had a meeting with 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. 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). He was featured on the cover of Time magazine's January 19, 1948 issue. U.S. Senator Election At the urging of his father-in-law James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr., a former Republican Speaker of the New York State Assembly and U.S. Senator from New York, Symington decided to run for the U.S. Senate. In 1952, he was elected Senator from Missouri, taking the seat previously held by Truman and scoring a win for the Democrats in a year otherwise favorable to the Republicans. He was re-elected in 1958, 1964, and 1970. Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees As a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, Symington specialized in military affairs and became known as an advocate for a strong national defense. He was also a strong supporter of the Air Force Academy. In 1954, he charged that the Department of Defense had wasted millions of dollars on outdated weapons. He became a leading critic of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1957–1975). During 1966, he was thoroughly briefed on the Central Intelligence Agency-run covert operations of the Laotian Civil War. At one point, he was a guest of CIA Chief of Station Ted Shackley while touring the Kingdom of Laos. In the early 1970s, when his committee held hearings on the subject, Symington professed shocked outrage at the CIA's audacity. Opponent of Joseph McCarthy Symington was an especially vocal opponent of Senator Joseph McCarthy, to the vexation of the latter, who nicknamed him "Sanctimonious Stu". He involved himself in the case