Nye Committee

The Nye Committee or the Special Committee Investigating the Munitions Industry' was established on April 12, 1934 because of continuing public disillusionment over the final outcome of World War I and distrust of those who had profited from the war. The committee, chaired by Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, had broad authority to examine the structure and activities of the munitions industry, to investigate and report on controlling the traffic in munitions, to recommend legislation to "take the profit out of war," and to consider establishing a Government monopoly of arms manufacture.

Alger Hiss served as legal assistant to the committee. The committee held its first hearings in September 1934 and its final hearings in February 1936. There were 93 hearings in all, covering four topics: The munitions industry, bidding on Government contracts in the shipbuilding industry, war profits, and the background leading up to U.S. entry into World War I.