Oscar L. Chapman
Encyclopedia
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
during the
last three years of the Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
administration.
Chapman was born in Omega, Virginia. He attended the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
, where he earned his LL.D. at Westminster Law School, and the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
.
From 1918 to 1920, Chapman served in the United States Navy Medical Corps.
Chapman was the manager of Edward P. Costigan
Edward P. Costigan
Edward Prentiss Costigan was a Democratic Party politician who represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1931 until 1937. He was a founding member of the Progressive Party in Colorado in 1912....
's U.S. Senate campaign in 1930, and the Alva B. Adams
Alva B. Adams
Alva Blanchard Adams was a Democratic politician who represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1923 until 1924 and again from 1933 to 1941.-Biography:...
Senate campaign in 1932. After Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's election in 1932, he was appointed as an Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
.
In 1939, Chapman was an early victim of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, as then-chairman Martin Dies Jr. published a list of government employees who were members of a Communist-controlled organization (Chapman was considered a member because there was a record that he had contributed two dollars to the American League for Peace and Democracy which was raising money for the loyalists during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
).
At the 1944 Democratic National Convention
1944 Democratic National Convention
The 1944 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 19 - July 21, 1944. The convention resulted in the re-nomination of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented fourth term. Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri was nominated for...
in Chicago, Chapman impressed Truman by sticking to his early agreement to support the current vice-president Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
. He was promoted to under secretary by Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
in 1946. Chapman was one of Truman's advisers supporting the decision to recognize the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in May 1948, over the objections of the State Department.
Chapman worked to promote Truman in the 1948 election, and in late 1949 was promoted again to Secretary of the Interior, replacing Julius A. Krug
Julius Albert Krug
Julius Albert Krug was a U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Harry Truman.A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Krug graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1929. His first notable jobs were with the Tennessee Valley Authority, where he worked as chief power engineer, and then...
who had not supported Truman's campaign.
In 1951, Chapman denied a government loan to an aluminum company being run by Lea M. Harvey because of a scandal that Harvey had sold artillery shells to the Navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that were dangerously out of specification.
After the end of the Truman administration in 1953, Chapman practiced law in the firm of Chapman, Duff and Paul.