Dates: 1944-1966
Special Counsel to the President, 1945-1946
The papers of Samuel I. Rosenman mostly relate to his career of government service in the White House, and particularly his work as Special Counsel to President Harry S. Truman from 1945 to 1946. They include correspondence, draft letters and statements, invitations, newspaper clippings, printed material, speeches, speech drafts, notes, pamphlets, reports, and diary entries for part of 1945 and 1946. The collection also contains material documenting Rosenman’s work as an unofficial advisor to President Truman after his retirement to private life in 1946.
See also Samuel I. Rosenman oral history
Size: About 5.2 linear feet (approximately 10,400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: Samuel I. Rosenman donated his literary property rights in any of his unpublished writings in this collection to the United States government. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other writings in this collection is assumed to remain with the authors of the documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Philip D. Lagerquist (1957); Frank L. Barkofske (1960); Philip D. Lagerquist (1962); Erwin J. Mueller (1969); Laura Heller (1969); Erwin J. Mueller (1974); Sharie Simon, Janice Davis, and Carol Martin (2006).
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1896 (February 13) |
Born, San Antonio, Texas |
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1922-1926 |
Member, New York State Legislature |
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1926-1928 |
Bill Drafting Commissioner, New York |
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1929-1932 |
Counsel to Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt |
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1932-1943 |
Justice, New York Supreme Court |
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1943-1945 |
Special Counsel to President Roosevelt |
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1945-1946 |
Special Counsel to President Truman |
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1949 |
Member, Steel Industry Fact Finding Board |
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1949 |
Chairman, Railroad Labor Emergency Board |
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1973 (June 24) |
Died, New York City |
The Samuel I. Rosenman Papers relate for the most part to Rosenman’s career of government service in the White House during the administration of Harry S. Truman. Particularly well documented is his service as Special Counsel to the President from 1945 to 1946 and as unofficial advisor to President Truman after his retirement from government. In addition, the collection contains information about Rosenman’s behind-the-scenes involvement in war crimes issues. The papers include correspondence, draft letters and statements, invitations, newspaper clippings, printed material, speeches, speech drafts, notes, pamphlets, reports and a diary that Rosemen kept for part of 1945 and 1946.
The Rosenman Papers are divided into six series and various subseries. This arrangement was generated largely from the manner in which the Rosenman Papers were donated to the Library. The first donation of material was in 1961, with additional accretions to the collection between 1961 and 1979. Generally speaking, the archives staff decided to add these accessions to the collection as new series, instead of filing them in the existing series.
The first series, the Subject File, is the largest series in the collection and has six individual subseries, one for each of the years 1945-1949 and 1952. The bulk of this series is a general alphabetical listing of the topics that Rosenman, as Special Counsel from 1945-1946, advised Truman on, or brought to the President’s attention. Rosenman provided recommendations to Truman in the form of memorandums and notes. He drafted statements and speeches, and gave legal advice to President Truman. This series contains information on such things as atomic energy, immigration, health care, Potsdam, strikes and the United Nations. During the years 1947-1952, after Rosenman resigned as Special Counsel to the President, the documents include legislative recommendations, messages to Congress and other types of speech drafts on which Rosenman consulted with the White House.
The next series, the War Crimes File, helps document the decision to try war criminals, and the behind-the-scenes planning for Nuremberg, including the appointment of Robert Jackson as Chief Prosecutor. The “major” war criminals, whose offenses knew no geographic boundaries, were to be tried by the joint decision of the Allies at Nuremberg. Rosenman was involved in these preparations as Special Counsel to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman.
The Alphabetical File, the second largest series, is actually a file of Rosenman’s correspondence with such individuals as George E. Allen, Alben Barkley, Chester Bowles, Vannevar Bush, James Byrnes, Tom Clark, Clark Clifford, William Donovan, Oscar Hammerstein, Harold Ickes, Douglas MacArthur, and David Niles. The series also contains Rosenman’s correspondence relating to various organizations and topics.
The next series, Post Presidential Correspondence between Harry S. Truman and Samuel I. Rosenman File, is a chronological file covering the years 1953-1966. It details Rosenman and Truman’s continuing relationship during the years after Truman left Government service. It contains a list of personal letters written by Truman to Rosenman, and carbons of letters written by Rosenman to Truman after January 21, 1952.
The General File contains information on the 1958 European trip taken by President and Mrs. Truman and Mr. and Mrs. Rosenman. It also contains material gathered from Hitler’s Chancellery by Rosenman in Berlin, Germany, in 1945, such as invitations, souvenirs, pamphlets and newspapers. There are also miscellaneous items, such as Truman’s statement at the Truman Library on July 2, 1960, and a letter from Stuart Symington to Samuel I. Rosenman, dated July 12, 1950.
