Ralph Austin Bard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Under Secretary of the Navy | |
| In office June 24, 1944 – June 30, 1945 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | James Forrestal |
| Succeeded by | Artemus Gates |
| Assistant Secretary of the Navy | |
| In office February 24, 1941 – June 24, 1944 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Lewis Compton |
| Succeeded by | H. Struve Hensel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 29, 1884 (1884-07-29) Cleveland, Ohio, US |
| Died | April 5, 1975 (1975-04-06) (aged 90) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mary Hancock Spear |
| Children | 4, includingKatharine Bard |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Occupation | financier |
| Awards | Navy Distinguished Service Medal[1] Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award |
| Signature |  |
Ralph Austin Bard (July 29, 1884 – April 5, 1975) was aChicago financier who served asAssistant Secretary of theNavy, 1941–1944, and asUnder Secretary, 1944–1945. He is noted for a memorandum he wrote toSecretary of WarHenry L. Stimson in 1945 urging that Japan be given a warning before the use of theatomic bomb on a strategic city. He was "the only person known to have formally dissented from the use of the atomic bomb without advance warning."[2]
Born inCleveland, Ohio, Bard was the second of three children born to George Morris Bard (1852–1932) and Helen Norwood Bard (1858–1947).[3] He went toPrinceton University, where helettered in baseball, basketball and football.[4] After graduating in 1906, he embarked on a career as aninvestment banker in Chicago, eventually becoming head of his own firm.[5] He married Mary Hancock Spear (1886–1949) in 1909. They had four children. Bard was active in civic organizations in the Chicago area, includingBoy Scouts of America and theAmerican Red Cross. He was also a trustee ofNorthwestern University.[6] One of Bard's children was actressKatharine Bard.[7]
Although he was an activeRepublican,[8] Bard was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, aDemocrat who had once held the same post.[9]
As Assistant Secretary, Bard was responsible for all matters relating to civilian personnel and the general administration of the Navy Department. Divisions under his control included Shore Establishments, Transportation, Supervision and Management, the Administrative Office, and the Management Engineer's Office. He instituted a sweeping industrial relations program, covering such areas as training, classification, safety, labor relations, recruiting, and efficient use of manpower, and established a Personnel Relations Division in every major naval activity. Thanks to his efforts, there were no strikes or work stoppages at any Navy activity duringWorld War II. Bard was also a member of theWar Manpower Commission, established by President Roosevelt to balance the wartime labor needs of the civilian and military sectors of the U.S. economy. Upon becoming Under Secretary on June 24, 1944, Bard added responsibility for all Navy uniformed personnel to his other duties.[10] He served as actingSecretary of the Navy from April 28, 1944, to May 19, 1944, following the death of SecretaryFrank Knox.
We are whistling in a graveyard to keep from facing reality. We prate about our unity of purpose. Then we retire to the woodshed with a sharp pencil and a clean shingle, to figure out whether the agricultural or the petroleum interests will grab the synthetic rubber business, and whether the British-Dutch rubber cartel will be revived after the war to threaten this new industry. We hope that we can enlist the support of the masses of Latin America and our own Negroes, without having to do too much toward solving the agrarian problems of our neighbors to the south or the economic problems of our fellow-Americans. And we hope that the Russians will whip the Nazis, but not be too unreasonable about spreading their uncomfortable doctrines outside of Russia.
And all the time we have a dusty standard in the attic around which we could all rally if we would but break it out and understand its dynamic implications.
I mean the standard of democratic idealism, which means tolerance, humility, sacrifice and understanding of the meaning of human dignity.
When Bard became Assistant Secretary, Navy policy was to prohibitAfrican Americans from enlisting for "general duty" (combat) roles, restricting them to service as "messmen". Although Bard's duties as Assistant Secretary did not extend to uniformed personnel, his office often dealt withracial discrimination and its consequences. As a member of a committee appointed to investigate the Navy's racial policies, Bard's special assistantAddison Walker argued for allowing enlistment of a small number of African Americans for general duty on an experimental basis; and Bard himself promisedMark Abridge, who chaired President Roosevelt'sFair Employment Practices Committee, that enlistment of African Americans would be given consideration. Under pressure from President Roosevelt, the Navy announced in 1942 a new policy of accepting African American volunteers (but notdraftees) for general duty positions insegregated units, a practice that continued until 1948 when President Truman issuedExecutive Order 9981 raciallyintegrating the United States Armed Services. In 1944, the Navy began the training of African Americans ascommissioned officers.[12][13]
In 1945, Bard became one of eight members of theInterim Committee appointed to advise PresidentHarry S. Truman on the use of the atomic bomb.[14] Although Bard joined in the committee's unanimous recommendation that the bomb should be used in combat as soon as possible and without warning,[15] he developed second thoughts. In a memorandum dated June 27, 1945, toSecretary of WarHenry L. Stimson,[16] Bard argued that Japan should receive two or three days' "preliminary warning" before the bomb was used. "The position of the United States as a great humanitarian nation and the fair play attitude of our people generally is responsible in the main for this feeling," Bard wrote, adding that he felt "that the Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender." The memorandum also suggested that Japan be informed of "Russia's position," i.e., the likely entry of theSoviet Union into the war, and that "assurances" be given "with regard to theEmperor of Japan and the treatment of the Japanese nation following unconditional surrender."[17] However, the extensiveincendiary raidson Japanese cities under GeneralCurtis LeMay that killed at least 350,000 civilians desensitized U.S. authorities,[18] and the Japanese government did not respond to thePotsdam Declaration in late July 1945 outlining the conditions forunconditional surrender.
On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city ofHiroshima without the warning that Bard recommended, inflicting approximately 70,000 deaths, including 20,000 Japanese combatants and 20,000 Korean slave laborers. On August 8, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and launched theinvasion of Manchuria which decimated the already-weakeningManchukuo Imperial Army. On August 9, a second bomb was used on the Japanese city ofNagasaki, killing approximately 35,000 people, including 27,778 Japanese munitions employees, 2,000 Korean slave laborers, and 150 Japanese combatants. On August 15, the Emperor announced thesurrender of Japan.[19]
Bard submitted his resignation as Under Secretary at about the time the Interim Committee made its recommendation to Truman on the use of the bomb. He left his post a month later. There is no evidence that he resigned in disagreement with the recommendation or because his own recommendations to Stimson were not followed.[20]
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In 1946, Bard received the Navy'sDistinguished Service Medal.[21] In his later years, he made his residence inLake Forest, Illinois.[22] He was honorary chair of the committee that brought the capturedGerman submarineU-505 to theMuseum of Science and Industry in Chicago. He received the Navy'sDistinguished Civilian Service Award in 1954,[23] and he died in a nursing home inDeerfield, Illinois, on April 5, 1975, at age 91.[24] He is buried inLake Forest Cemetery.
Bard's papers (1941–1944) are housed at theNaval Historical Center in Washington, D.C.[25]
Attribution
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.
Film footage of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Ralph A. Bard speaking at launch of battleship USSWisconsin.
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| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of the Navy 24 February 1941 – 24 June 1944 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under Secretary of the Navy 24 June 1944 – 30 June 1945 | Succeeded by |
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