,
14.

There was no downtime
Newsweek,
7 Dec. 1942; “The S.O.S.”
Fortune,
Sept. 1942; Murphy, “Somervell of the S.O.S.”
Saturday Evening Post,
16 Oct. 1943.

Attending the Casablanca
Eisenhower,
Crusade in Europe,
149; Eisenhower address at Pentagon, 10 June 1946, Somervell papers, MHI; Janney, “The Man Behind the Invasion”
NYT,
7 Aug. 1943.

A foretaste of the future

Just arriving
“Pentagon Building,”
Architectural Forum,
Jan. 1943.

Most people
“A Visit to the Pentagon Building,”
Baltimore Evening Sun,
8 March 1943; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
draft, 13.

“Here is the picture”
“Pentagon Building,”
Architectural Forum.

The terminal
“The Army’s Giant ‘Five-by-Five,’”
Popular Mechanics; Star,
8 and 9 Nov. 1942;
WT-H,
10 Nov. 1942; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
draft, 13.

At the top
The Pentagon: A Description of the World’s Largest Office Building.
1954, 5, OSD HO; “Pentagon Building,”
Architectural Forum;
Frierson,
The Pentagon,
draft, 13; Carl Rose, “My Life in Pentagonia,”
New York Times Magazine,
7 May 1944; “The Pentagon,” Witmer papers, 16.

A reception desk
Star,
23 Jan. 1943; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
11.

Once past security
Alden P. Armagnac, “Nerve Center of the Fighting Forces,”
Popular Science,
Feb. 1943; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
12–15; Gurney,
The Pentagon,
90–92; “Pentagon Building,”
Architectural Forum;
“The Army’s Giant ‘Five-by-Five,”
Popular Mechanics.

The fifth floor
Conference on fifth floor, 16 July 1942, Witmer notebook, OSD HO; National Register of Historic Places Inventory, 4, OSD HO; Goldberg,
The Pentagon,
97.

The first floor
Rogner,
The Pentagon,
20; “Pentagon Building,”
Architectural Forum;
Gurney,
The Pentagon,
13.

Most unnatural were the basement
Rogner,
The Pentagon,
19; Condrell, author interview; Frierson,
The Pentagon,
16; Christensen, “Miscellaneous Data Pentagon Building” memo, 7 Oct. 1944, I, CEHO.

The building’s low setting
Benjamin Forgey, “The Pentagon at 40,”
WP,
15 Jan. 1983.

Likewise, from
National Register of Historic Places Inventory, 3–6, 20–22, OSD HO; Forgey, “The Pentagon at 40”
Federal Architect,
Jan.–Apr. 1943.

None of this
“Pentagon Building,”
Architectural Forum;
“Race Between Claustrophobia and Agoraphobia,”
Newsweek;
Shalett, “Mammoth Cave, Washington, D.C.”

David Witmer
Witmer planning memorandum, OSD HO.

“The world’s largest”
Frierson,
The Pentagon,
5.

A little chiseling

The building was completed
Maj. Charles Smith memo to Groves about landscaping work, 14 Feb. 1943, I, CEHO; field progress report, 31 Mar. 1943, RG 319; “The Pentagon,” Witmer papers, 7; F&R,
The Corps of Engineers,
266; “Basic Data on the Pentagon,” III, 6 NARA RG 160; Groves, “A Few Facts on the Pentagon,” circa 1968, Groves papers, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200.

“The General figures”
“Pentagon Telephone Conversations—Groves,” Renshaw and Matthias, 17 Feb. 1943.

That accounting trick
Cong. Rec.,
29 Feb. 1944, 2104–05;
Time,
22 Feb. 1943.

Groves responded
Groves memo to Renshaw, 9 Apr. 1943, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200.

“almost entirely”
Shalett, “Mammoth Cave, Washington, D.C.”

I prefer not mentioning our fee

Constructing a building
Groves memo, 16 Mar. 1943, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200.

Groves mercilessly
Ibid.;
“Basic Data on the Pentagon,” IV, 4, NARA RG 160; McShain address to engineers, McShain papers, HML.

Perhaps to soften
WP,
17 Apr. 1943;
Star,
18 Apr. 1943.

“I prefer not mentioning”
McShain letter to Billy Sams, 28 June 1978, VII, McShain papers, HML. McShain’s biographer, Carl Brauer, suggests that McShain’s fee after further negotiations may have been closer to $500,000, though the figure does not appear in War Department documents. Brauer also reports that McShain’s profits were increased because he apparently owned a sizable interest in Potts & Callahan, which did most of the excavating and grading work. Brauer,
The Man Who Built Washington,
87–88.

