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“You don’t know what courage is. Did you not learn anythingfrom the way Hitler played you? Spineless suggestions that he follow the Golden Rule didn’t exactly do the trick, did they?”
“I did more than any businessman in America to keep war from coming.”
“You did more than any businessman to treat Nazi Germany like a business problem. It wasn’t. You can’t appease men like Hitler and just hope they’ll come to their senses.”
“I haven’t appeased anyone!”
“If you don’t work against them, you’re appeasing them. A flat condemnation of Hitler could have made a difference.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. One wrong word from New York and the Third Reich would have nationalized Dehomag. What would that have accomplished?”
“You would have taken a stand. It would have shown the world that ‘world peace through world trade’ wasn’t just a catchy slogan.”
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“No. You can retire and turn the page. I have to deal with this for the next ten, twenty—who knows how many years. I’ve only been president since January, and reporters are already breathing down my neck, trying to get records from Europe.”
“Records of what?”
“The Nazis’ use of Hollerith machines and punch-card technology.”
“Why is that a story? Herman Hollerith licensed his patents to Willy Heidinger in 1910. Punch cards were part of the German economy long before the Nazis even existed.”
“The story isn’t about the German economy. It’s about Nazi concentration camps.”
“Then it hasnothingto do with IBM.”
Tom paused, his gaze tightening. “Who is Harold J. Carter?”
“Carter? The name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“I’m told he visited IBM headquarters in July 1943.”
“Carver, you say?”
“HaroldCarter. Damn it, Dad. Don’t pretend like you don’t know! He’s an investigator with the Economic Warfare Section of the Department of Justice.” Again he paused, and then he asked in a louder voice, “Did he visit IBM headquarters in July 1943?”
Watson breathed deep, then answered. “Yes. He was here.”
“And I have to hear this from a newspaper reporter,” Tom said with an angry chuckle. “You didn’t think to tell me?”
“Nothing came of it.”
“What was the Justice Department investigating?”
“Our German subsidiary.”
“What about it?”
“Making sure we played no part in our subsidiary’s support for the German military.”
“In other words, making sure we weren’t in violation of the Trading with the Enemy Act?”
“And we weren’t,” said Watson.
“That’s not the point! Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“It wasn’t even an investigation. The Justice Department looked into dozens of companies during the war. Companies as red, white, and blue as Standard Oil.”