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By the early 1830s, more than 90 percent of the mail (by weight) consisted of newspapers. ” 62 Still, Jefferson—as is no doubt true for all political figures— occasionally lamented and lambasted some of what was written about him. ”63 Outside observers also noted newspapers’ importance in America. When the young French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in the mid-1830s, he expressed wonder at the vitality of American 28 democracy in the dark democracy, fi nding the most powerful explanation lay in customs and nongovernment institutions that facilitated or promoted access to information.

Within eight months, they were convicted and sentenced to death. This and other thefts of secrets led to calls for more and more secure secrecy. Federal employees were required to take loyalty oaths, which implied the need to protect information. Technological advances in America and around the world, aided by increased global access to scientific and technical information, eventually lessened the protection of the vast ocean barriers surrounding America. Thus, a great irony: along with America’s growth in power, which had been fostered by access to more information, came an increased sense of vulnerability, and with it the fear that fueled a culture that sought to curtail access to information.

89 And so it was. 90 It is often said that even Vice President Harry Truman knew nothing about the atomic bomb until he became president. But in fact, Truman had gleaned hints when he ran a Senate committee focusing on military spending. During his investigations, Truman’s staff picked up “puzzling hints” of huge military expenditures for something identified only as the Manhattan Project. ”92 Later, in November 1943, Truman sent an investigator to look into complaints of waste at Hanford, but after being sharply reminded of his agreement with Stimson, Truman called off the inquiry.