FBI Case Summary re Previous Chicago Tribune Leak (Plan Dog), June 15, 1942
National Security Archive
A 1942 FBI memo reveals how a secret war‑production estimate slipped to the Chicago Tribune, exposing the clash between isolationist politics, press freedom, and wartime security.
Source: FBI Case Summary re Previous Chicago Tribune Leak (Plan Dog), June 15, 1942 Date: Jun 15, 1942 Archive: NARA, TG-60, Case File 146-7-23-25, box 1, file: “Serial 4, June 21-23, 1942.” Collection: Secrecy And Leaks: When The U.S. Government Prosecuted The Chicago Tribune Oct 25, 2017
Editorial Analysis
Original analysis by the DriftSeas editorial desk. The complete primary-source document, transcribed from the National Security Archive scan, appears in full below.
A Leaked War‑Plan in the Days Before Pearl Harbor
On December 4, 1941 the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times‑Herald ran a story that reproduced large sections of a classified War Department estimate titled Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over‑all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941. The FBI memorandum dated June 15, 1942 records the agency’s attempt to trace the source of the document, to assess whether the press had broken the Espionage Act, and to determine whether a foreign power had benefited from the leak. The memo is a procedural snapshot of a wartime security investigation that unfolded after the United States entered World War II, when the government was scrambling to safeguard the very plans that would soon become the logistical backbone of the Allied war effort.
The memo explains that the estimate was prepared under a July 9, 1941 presidential directive to the secretaries of War and Navy. It was authored by a roster of senior officers—Lieutenant Colonel Albert C. Wedemeyer for the Army ground force, Colonels Harold L. George, O. A. Anderson, Kenneth Walker, and others for the Army Air Force, and Rear Admiral R. K. Turner with Captain Oscar Smith for the Navy. Their involvement signals the document’s strategic weight: it laid out the production quotas for tanks, aircraft, ships and munitions that the United States would need to mobilize a full‑scale war machine.
The memorandum details the distribution chain: thirty‑five copies were printed, then parceled out by Colonel William P. Scobey, secretary of the Joint Board, to senior officers in both services. Because hundreds of officers and civilian staff had legitimate access, the FBI concluded that pinpointing the exact leak was “not possible.” Yet the memo records two key interviews—Arthur Sears Henning, a Washington correspondent, and Chesly Manly, the Tribune reporter who filed the story. Both admitted to receiving the document on December 2, 1941, returning it the next day, and refusing to name their source. The file notes a confidential tip that the leak may have come from an isolationist senator, a detail that never entered the public record.
The Broader Context: Isolationism, Press Freedom, and Wartime Censorship
The leak occurred at a moment when the United States was still officially neutral. In the months before Pearl Harbor, a powerful isolationist bloc in Congress and the press warned against entangling the nation in overseas conflict. By publishing the production estimate, the Tribune effectively exposed the scale of the government’s preparatory war buildup, undermining the isolationist narrative that the nation was not gearing up for war. The FBI’s focus on the Espionage statutes—particularly sections 31(b) and 31(c) that punish acquisition and dissemination of defense information—reveals how the administration was already treating such leaks as national‑security crimes, even before the nation was formally at war.
The memo also illustrates the tension between a free press and wartime secrecy. The journalists invoked the First Amendment, but the FBI memo frames their actions as potentially aiding a foreign enemy. No evidence in the file confirms foreign exploitation; the suspicion rests on the vague “confidential information” that the leak may have come from an isolationist senator, suggesting internal political motives rather than espionage for a hostile power.
Why the Document Matters Today
The June 1942 memorandum is more than an internal FBI report; it is a window into how the United States grappled with information security on the eve of global war. It shows that the very plans that would later support the D‑Day invasion and the Pacific island‑hopping campaign were already vulnerable to public exposure. The case foreshadows later Cold‑War battles over classified leaks, from the Pentagon Papers to WikiLeaks, where the government repeatedly invoked national‑defense statutes to curb press disclosures.
Moreover, the memo underscores the role of individual actors—Wedemeyer, George, Turner, Scobey, Henning, Manly—in a chain that linked high‑level strategic planning to a newspaper column. Their decisions, whether motivated by a sense of public right‑to‑know or by partisan politics, had immediate legal ramifications and contributed to a precedent that the press could be prosecuted for publishing classified material.
In the historiography of World War II, the “Plan Dog” leak is often a footnote, eclipsed by the battles that followed. Yet the declassified memo reminds us that the war’s outcome was shaped not only on battlefields but also in the bureaucratic corridors where production quotas were set and where the first breaches of secrecy occurred. Understanding this episode helps explain why modern policymakers remain wary of uncontrolled disclosures of defense planning, and why the balance between transparency and security continues to be contested.