Pierre L’Enfant may have designed
Brauer,
The Man Who Built Washington,
xi; excerpt from broadcast on radio station WRC, 9 Dec. 1949, VII, McShain papers, HML. In addition to the Pentagon, Jefferson Memorial, National Airport, and various federal buildings, McShain built the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He renovated the White House during the Truman administration and completed the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, one of the largest cathedrals in the world. But the glory that McShain accrued in Washington proved ephemeral. When he died in 1989, “the man who built Washington” rated a four-inch obituary buried deep in the
Washington Post,
more than ten days after the fact. McShain had dissolved his business in the late 1970s and left most of his considerable fortune to Catholic charities.
Exegi Monumentum Aere Perennius
was the title of the homily given at his memorial mass at Rosemont College outside Philadelphia. It was a Latin verse from the poet Horace that McShain had read seventy years earlier as a student at Georgetown University: “I have built a monument more lasting than bronze.”

A Herculean enterprise

By late spring
Groves memo to Renshaw, 18 Feb. 1943, entry 5, box 1, RG 200; Col. H. W. Isbell memo to Col. O. L. Nelson, 27 Apr. 1943, I, CEHO; Nelson memo to Styer, 28 Apr. 1943, I, CEHO; “Building Engineer for the Pentagon,” 17 May 1943, entry 5, box 1, RG 200; Renshaw memo to Farrell, 24 May 1943, I, CEHO.

As the project wound down
“The Society of the Pentagon, Roster of the Membership,” Sept. 1942, Somervell papers, MHI;
Star,
30 May 1943; van der Gracht, White interview.

Van der Gracht had been commissioned
Renshaw letter to van der Gracht, 12 Aug. 1942, series 45.1, White, RG 45, AOC; van der Gracht service records, series 45.1, White, RG 45, AOC; van der Gracht, White interview.

McShain’s performance
McShain autobiographical notes, 20–21, VII, I, McShain papers HML; Polly McShain, author interview; Brauer,
The Man Who Built Washington,
89. Groves recalled discussing such a proposition with McShain and Somervell but placed the discussion shortly after Pearl Harbor. Groves “Seabees” memo, 29 Mar. 1967, Groves collection, USMA.

Renshaw, to his disappointment
Furman, author interview; Alan Renshaw, author interview; Renshaw biographical file, CEHO;
Star,
Jan. 1945.

Groves had his eye
Furman, author interview; Norris,
Racing for the Bomb,
287–91, 299–307.

For a while, Major Furman
Furman, author interview.

We take ’em back

The end of April
WP,
28 Apr. 1943;
Star,
28 Apr. 1943.

“Pentagon’s Lucky 30,814”
WP,
9 July 1943.

Even the Pentagon’s six
War Department press release, 29 Apr. 1943, SDF, NARA RG 160;
WP,
8 Apr. 1944.

The layers of dust
War Department press release, 22 Dec. 1942, SDF, NARA RG 160; Jeffress, author interview; Dole, author interview.

Despite the Pentagon’s size
The Pentagon: A Description of the World’s Largest Office Building,
4.

The road network
War Department press release, 29 Apr. 1943, SDF, NARA RG 160;
WP,
22 Mar. 1942;
WP,
26 Apr. 1944.

Even the once-ugly courtyard
Star,
30 May 1943;
Washington Daily News,
23 July 1943.

Movie stars
NYT,
28 Oct. 1943;
WP,
28 Oct. 1943;
Star,
23 Jan. 1943;
WT-H,
16 June 1943; Drew Pearson, “Washington Merry-Go-Round,” 3 July 1943.

On the concourse
War Department press release, 29 Apr. 1943, SDF, NARA RG 160;
Publishers Weekly,
18 Sept. 1943; Isbell, memo about concessions, 19 Feb. 1944, SDF, NARA RG 160;
Star,
2 June and 23 Aug. 1943;
WP,
28 Apr. and 2 June 1943.

Tall and erect, General Henri
Time,
2 July 1951.

Somervell’s Folly

In the spring of 1943
Engel letter to Somervell, 20 Apr. 1943, I, CEHO; Somervell letter to Engel, 28 Apr. 1943, I, CEHO; Hadden, memo to Renshaw, 30 Apr. 1943, entry 5, box 1, NARA RG 200.

Equally alarming
Hugh Fulton letters to Julius H. Amberg, 16 June, 21 June, and 3 Aug. 1943, I, CEHO; Fulton letter to Amberg, 7 July 1943, NARA RG 107.