The next series, Diaries File, contains a typewritten diary that Rosenman kept from June to October, 1945, with separate entries for May 24 to 25, 1946, on the railroad strike and June 27-29, 1946, on the veto of the OPA (Office of Price Administration) bill.
More information about Samuel I. Rosenman, and the office of the White House Special Council during the Truman administration, can be found in the Truman Library’s oral history interview with Rosenman; in the oral history interviews with Clark M. Clifford; in the Clark M. Clifford Files, which are part of the Staff Member and Office Files of the Harry S. Truman Papers; and in the Clark M. Clifford Papers. There is also a book that was written by Samuel and Dorothy Rosenman, Presidential Style: Some Giants and a Pygmy in the White House (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1976).
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1-10 |
SUBJECT FILE, 1945-1952 Memoranda, letters, notes, reports, drafts, speeches, bills, press releases, articles, statements, cables, recommendations and other items mostly documenting the activities of the Special Counsel to President Truman. Arranged in alphabetical order within each year represented. |
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10-11 |
WAR CRIMES FILE, 1944-1945 Messages, reports, letters, telegrams, drafts, and notes formulating American policy related to war criminals and the appointment of Robert Jackson as chief prosecutor. No arrangement. |
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11-12 |
ALPHABETICAL FILE, 1945-1952 (Bulk Date Span, 1945-1946) Statements, outlines, press releases, telegrams, notes, printed material, correspondence, memoranda, and other items documenting the major events and policies of the Truman administration, and related subjects. Arranged in alphabetical order. |
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12-13 |
POST PRESIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HARRY S. TRUMAN AND SAMUEL I. ROSENMAN FILE, 1953-1966 List of correspondence, notes, letters, telegrams, drafts, clippings, and an itinerary. Arranged in chronological order. |
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13 |
GENERAL FILE, 1945-1960 Printed material, press releases, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, letters, memoranda, invitations, souvenirs, menus, programs and other items concerning such unrelated areas as Rosenman’s relationship with President Truman and materials gathered by Rosenman from Hitler’s Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, in 1945. No arrangement. |
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13 |
DIARIES FILE, 1945-1946 Typed diary entries made by Rosenman during his years of service in the Truman White House, specifically detailing his involvement in the railroad strike of 1946 and the veto of the Office of Price Administration bill of 1946. Arranged in chronological order. |
Box 1
- 1945: Advisory Board on Just Compensation
- 1945: Air Coordinating Committee
- 1945: Alaska Military Highway
- 1945: Atomic Energy, Control of
- 1945: Aviation Policy
- 1945: Bonneville Amendment
- 1945: Child Care Centers
- 1945: China
- 1945: Conscientious Objectors
- 1945: Deferments
- 1945: Export-Import Bank
- 1945: Farm Papers
- 1945: Federal Communications Commission
- 1945: Federal Security Agency
- 1945: Food-Liberated Areas
- 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial
- 1945: Full Employment Bill
- 1945: Germany, Policy on
- 1945: Germany-Standard of Living
- 1945: Girl Scouts
- 1945: Governors' Conference
- 1945: Guam
- 1945: Harrison, Earl
- 1945: Health, Legislative Proposals [1 of 2]
- 1945: Health, Legislative Proposals [2 of 2]
Box 2
- 1945: Health Message [1 of 3]
- 1945: Health Message [2 of 3]
- 1945: Health Message [3 of 3]
- 1945: Health Message-Drafts
- 1945: Hensel, Struve
- 1945: Immigration Quota into the United States
- 1945: Jewish New Year
- 1945: Kentucky Dam
- 1945: Labor-Management Conference, November 5, 1945
- 1945: Labor-Management Conference, Message at the End of
- 1945: Lend-Lease
- 1945: Medical Committee
Box 3
- 1945: Memoranda-Samuel I. Rosenman to the President, May-December 1945
- 1945: Merchant Marine
- 1945: Message to Congress, September 6, 1945 [1 of 4]
- 1945: Message to Congress, September 6, 1945 [2 of 4]
- 1945: Message to Congress, September 6, 1945 [3 of 4]
- 1945: Message to Congress, September 6, 1945 [4 of 4]
- 1945: Missouri River Basin
- 1945: National Labor Relations Board
- 1945: Navy Day and U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt-Speeches, October 27, 1945
