Secretary of the Treasury in the Truman Administration, 1946-53. Other Federal positions once held include Executive Vice-President and Director, Defense Plant Corporation, 1940-43; Assistant to the Director of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1940-44; Federal Loan Administrator, 1945; Director, Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 1945-46. Secretary Snyder was a longtime close friend of Harry S. Truman beginning with their service in the U.S. Army Reserves after World War I.
Notice
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.
Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the Snyder oral history interviews.
RESTRICTIONS
These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.
Aleman, Miguel, and Marshall plan, views on, 1183-1186
Anderson, Clinton P., 805-811, 1181
Anti-ballistic missile system, 1239-1241
Appointments Secretary to the President, role of, 712-714
Army Reserves, U.S., Harry S. Truman in, 973-974
Arnow, Phil, 439
Arvey, Jake, 1036
Asia, Marshall plan proposed for, 1203
Assassination attempt on President Truman, 1331-1335
Atomic bomb:
Soviet Union's intervention in war against Japan, and role of, 1616-1618
Truman's decision to use, 538, 542-544, 1608-1616
Balance of payments, U.S., 1710-1711
Balmacido, Carnelio, 1372
Bank "holiday" of 1933, 24-27
Bankers, political views of, 1172-1175
Barkley, Alben:
Democratic National Convention of 1948, role in, 1019-1030
Democratic National Convention of 1952, role in, 1510
as Vice-President of the United States, 665, 667-668
Vice-Presidential nomination of, 656-660, 661-664
Blandsford, John, 232
Blanton, C. L., Sr., 131
Bowles, Chester, 232, 234-236, 325-326, 411, 413, 1049-1050, 1923-1926
Brannan, Charles, 811-814
Bremen, Germany, as a strategic target in World War II, 478-479
British loan, in 1946, 975-982, 988-1001
British pound, devaluation of, 1003-1005, 1008-1010, 1014
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, assistance in Truman's Senatorial campaign of 1940, 53-55
Brownell, Herbert, prosecution of "scandals" in Truman administration, 919-920
Bruce, David K.E., 1022
Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, 1888-1889
Budget balances, U.S. Treasury, 1137, 1678-1679, 1714-1716, 1741, 1780- 1782, 1834
Bulkley, John, 438
Bunn, Edward B., 649
Bureau of Customs, uniform appraisal system adopted for, 603-606
Bureau of Internal Revenue, 850-904, 1861-1873
as compared to other Presidents, 847-848
foreign aid, views on, 1176-1183
liberals and conservatives, 561-565
luncheons, without the presence of the President, 738-743, 846-847
note-taking, absence of, 844, 845, 846
Calhoun, David R., 459
Capital gains taxation, 1850-1851
Caruthersville, Missouri, trip by President Truman in 1945, 652-655
Case bill (concerning labor-management relations), 569-572
Caudle, Lamar, 891, 920-921
Chapman, Oscar, 801, 803-804
Chautauqua, Alben Barkley's involvement in, 661-662
Chief Frank John, portrait of, 633-634
Chiles, Henry Clay, 131
China, aid to, 1208-1210, 1233-1238
China, Peoples Republic of, 1444-1446
China, U.S. policy toward, 1451
Churchill, Winston, visit to White House, January 1953, 271
Civil rights, Southern bankers, views of, 1260-1261
Civil rights, in the Truman administration, 1259-1263, 1271-1274
Clark, Bennett, 75-77
Clark, Tom, as U.S. Attorney General, 774-775
Clark, Tom, foreign aid, role in, 1179
Clark, Vernon L., 636, 1653
Clayton, William L. (Will), 1107-1111
Clifford, Clark, 927-943, 946-949
and Truman, Harry S., relationship with, 933-937, 941-943
Coal industry, strike in 1946, 425
Coast Guard, U.S., reorganization of, 606-607, 1874-1882
Cologne, Germany, as a strategic target in World War II, 481-482
Committee for European Economic Cooperation (CEEC), 1126-1128
Communism, as issue in campaign of 1948, 1068-1069
