Editing Stuart Symington (section)

==First Secretary of the Air Force==
He resigned from Emerson in 1945 to join the administration of fellow Missourian [[Harry S. Truman]]. His first positions were chairman of the [[Surplus Property Board]] (1945), administrator of the Property Administration (1945–1946) and Assistant [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] for Air (1946–1947).

On September 18, 1947, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force was created and Symington became the first secretary. Symington had a stormy term as he worked to win respect for the [[United States Air Force]], which previously had been part of the Army. He had numerous public battles with [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[James Forrestal]].

===Cancellation of the Flying Wing===
During his tenure, there was a major debate and investigation into production of the [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker]], which was the last piston-powered bomber at the beginning of the [[Jet Age]]. During his tenure, Symington had a meeting with [[Jack Northrop|John K. Northrop]] on the contract for the [[YB-49 Flying Wing]] bomber, which was well underway with seven examples manufactured. During this meeting, Symington threatened Northrop that if they refused to enter into a corporate merger with Convair (the company building the rival [[B-36 Peacemaker]] bomber) that Northrop would be, "Goddamn sorry if you don't!". This threat, later reported by Northrop, was eventually carried though when Symington cancelled the Flying Wing programme and ordered all existing aircraft destroyed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Flying Wings - John K. Northrop's Final Interview - 1979, 1948|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui_o257DZE0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Ui_o257DZE0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|access-date=8 July 2019|newspaper=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Major accomplishments during Symington's term as Secretary included the [[Berlin Airlift]] and championing the [[United States Air Force Academy]]. Symington resigned in 1950 to protest lack of funding for the Air Force after the [[USSR]] detonated its first [[nuclear weapon]]. He remained in the administration as the Chairman of the [[National Security Resources Board]] (1950–1951) and the Chairman of the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]] Administrator (1951–1952).<ref name ="UMS Symington 1973"/> He was featured on the cover of [[Time magazine|''Time'' magazine]]'s January 19, 1948 issue.<ref>{{cite news|title=W. Stuart Symington – Jan. 19, 1948|url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19480119,00.html|access-date=6 January 2014|newspaper=Time magazine}}</ref>