- 1945: Navy Oil Contract
Box 4
- 1945: Office of Strategic Services
- 1945: OPA [Office of Price Administration]
- 1945: Palestine
- 1945: Pearl Harbor Investigation
- 1945: Philippines
- 1945: PM (Newspaper)
- 1945: Potsdam Conference
- 1945: Pre-medical Students
- 1945: Presidential Succession
- 1945: Public Health Service
- 1945: Puerto Rico
- 1945: Rescission Bill Veto
- 1945: Reparations
- 1945: Report to the Nation on the Potsdam Conference, August 9, 1945
Box 5
- 1945: Research
- 1945: River and Regional Development
- 1945: San Francisco Conference, April-May, 1945
- 1945: San Francisco (United Nations) Speech, June 26, 1945
- 1945: Senate, Presentation of the UN Charter to the, July 2, 1945 [1 of 2]
- 1945: Senate, Presentation of the UN Charter to the, July 2, 1945 [2 of 2]
1945: Social Security - 1945: Strikes
- 1945: Unification of the Armed Services [1 of 3]
- 1945: Unification of the Armed Services [2 of 3]
Box 6
- 1945: Unification of the Armed Services [3 of 3]
- 1945: United States Employment Service
- 1945: Universal Military Training [1 of 5]
- 1945: Universal Military Training [2 of 5]
- 1945: Universal Military Training [3 of 5]
- 1945: Universal Military Training [4 of 5]
- 1945: Universal Military Training [5 of 5]
- 1945: V-J Day Proclamation
- 1945: Wages and Price Speech, October 30, 1945 [1 of 2]
Box 7
- 1945: Wages and Price Speech, October 30, 1945 [2 of 2]
- 1945: War Agencies, Liquidation of
- 1945: War and Emergency Statutes and War Powers, Termination of
- 1945: War Food Administration
- 1945: War Manpower Commission, 1945
- 1945: War Message to Congress, June 1, 1945 [1 of 2]
- 1945: War Message to Congress, June 1, 1945 [2 of 2]
- 1946: Army Day Speech, April 6, 1946 [1 of 2]
- 1946: Army Day Speech, April 6, 1946 [2 of 2]
- 1946: Atomic Energy
- 1946: Case Bill (H.R. 4908) Veto
- 1946: Coal
Box 8
- 1946: Conference of Governors, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 28, 1946
- 1946: Deferments
- 1946: Federal Council of the Churches of Christ
- 1946: Fordham University Speech, May 11, 1946
- 1946: Hyde Park, New York Speech, April 12, 1946
- 1946: Intelligence
- 1946: Jackson Day Dinner Speech, March 23, 1946
- 1946: Meat Decontrol and Price Stabilization Broadcast, October 14, 1946
- 1946: Memoranda, Samuel I. Rosenman to the President
- 1946: New Republic
- 1946: OPA [Office of Price Administration] Veto Message, June 29, 1946
- 1946: Pan American Day Address, April 15, 1946
- 1946: Post Office
- 1946: Railroad Strike, Radio Address Concerning, May 24, 1946
- 1946: Rollins College
- 1946: Social Security Message, April 16, 1946
- 1946: Speech to the Nation, January 3, 1946
- 1946: Speech on the Anniversary of the Death of President Roosevelt, April 12, 1946
- 1946: State of the Union Message [1 of 4]
Box 9
- 1946: State of the Union Message [2 of 4]
- 1946: State of the Union Message [3 of 4]
- 1946: State of the Union Message [4 of 4]
- 1946: United Nations
- 1946: World Federation of Trade Unions
- 1947: Associated Press Speech, April 21, 1947
- 1947: Atomic Bomb Symposium
- 1947: Baylor University Speech, March 6, 1947
- 1947: Message to Congress, Drafts, January 6, 1947
- 1947: Princeton University Speech, June 17, 1947
- 1947: Universal Military Training, the President's Advisory Commission on
Box 10
- 1948: Campaign 1948-Correspondence Regarding Drafts of Speeches
- 1948: Campaign 1948-HST Acceptance Speech
- 1948: Campaign 1948-HST Platform
- 1948: Campaign 1948-Letter from Harold L. Ickes to Samuel I. Rosenman
- 1948: Campaign 1948-President's Trip to Philadelphia, July 14, 1948
- 1948: Message to Congress, July 27, 1948
- 1949: State of the Union Message
- 1952: Legislative Recommendations of the President, 81st and 82nd Congresses
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [1 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [2 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [3 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [4 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [5 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [6 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [7 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [8 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [9 of 12]
Box 11
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [10 of 12]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [11 of 12, empty]
- October, 1944-November, 1945 [12 of 12]
- Allen, George E.
- Acheson, George, Jr.
- Barkley, Alben W.
- Bates, Joe B.
- Bauer, John
- Billeux, M.
- Blackburn, Katherine C.
