Ernest Graves
A:
Well, I think he's right. But, you see, in the American political process, this may be a
way to deal with some proposed action that's not agreed to.
If you understand politics, there's a bunch of people that want to build a dam. There's
a bunch of people that don't want to build a dam. One way to handle this is to have a
study. Then the guy who's advocating the study is viewed as a hero by both sides,
whereas if he tries to make a decision, he's probably disliked by one side or the other
or both.
Badger is right about the fact that studies do not produce projects. But, if there's not
a public consensus to build a project, the study may be the best way to delay it.
Q:
There is a political incentive to continue studying, is what you're saying?
A:
Yes, that's right. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying that the whole ethic of the civil
works program was that this is what the public wanted. If you don't have a consensus,
then forget it.
Q:
How well were you impressed with the senior civilian staff in civil works?
A:
We had a good staff. Homer Willis was there at the time. He was then the assistant
chief of engineering, then he went down and was the chief of engineering in the Lower
Mississippi Valley Division. Then he came back and became chief of engineering in the
Civil Works Directorate.
Q:
George Brazier was in CONOPS [Construction Operations Division]?
A:
George Brazier was in CONOPS. He was a very capable guy. Irv Reisler was in
planning, but then Alex Schwaiko took his place.
Let's see. I'm trying to think about policy. Of course, Joe Tofani had gone by that time.
Irv was moved from planning to policy for a while.
We had good people. I was very much in favor of the evolution that occurred after I
left, which was to move Alex Schwaiko from planning to policy. Then Lew Blakey
became the head of planning. That was after I left, but that was something that I was
in favor of. I could list a whole string of guys that were very capable in civil works.
The policy guys had a very tough time of it because, as I mentioned earlier, the
administration didn't want policy. The Corps could come up with all kinds of policies.
They used to say, "We don't care what the rules are. Just let us know what they are."
OMB's position on this thing, which they even said openly, was that the best bet for
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