Community property issue, 1908-1909
Congressional liaison, 1488-1493
Connally, Tom, and the Truman Committee, 81
Connelly, Matthew, prosecution of, 916-917, 918, 949-955
Cook, Evelyn (Mrs. John W. Snyder), 253
Coombs, Philip H., 438
Counterpart funds, 1137, 1144, 1155
Cowen, Myron M., 1360-1361, 1384, 1393
Credit of the U.S. Government, maintenance of, 1774-1777, 1795-1796
Cripps, Stafford, 982, 983, 984
Currency exchange rates, 1000-1002
Doughton, Robert L., 1908-1909
Douglas, Lewis William, 1022
Douglas, William O., as possible nominee for Vice-Presidency on Democratic ticket in 1948, 660-661
Dunlap, John, 888, 896-897
Dusseldorf, Germany, as a strategic target in World War II, 480-481
E
Eady, Wilfred, 994, 995-997
Early, Stephen, 957
Eaton, Charles A., 1153
Eccles, George, 1651
Economic Cooperation Act of 1948, 1142-1154
Economic Cooperation Administration, created, 1143
Eightieth Congress, as issue in 1948 campaign, 1257-1258
Eisenhower, Dwight D.:
and MacArthur, Douglas, 1426-1427
as potential Democratic candidate for Presidency in 1948, 1035-1037, 1505-1506
as Republican candidate for Presidency in 1952, 1037-1039, 1513-1514
Snyder, John W., acquaintance with, 469-471, 1040
Election, Senatorial, of 1940, 45-75, 127-134
Election campaign of 1944, Harry S. Truman's role in, 135-141, 146-150
Election campaign, Congressional, of 1946, 432-436
Elsey, George, 939
"Empire building" in the executive department of Government, 708-710
Employment Act of 1946, 555
Essen, Germany, as a strategic target in World War II, 480-481
Europe, reconstruction of, plans for, 507-511
Evans, Tom, 127, 128, 131
Excess profits tax, 1684, 1701-1703, 1846-1849, 1898-1907
Exchange rates, 1814-1817, 1821-1824
Export-Import Bank, 1131-1133, 1144
F
Fairless Committee, 1221-1222
Farrington, John, 130
Federal-state coordination, on taxation, 1854-1857
Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S., and U.S. Secret Service, 783-785
Federal Housing Administration (FHA), 410
Feidler, Ernest R., 630, 1491
Finance, international, 1765-1771, 1800-1829, 1858-1859
Fisher, Charles, 646
Fleming, Robert V., 642
Foley, Edward, 1491
Foley, Raymond M., and housing policy, 407-410
Ford, Henry, 218
Foreign aid, Asia, aid to, 1204
Foreign aid, to Europe, 1945-1952, 1219-1222
Foreign aid, U.S., postwar, 1083-1112
Foreign economic policy, taxation, 1858-1859
Formosa, defense of, 1450-1453
Forrestal, James 563, 756-762
atomic bomb, research on, 521-522
currency reform, 1813
postwar division of, 517
postwar reconstruction of, 517-520, 525-527
Goodman, in 1940 campaign, 133, 134
Giannini, A. P., and Mario, 158-161, 1650, 1651
Government and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA), 1085-1086
Grain bin controversy, in 1948, 809--811
Granthan, Alexander, 1386-1387
Guam, in 1949, 1394-1395
Guarderno, Miguel, 1372
Graves, Phil, 130
Great Britain, American financial aid to, 975-1000
Labor, strikes in postwar period, 413-417, 420-433
Labor unions and apprenticeship program, postwar, 390-392
Larson, Jess, 920-921
Latin America, U.S. aid to, 1223-1231
Lawrence, David, and Democratic National Convention of 1944, 123
Lee, Frank, 130
Legislation, involving U.S. Treasury Department, 1488-1493
Lend-lease program, 498
Lewis, John L., 425-428, 431-433
Lerner, Manual, 439
Liberty Bells, from France, 1326-1330
Loran, aid to navigation, 1341-1342, 1430-1431
Lovett, Robert, 560, 770-771, 1022
Luce, Henry, 795
Lustron corporation, 376, 379
dismissal of, 1454-1462
Roosevelt, Franklin D., conflict with, 1462
Truman, Harry S., relationship with, 1440-1442
McCarty, Sterling, 130, 131
McGranery, James, 778-780
McGrath, J. Howard, 775-779, 1066-1067
McKim, Edward, 201-202
Magdeburg, Germany, as a strategic target in World War II, 465-466
Maquire, Phil, 438
McNutt, Paul V., 327
Maloney, James J., and Thomas E. Dewey, election day in 1948, 1080
