director of TWA. At the time North American held shares in Douglas Aircraft Company which was building military aircraft. Talbott prevailed on Donald Douglas to enter the commercial market by building the DC-1 and DC-2 aircraft to TWA's specification. Talbott was an active Republican presidential campaign fund-raiser in 1940, 1948 and 1952. He was chairman of the Republican national finance committee in 1948 and 1949. He also had been a member of the War Production Board during 1942 and 1943. He became the third Secretary of the Air Force on February 4, 1953, during a period when the Korean War had jolted Congress into authorizing additional wings and their supporting infrastructure. Consequently, he was able to focus his efforts on the needs of airmen and their families. He succeeded in obtaining more military housing than had his predecessors. Combining better housing with pay increases and other needed improvements, he raised the service personnel retention rate by linking enhanced military benefits to reenlistment. In September 1953, Talbott famously confronted Howard Hughes about his management of the AIM-4 Falcon project and the loss of top members of management, within the Hughes Aircraft Co. As a result, ICBM development for the Air Force transitioned to the Ramo-Wooldridge Corp (later TRW Inc.). During his tenure, Talbott appointed a commission to assist him in selecting the permanent site for the Air Force Academy. After considering 580 proposed sites in 45 states, the commission recommended three locations. From those, he selected the site near Colorado Springs. In 1955, the Chattanooga Times uncovered that Talbott was using Air Force stationery to solicit business for an engineering firm of which he owned fifty percent, from contractors who sold to the Air Force. After a Congressional investigation, Talbott resigned his position as Secretary in August 1955. Talbott died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 2, 1957. References External links Official USAF bio Encyclopedia Titanica discussion Time magazine article 23-Mar-1925 Time magazine article 29-Dec-1952 People from Dayton, Ohio United States Secretaries of the Air Force 1888 births 1957 deaths United States Army officers The Hill School alumni Yale University alumni Businesspeople from Ohio People from Oakwood, Montgomery County, Ohio 20th-century American businesspeople