- Blandford, Jack
- Bowles, Chester
- Brant, Irving
- Bush, Dr. Vannevar
- Byrnes, James F.
- Caffey, Eugene M.
- Castles, John W.
- Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York
- Chandor, Douglas
- Chanler, William C.
- Chavez, Dennis
- Clark, Tom
- Clayton, William L.
- Clifford, Clark M.
- Cohen, Ben
- Cole, William P., Jr
- Combs, Hugh D.
- Connelly, Matt
- Cowen, Wilson
- Cox, Oscar S.
- Crowley, Leo
- Crum, Bartley C.
- Cumming, Dr. Hugh S.
- Davies, Joseph E.
- Davis, Elmer
- Denby, Charles
- Dickstein, Samuel
- Dirksen, Everett M.
- Donovan, William J.
- Doughton, Robert L.
- Ernst, Morris L.
- Fahey, John H.
- Fleming, Philip B.
- Foley, James
- Forrestal, James
- Goodrich, Carter
- Haber, William
- Hammerstein, Oscar
- Haskell, William M.
- Hawkes, Albert W.
- Hillman, Sidney
- Hoffman, Paul
- Ickes, Harold L.
- Jacoby, Sidney B.
- Jewish New Year [empty]
- Johnson, Louis
- Johnson, Melvin M.
- Land, Emory S.
- Lanham, Fritz
- Lausche, Frank J.
- Lazarus, Isidor
- Lee, Russel V.
- Lehman, Herbert H.
- Lilienthal, David E.
- Loeb, James
- Luguet, Charles A.
- MacArthur, Douglas
- MacCracken, Dr. H. N.
- McCrea, Rear Admiral John
- McDonald, James G.
- McKeller, Kenneth
- Masonic Committee
- Maverick, Maury
- Medal for Merit
- Millard, Alden S.
- Morgenthau, Henry, Jr.
- Myers, Howard B.
- Neuberger, Richard L.
- Niles, David K.
- Oxnam, Bishop G. Bromley
Box 12
- Page, Arthur W.
- Pauley, Edwin W.
- Pinchot, Gifford
- Polish American Conference
- Potsdam Conference
- Pritzech, Sidney
- Puryear, Edgar F.
- Rayburn, Sam
- Reorganization of Government Departments
- Resignations
- Rifkind, Simon H.
- Roosevelt, Eleanor
- Ross, Charles E.
- Sarnoff, David
- Sheil, Bishop Bernard J.
- Sherwood, Robert E.
- Simmons, James S.
- Snyder, John W.
- Sonnett, John F.
- Spellman, Cardinal Francis J.
- Stettinius, Edward R.
- Sussman, Charles
- Swope, Herbert B.
- Taylor, Telford
- Thayer, Walter N.
- Thomas, R. J.
- Truman, Harry S.-Statements of
- Vardaman, James K.
- Vaughan, Harry H.
- Vinson, Fred M.
- Wagner, Robert F.
- Weinberg, Sidney J.
- West End Synagogue
- Weston, Harold
- Weston, Mrs. Standish
- Wheeler, Burton K.
- Whitney, A. F.
- Willer-Peterson, Paul W.
- Williams, Aubrey
- Winn, Milton
- Winant, John G.
- Wise and Silver
- Wohl, Samuel
- Zimmerman, R. R.
POST PRESIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HARRY S. TRUMAN AND SAMUEL I. ROSENMAN FILES, 1953-1966
- List of Personal Letters Written by Harry S. Truman to Samuel I. Rosenman and Carbons of Letters Written by Samuel I. Rosenman to Harry S. Truman, Since January 21, 1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1956
Box 13
- 1957
- 1958
- 1959
- 1960
- 1961-64
- 1965-66
- Cross Reference Sheets
- Harry S. Truman-Press Conference, Olney Inn, Islamorada, Florida, February 21, 1957
- Harry S. Truman-Statement at the Truman Library, Independence, Missouri, July 2, 1960
- Invitations and Souvenirs [1 of 3]
- Invitations and Souvenirs [2 of 3]
- Invitations and Souvenirs [3 of 3]
- Letter from Stuart Symington to Samuel I. Rosenman, July 12, 1950
- Material Gathered by Samuel I. Rosenman from Hitler's Chancellery, Berlin, Germany-1945
- Pamphlets
- Ship's Newspapers, U.S.S. Quincy, February 1945
- Trip to Europe, 1958, Mr. and Mrs. Harry S. Truman and Mr. and Mrs. Samuel I. Rosenman
- 1945, June-October
- 1946, May 24-25 (Railroad Strike)
- 1946, June 27-29 (Veto of OPA Bill)