The FBI memo, dated June 15, 1942, is reproduced in the National Archives (TG‑60, Case File 146‑7‑23‑25). All names and dates cited are taken directly from the declassified document.
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
June 15, 1942
M E M O R A N D U M
Re: UNKNOWN SUBJECTS; News Article in Chicago Tribune and Washington Times-Herald, December 4, 1941, Relative Army and Navy Estimate of United States Over-all Production Requirements; ESPIONAGE
Narrative
On December 4, 1941, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald published certain excerpts over the by line of Chesly Manly, of the Chicago Tribune, from a secret document of the War Department, known as "The Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," containing the plans of the Army Ground Force, Army Air Force, and the Navy.
Investigation disclosed that this secret document had been prepared by the Army and Navy upon a directive of the President dated July 9, 1941, addressed to the Secretaries of War and Navy, which was to be completed September 10, 1941. In compliance with this directive, the plan relative to the Army Ground Force was drawn up by Lieutenant Colonel Albert C. Wedemeyer; the Army Air Force by Colonel Harold L. George, Colonel O. A. Anderson, Colonel Kenneth Walker, Colonel Reuben Moffat, Major H. S. Hansell, and Major Lawrence Kuter; and the Navy part by Rear Admiral R. K. Turner and Captain Oscar Smith, U. S. N.
On or about October 22, 1941, the completed secret document, consisting of thirty-five copies, was assembled and distributed under the supervision of Colonel William P. Scobey, Secretary of the Joint Board, War Department. Copies numbers sixteen to twenty-five, both inclusive, were delivered by Colonel Scobey to Commander L. R. McDowell, Secretary to Rear Admiral Turner, on or about October 27, 1941, which copies were dis- tributed by Commander McDowell to various Navy officers in the War Plans Division of the Navy Department. Copies numbers twenty-six to thirty-five, both inclusive, were delivered to Colonel W. W. Dick, Adjutant General of the Air Corps on or about October 22, 1941, who turned these copies over to Colonel Harold L. George who distributed them to various officers in the Army Air Corps on or about November 25, 1941. The remaining fifteen copies, numbers one to fifteen, both inclusive, were distributed to various officers in the War Department.
Owing to the number of copies of the secret document in question, and the several hundred Army and Navy officers and civilian employees in both the War and Navy Departments having legitimate access thereto, it has not been possible to determine the source from whom the Chicago Tribune received the secret document.
J.D.S. 146-7-23-25
DECLASSIFIED Authority ND 76716
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On January 12, 1942, Arthur Sears Henning, correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, Washington, D. C., refused to divulge the source from whom the Chicago Tribune received the war plan, but did state that the secret document was obtained by his newspaper on December 2, 1941, and returned to the source on December 3, 1941.
On January 23, 1942, Chesly Manly, assistant correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, was interviewed and stated that he obtained the secret document entitled, "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," on December 2, 1941, and returned it to the source on December 3, 1941. Manly refused to divulge the source from whom he obtained this document. He also refused to answer questions concerning whether he received authority from the President, Secretary of War and Secretary of Navy to publish the document in the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald.
[Confidential information received by the Bureau indicates that the secret document in question was obtained by the Chicago Tribune from an isolationist Senator.]
Applicable Statutes
Title 50, Chapter 4, Section 31 (d), United States Code Annotated, punishes whoever, having possession of any writing or plan or note relating to the national defense, willfully communicates or transmits the same to any person not entitled to receive it. By the wording of the Statute, there seems to have been a violation of this Section, in that Manly and Henning possessed a writing or plan relating to the national defense and communicated the same to the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald. There also seems to be a violation in that the Chicago Tribune and Washington Times-Herald in turn communicated the information to the general public which was not entitled to receive it.
Title 50, Chapter 4, Section 31 (b), punishes whoever, for the purpose of obtaining information relating to the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign country, copies or obtains any document, writing, or note connected with the national defense. It appears that Manly, Henning, and the newspapers violated this Section by obtaining and copying the secret plan, and the surrounding facts imply that they had reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.
Title 50, Chapter 4, Section 31 (c), punishes the recipients of information obtained in violation of Section 31 (b), knowing or having reason to believe that the information was obtained in violation of that Section. Manly, Henning, and the newspapers are apparently also guilty of violating Section 31 (c).
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The other Sections of the Espionage Statutes are apparently not applicable because of certain necessary elements in them.
Witnesses
Colonel William P. Scobey, Fort Meade, Maryland (former Secretary, Joint Board, War Department) To testify that he had supervision of assembling and distribution of thirty-five copies of secret document, "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," and that no persons were entitled to the information contained therein, except certain officials of the War and Navy Departments.
