Norman Paul Dodd (June 29, 1899 – January 24, 1987) was an American banker and bank manager, who worked as a financial advisor and served as chief investigator in 1953 for the Special Committee on Tax Exempt Foundations (commonly referred to as the Reece Committee), which was chaired by U.S. Congressman

B. Carroll Reece Brazilla Carroll Reece (December 22, 1889 – March 19, 1961) was an American Republican Party politician from Tennessee. He represented eastern Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives for all but six years from 1921 to 1961 ...

. Dodd was known primarily for his controversial investigation into tax-exempt foundations. Norman Dodd was interviewed shortly before he died by the journalist

G. Edward Griffin George Edward Griffin (born November 7, 1931) is an American author, filmmaker, and Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist. Griffin's writings promote a number of right-wing views and conspiracy theories regarding political, defense and health ...

, and an interview documentary was produced as a result, which has gained a very wide audience in later years.

Early life

Norman was born in South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. His parents were Charles Spier Dodd (January 23, 1874 – July 25, 1932), who was an insurance agent, and Florence Augusta Cummings (July 18, 1872 – December 7, 1948). Norman's wife was Louise Richardson (July 19, 1901 – March 9, 1987). Norman attended private schools including

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

(known simply as Andover) finishing in 1918 and later graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He was, by his own words, an indefatigable reader. He worked in manufacturing before devoting himself to banking. During or after the

1929 stock market crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

he was assigned by his superiors the task of restructuring the bank he was working at, after a period of which he recommended what at the time was referred to as "sound banking". He was told by his superiors that his recommendations would not be implemented because "we will never see sound banking in the United States again".

Tax-exempt foundations

Dodd's claims about his investigative work have become the cornerstone of theories implicating the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, and the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

, among others. He stated in his findings that many foundations were intentionally campaigning to involve the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in such wars as

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and that they also sought ways to warp American teaching of history through explicit control of the education system in the

. Rene Wormser, the legal counsel to the Reece Committee, wrote in his 1958 book on the subject, "It is difficult for the public to understand that some of the great foundations which have done so much for us in some fields have acted tragically against the public interest in others, but the facts are there for the unprejudiced to recognize." The Norman Dodd Collection at the Rosalind Kress Haley Library (7800 Bonhomme Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri) contains books from Norman Dodd's personal library. Norman and his wife Louise are both buried in Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery (Keene, Albemarle County, Virginia).

References

External links

Interview by G. Edward Griffin :: Transcript of a 1982 interview of Dodd by G. Edward GriffinVideo Interview :: Norman Dodd - Tax-Exempt FoundationsOriginal Dodd Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Norman 1899 births 1987 deaths Dodd family