ABSTRACT
For much of the General Accounting Office (GAO) and for federal financial management generally, it was a period of consolidation and of continuing movement in directions that had been pretty well set by the close of 1950. Comprehensive” auditing, as a substitute for voucher checking, became the rule in the GAO, and there was a substantial growth of internal auditing in the administrative agencies. Actually, the Weitzel appointment was in accord with what appears to have become a standard pattern for those serving as second in command of the GAO. All of them have been lawyers and all except Frank Elliott had previously served many years on the staff of the GAO or the comptroller of the treasury. The effectiveness and the stature of the GAO under these circumstances required more than ever that it maintain its reputation for evenhanded nonpartisanship.
