Truman’s “Loyalty Order” (1947)

Fri Mar 21, 1947

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On this day in 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman signed the “Loyalty Order”, an executive order designed to root out communist influence in the federal government, allowing the FBI to screen federal employees for left-wing sympathies.

The order led to the creation of the first general loyalty program in the United States, which investigated more than three million government employees. Approximately 300 were determined to be security risks and fired.

The Loyal Order established a wide domain for the departmental loyalty boards to conduct screenings of federal employees and job applicants, allowing the FBI to run initial name checks on federal employees and authorize further field investigations if the initial inquiry uncovered information that cast someone in a negative light.

Executive Order 9835 also was the main impetus for the creation of the Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO). It was later revoked by Eisenhower in 1953, but only to further expand the restrictions in a new executive order (Executive Order 10450). Both executive orders were later repealed by President Bill Clinton (Executive Orders 12968 and 13087).