Marshall, George C., 729-734
Nuremberg, Germany, as a strategic target in World War II, 484
O
Odlin, Reno, 642
O'Donnell, John A., 1365
Odum, Reathel, 103-104
Office of Economic Stabilization, in postwar period, 411-413
Office of Price Administration, 349
Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 222-231, 239-245, 264-265, 274-309
Point IV program, 1194-1202
"Poor People's March," 1968, on Washington, D.C., 615-620
Postmaster General, U.S., role of, 786-787, 793-796
Potsdam Conference, preparations for, 504-511, 528-529
Potter, Hugh L., as housing "czar" in OWMR, 366-367, 371-372
Presidency, politics and problems of, 1591-1603 Presidential Agency: OWMR (book by Herman M. Somers) 322-323, 349
Presidential election campaign of 1948, 1061-1077
election night, 1077
memorandum by Clark Clifford on strategy for, 937-938
speech in Kiel auditorium, 1074-1075
reparations, war, issue of, 197-199
Reparations from Germany, 501-502
Revenue Act of 1948, 1722, 1836
Revenue Act of 1950, 1844-1845, 1846
Rockefeller family, 831
Romulo, Carlos P., 1204-1205
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 257
as an administrator, 1632
and Presidential campaign of 1944, 139-141
Acheson, Dean, relationship with, 1214-1215
atomic bomb, knowledge of, 186, 1604-1607
atomic bomb, use of, opinion on, 1434-1437
banking, career in, 6-8, 11
and Baruch, Bernard, 1057-1060
biography of, from speech to Toledo, Ohio, Rotary Club, text of, 246-273
Bureau of Internal Revenue, investigations of, 877-896
Bureau of Internal Revenue, reorganization of, 897-904
Caruthersville, Missouri, trip in 1945, 652-655
Case bill, views on, 569-572
civil rights, views on, 1264-1271, 1274-1278
as a conservative, 553-560, 565
Council of NATO, member of, 1807
deficit financing of U.S. Government, views on, 617-618
and Democratic National Convention of 1944, 108-113
Democratic National Convention of 1948, role in, 1025-1056
as a Democratic party loyalist, 1175
election, Senatorial in 1940, role in, 45-75
Federal Loan Administrator, appointment as, 163-165, 192-193
as Federal Loan Administrator, 107-216, 262-264
Georgetown University, connections with, 644-651
Greek-Turkish aid program, role in, 1098-1099
as a "liberal conservative," 1169-1171
Marshall plan, role in, 1114-1150, 1151-1159
and Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 222-231, 239-245, 264-265, 274-309
Pacific inspection trip in 1949, 1340-1440
philosophy of, 168-170
Point IV program, views on, 1196-1202
politics and the U.S. Treasury Department, views of, 1913-1915
Potsdam conference, role in, 505-506, 536-540
Presidency, comments on, 1591-1603
Roosevelt, Franklin D., views of, 341-342
Russia, trip to, in 1961, 1534-1590
Secretary of the Treasury, appointment to, 166-267
surplus property disposal, and trip to Europe in 1945, 450-491
Truman, Bess Wallace, first acquaintance with, 20-21
and Truman, Harry S., on April 12-13, 1945, 161-162
Truman, Harry S., first meeting with, 16-18
Truman, Harry S., relationship with, 574-577, 953, 973-974, 1930-1931
Truman Committee, role in establishing, 78-84
World Bank, involvement in, 689-691
World's Fair of 1904, influenced by, 1-3
World War I, soldier in, 4-6
Social Security taxes, 1852-1853
Solicitor General, U.S., 782
Somers, Herman, 322-323, 349
Southard, Frank, 1134-1136
Soviet Union, and Germany, reparations from, 515-516
Soviet Union, and intervention against Japan, in 1945, 500-501
Spencer, Henry, 1651
Spingarn, Stephen, 940-941
SSR Committee, 445-449
Stainback, Ingram M., 1397
Stalin, Joseph, and Truman, Harry S., at Potsdam conference, 539
Stamm, Colin, 1499
Stark, Lloyd, and Pendergast, Tom, 44, 73
Stassen, Harold, 1109-1110
Steelman, John, 838-841
Truman, Bess Wallace, portraits of, by Greta Kempton, 630-633
Truman, Harry S.:
assassination attempt on, 1331-1335
