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Title: Walter Campbell Short papers
Date (bulk): 1938-1946
Collection Number: 75012
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English, with some materials in Spanish and French
Physical Description:
6 manuscript boxes, 14 oversize boxes, 3 motion picture film reels
(17.9 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Writings, correspondence, defense statements, photographs, film, scrapbooks, certificates, clippings, congressional prints,
and other printed matter relating to Lieutenant General Walter Campbell Short, especially his military career and investigations
of defense preparations at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Lt. Gen. Short was in command of the Hawaiian Department of the United States Army at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor
and subsequently held responsible for the defeat, along with Admiral Husband E. Kimmel.
Creator:
Short, Walter Campbell, 1880-1949
Creator:
United States. Commission to investigate and report the facts relating to the attack made by Japanese armed forces upon Pearl
Harbor in the territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1975 with increments in 1985 and 1991.
[Identification of item], Walter Campbell Short papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Walter Campbell Short was born on March 30, 1880, in Fillmore, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1901
and briefly taught mathematics at Western Military Academy before he was commissioned into the United States Army in 1902.
Short was stationed in France during World War I and served as a member of the 1st Division's general staff and then as Assistant
Chief of Staff for the 3rd Army.
Prior to World War II, Short experienced a fairly successful career as a training and staff officer and earned the rank of
major general. He served in a variety of locations, such as the Presidio of San Francisco, Alaska, New York, the Philippines,
Mexico, Germany, and Puerto Rico. In 1914, Short married Isabel Dean (1893-1984), daughter of Walter C. Dean, who was mayor
of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1927 to 1931.
On February 8, 1941, Walter Campbell Short was appointed to Commander of the Hawaiian Department of the United States Army
and granted the temporary rank of lieutenant general. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Short
was relieved of his command and reduced to the rank of major general. The Roberts Commission was formed at this time, appointed
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to investigate and report on the facts of the events leading to the attack. The commission
issued their findings in late January of 1942, which stated that both Lt. Gen. Short and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief
of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, were unprepared for the attack and charged them with dereliction of duty. Short officially retired
from the military in February 1942 and took a position with Ford Motor Company in Dallas, Texas.
At the conclusion of World War II, a new investigation was launched by Congress to investigate the events surrounding the
attack on Pearl Harbor. This new investigation was headed by ten members of Congress known as the Joint Committee on the Investigation
of the Pearl Harbor Attack, or the Pearl Harbor Committee. During the investigation proceedings, Short was allowed to give
testimony regarding his actions during the Pearl Harbor attack for the first time. He admitted to personal errors of judgement,
but argued that Washington had not given him enough warning that an attack was imminent nor had he been supplied with adequate
resources for an air defense. Despite testimony from both Lt. Gen. Short and Adm. Kimmel during the proceedings, the committee
ultimately concluded that both men were responsible for the defeat.
Lt. Gen. Short died of a chronic heart condition on March 9, 1949, three years after retiring from Ford. Fifty years after
his death, on May 25, 1999, the United States Senate passed a non-binding resolution that exonerated Short and Kimmel from
the charge of dereliction of duty. This resolution also included a statement urging the president to restore both men to their
full war-time ranks; however, the recommendation was never carried out.
Scope and Content of Collection
Writings, correspondence, defense statements, photographs, films, scrapbooks, certificates, clippings, congressional prints,
and other printed matter relating to Lieutenant General Walter Campbell Short, especially his military career and investigations
of defense preparations at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The collection is organized into eleven series: Biographical File, Correspondence, Speeches and Writings, Pearl Harbor Investigations
File, Isabel Dean Short File, Walter Dean Short File, Photographs, Printed Matter, Motion Picture, Oversize Material, and
Memorabilia.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Motion pictures
Officers
Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941
World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
United States. Army