1947: President Harry S. Truman assigns Thomas K. Finletter as chair of a 5-man working group whose task is to provide a broad plan that will give the United States the “greatest possible benefits from aviation.” Finletter served as chairman of the Air Policy Commission which, on January 1, 1948, sent to the president the report entitled “Survival in the Air Age.” President Truman appointed Finletter as the second Secretary of the Air Force succeeding Stuart Symington on April 24, 1950, in which office he served until January 20, 1953.