atomic bomb, decision to use, 1603, 1608-1611
and banking crisis of the 1930s, 24-27
and Baruch, Bernard, 1056-1058
Biffle, Leslie, friend of, 1032-1034
Byrnes, James F., relationship with, 724-729
Cabinet, role of, in his Presidency, 578-579, 699-710, 715-718
Caruthersville, Missouri, trip in 1945, 652-655
civil rights program, 1259-1263
and Clark, Bennett, 42-43, 75-77
and Congress, relations with, 1495-1496, 1497-1504
Congressional campaign of 1946, role in, 1243-1256
Congressional campaign of 1950, role in, 1257
decision-making, as President, 1077-1078, 1618-1627
and Democratic National Convention of 1944, 108-113, 117-121
Democratic National Convention of 1948, acceptance speech, 1042-1043
at Democratic National Convention of 1948, and role in, 1028-1029, 1041, 1047
at Democratic National Convention of 1952, 1509
devaluation of British pound, position on, 1014
Harriman, W. Averell, relationship with, 829
history, student of, 22
and housing program, postwar, 383-384, 405-406
and Ickes, Harold, 796-798
and interest group relationship, 406-407
and Japan, ending war with, 184-185
Key West vacations, 1317, 1324-1326
as "liberal" and "conservative," 1628-1631
memoirs, writing of, 1030-1032
and Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 345
Office of President, comments on organization of, 1591-1592
and Patterson, Robert, 749
personality of, 168
portraits of, by Greta Kempton, 591-594, 622-626
Potsdam conference, preparation for, 1319
Potsdam conference, speech about, 536-537, 541-542
Presidential campaign of 1944, role in, 135-141, 146-150
Presidential election in 1948, day after, 1079
Presidential election campaign of 1952, role in, 1515
Presidents, ranking among, 1631-1634
re-nomination in 1952, decision to decline, 668-670
Reserve Army Corps, contribution to, 23-24
and Roosevelt, Franklin D., 126, 144, 146, 148
and Secret Service, 1336-1337
Senatorial campaign of 1940, 45-75, 127-134
Senatorial experience, in budgeting and transportation, 28-37
Senatorial staff of, 102-104
at Shangri-La retreat, 1317
and Snyder, John W., appointment of, as Federal Loan Administrator, 163-165
early acquaintanceship, 19-20
first meeting with, 16-18
political relationship with, 574-577, 711-712
speech in Kiel auditorium, 1948 campaign, 935-937
as speechmaker, 1075-1076
Stalin, evaluation of, 539
and Stark, Lloyd, regarding endorsement by Tom Pendergast, 44
and Stimson, Henry, 746-747
Taft-Hartley Act, veto of, 572-573, 578-580
U.S.S. Williamsburg, trips on, 1316-1319
Vardaman, Jacob, relationship with, 929-931
Vice-Presidential nomination of, 105-113
Vice-Presidential nomination under Eisenhower in 1947, allegation about accepting, 1082
Wallace, Henry, resignation of, 818-819
in World War I, 1320-1324
Tucker, Preston, 219-220
Turley, Clarence, 67
"Turnip-day session" of Congress, planning for, 1048-1054
Twenty-One Point message, 1945, 553-559
U
Unification of the armed forces, rationale for, 749-755
United Nations Fiscal Commission, 1859
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), 1086-1087
U.S. savings bonds, sale of, 634-643
V
Vandenberg, Arthur H., and Marshall plan, 1141
Vardaman, Jacob, 65, 68, 929
Vaughan, Harry, 80, 131, 969-972
appointment as Secretary of the Treasury, 532-535
Moscow trip, proposed, 1070-1074
and Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 346
reconversion, role in, 530-531
Wallgren, Monrad, and Truman Committee, 81
Walsh, Edmund, 646
Wardman Park hotel, 760, 820
War Mobilization and Reconversion Act, 550
Wear, Sam, 131
Welch, Phil, 130
White House staff, and Cabinet, relationship with, 844-846
Whitney, Alexander F., 420-423
Wiesbaden, Germany, synthetic rubber production during World War II, 483
Wiggins, A. L. M., 866-867, 1626, 1657
Willys-Overland Corporation, 1905-1906
Winant, John, 490
World Bank, 672-698, 1809-1811, 1818