Lieutenant Colonel Albert C. Wedemeyer, War Department, Washington, D. C. To testify that he is the author of the Army Ground Force material shown in the secret document and his wording relative to the Ground Force data was quoted verbatim by Chesly Manly in the Chicago Tribune and Washington Times-Herald on December 4, 1941; that this document, "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," was a secret document of the War Department and the only persons entitled to the information contained therein were certain officials of the War and Navy Departments.
Rear Admiral R. K. Turner, U. S. N., Captain Oscar Smith, U. S. N., Navy Department, Washington, D. C. To testify that they were the authors of the Navy part of the secret document, "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," and that the wording of the secret document in the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald was verbatim with the document itself; that the document was a secret document and the only persons entitled to the information contained therein were certain officials of the War and Navy Departments.
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
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Brigadier General Harold L. George, former Colonel Brigadier General Lawrence Kuter, former Major Colonel O. A. Anderson Colonel Kenneth N. Walker Colonel Reuben Moffatt Major H. S. Hansell War Department, Washington, D. C.
To testify that they were the authors of the Air Corps part of the "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941"; that this document was a secret document of the War Department, and that the only persons entitled to the information contained therein were certain officials of the War and Navy Departments.
Captain Albert L. Vreeland Captain Lowell J. Bradford War Department, Washington, D. C. Joseph A. Genau, Special Agent Federal Bureau of Investigation 1437 K Street, N. W. Washington, D. C.
To testify that Arthur Sears Henning and Chesly Manly, correspondent and assistant correspondent, respectively, of the Chicago Tribune, admitted that they were in possession of the secret document, "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over- all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," on December 2 and 3, 1941, and they made copies of certain excerpts therefrom; that they refused to divulge the source who furnished them with the document.
Possible Witnesses
Charles Duffy, editor Frank Waldrop, editor Times-Herald, Washington, D. C.
Confidential information has been received to the effect that Charles Duffy knows the source of Manly's information and that Frank Waldrop wrote the story relative to the secret document "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," in the Times-Herald and may know Manly's source of information.
Joseph Patterson, publisher, New York Daily News, New York, New York
Mr. Patterson informed Lieutenant Colonel J. T. Bissell and Lieutenant Lowell J. Bradford of G-2, War Department, that his entire knowledge relative to the publication
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
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of the secret document, "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," which appeared in the Washington Times-Herald and the Chicago Tribune on December 4, 1941, was that "A Senator called Mr. Henning, manager of the Washington office of the Chicago Tribune in the Keith-Albee Building, and through this medium gave Mr. Henning this story." Mr. Patterson did not know what Senator it was and stated he was holding nothing back because he just did not know any more. He said that he understood that Mr. Henning had instructions from Colonel McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune, to get the hottest stories he could find in an attempt to scoop the new Chicago Sun which was coming out on the morning of December 4, 1941.
Admissions
Arthur Sears Henning, correspondent Chicago Tribune, Washington, D. C.
In the Chicago Tribune of Friday, December 5, 1941, in an article containing the by line Arthur Sears Henning, carried on page one and continuing on page sixteen, column two, Henning on the latter page admits the following:
"I was aware of the source of Manly's information and knew it to be authentic, notwithstanding the Administration's denial. In view of the officially inspired aspersions upon the integrity of Mr. Manly, I directed a vigorous search of all possible avenues of information on the secret war plan, the revelation of which had angered the President.
"The Tribune succeeded in getting part of the information
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"which was published Nov. 26 and eventually obtained the whole story in a copy of the Joint Board's secret report. Thus was Senator Barkley's 'deliberate falsehood' charge exposed as a wanton slander."
Exhibits
News articles written by Arthur Sears Henning and Chesly Manly, of the Chicago Tribune, relative to the secret document "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941," commonly known as the "Victory Program" in the War and Navy Departments, appearing in the following issues of the Chicago Tribune:
Monday, August 18, 1941, page one, column eight - Two Star Final Thursday, October 2, 1941, page one, column one - Three Star Final Thursday, November 27, 1941, page one, column seven - Two Star Final Thursday, December 4, 1941, page one, columns seven and eight, which covers the publication of the secret document "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941" - Two Star Final Friday, December 5, 1941, page one, columns six, seven, and eight - Three Star Final Saturday, December 6, 1941, page one, column one, and editorial on page twelve, column one, entitled, "Manly vs. Barkley" - Two Star Final Wednesday, December 10, 1941, page one, column two - Two Star Final.
All of the above publications are in the possession of the Bureau.
The following exhibits are in possession of Mr. E. A. Tamm, Assistant to the Director:
Copy of Washington Times-Herald, dated December 4, 1941, covering the publication of the secret document "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941 Copy number 22 of the secret document "Army and Navy Estimate of the United States Over-all Production Requirements, September 11, 1941.
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