Andrew J. May

Andrew Jackson May (June 24, 1875 – September 6, 1959) was an attorney and U.S. representative from Kentucky, serving from 1931 to 1947. He was an influential New Deal-era Democratic politician and chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee during World War II, famous for his role as chief architect of the Peacetime Selective Service Act.

During the war, May revealed classified naval information in a press conference, and after the war was convicted for bribery in connection with wartime munitions contracts.

Education and early career May was born on Beaver Creek, near Prestonsburg in Floyd County, Kentucky, on June 24, 1875. On June 25, 1898, he and his twin brother William H. May graduated from Southern Normal University Law School in Huntingdon, Tennessee (later named Union University, Jackson, Tennessee). He was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing his law practice in Prestonsburg. May and his brother formed the law firm of May & May which was not dissolved until the death of his brother on February 20, 1921. May was county attorney of Floyd County, Kentucky, from 1901 to 1909; and special judge of the circuit court of Johnson and Martin Counties in 1925 and 1926. During this time, May also engaged in Democratic Party politics, agricultural pursuits, coal mining, and banking.

May was considered neither an isolationist or a warmonger. He did speak out frequently about the war in Europe. May was quoted as saying, "it will not be left up to the President or the Congress or the people of the United States, whether or not we go to war." May continued, "It will be decided by the impersonation of hatred Adolph Hitler, who decided it also for Poland, France, Belgium, and Holland."

The May Incident May was responsible for the release of highly classified military information during World War II known as the May Incident. U.S. submarines had been conducting a successful undersea war against Japanese shipping during World War II, frequently escaping their anti-submarine depth charge attacks. At this press conference, he revealed the highly sensitive fact that American submarines had a high survival rate because Japanese depth charges were exploding at too shallow a depth. However, the report made no finding as to whether or not Japanese ASW forces altered their depth charge attacks to deeper settings as a consequence of May's revelation to the press.

In 1946, May was investigated by the Truman Committee, now chaired by Senator James Mead (D-NY). May had frequently telephoned the Army Ordnance Department and other government officials on behalf of the Garssons and their associates, urging that they get war contracts, draft deferments, and other benefits. So numerous were these interventions that one ordnance official referred to them as "blitz calls". The Committee discovered that May had received substantial cash payments and other inducements from the Garssons. "The Garssons weren't sympathetic characters to the public because they made a lot of money on the war, and they were Jewish, so Representative May got tied with them in the public image and they all sort of got tarred with the same brush as people who somehow made out while people were dying, and illegally so."

Bribery conviction Following news reports of irregularities concerning his conduct in office, May was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. The bribery scandal was intensified by exposure of excessive profit-taking in the Garsson munition business, and that the Garsson factory produced 4.2-inch mortar shells with defective fuzes, resulting in premature detonation and the deaths of 38 American soldiers.

May was charged with bribery by the federal government. He owned Cumberland Lumber Company, which sold munition shipping to the Garssons. The government alleged that this arrangement was a disguised pay-off to May for using his influence for the Garssons.

On July 3, 1947, after less than two hours of jury deliberation, May was convicted. Murray and Henry Garsson were also convicted. May appealed his verdict all the way up to the Supreme Court, which refused to hear his case. May was sent to prison at the age of 74, and served nine months in prison.

However, he continued to retain influence in Democratic party politics, and President Truman granted May a full pardon in 1952. Unable to revive his political career, he returned home to practice law until his death.