Tom L. Evans Oral History Interview, August 13, 1963

Notice
This is a transcript of a tape-recorded interview conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of this transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that this is essentially a transcript 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 oral history interview.

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This oral history transcript may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. It may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

Opened August, 1966
Harry S. Truman Library
Independence, Missouri

[471]

FUCHS: I'd like to ask you more about Fred Canfil. I noticed in some records we have that he requested a pass for a Miss Elizabeth Tillman to gain admittance to Mr. Truman's office; I presume it was Room 649 in the Federal Courts Building. Who was this friend of Fred Canfil's?

EVANS: Miss--well, I think there was a Tillman that did quite a lot of work for Fred Canfil. I was going to say that I was under the impression it was Mrs. and she may have worked in his office of the United States Marshal. But anyway, I know who she was now. He probably wanted her to have access to the office so that she could go in and out of there and use the typewriter and so forth. I know who she is now.

FUCHS: You don't recall that she ever worked for Senator Truman?

[472]

EVANS: No, I don't think she ever did.

FUCHS: I see. I am wondering about a statement I saw that Mrs. Boyle, the mother of William Boyle, who was later the Democratic National Chairman, of course, was very active for the nominee for the Senate, Mr. Truman, in 1934. Do you recall how she participated?

EVANS: Well, she was very active all right, and she was, of course, very friendly with the then Senator Truman. I think her participation was mainly from this standpoint, Jim, that she had worlds of friends throughout the State of Missouri. She had something to do with some organization, which one it was I don't recall, but anyway, as a result, she had many contacts and friends throughout the State of Missouri, I recall in the campaign she arranged women's parties in Sedalia, Warrensburg, Springfield, all around the state. So she was quite active.

[473]

FUCHS: Bill Boyle left Mr. Truman's senatorial office in early 1944 and went to work for Bob Hannegan. Do you know how that happened to come about?

EVANS: Well, I just know, Jim, that he left--well, he didn't go to work for Bob Hannegan; he went to work in the headquarters of the National Democratic Committee. I just remember that he left and I, frankly, was always under the impression--and I can't tell you how or where I got the information and I'm not even sure it's true--but, at least, I've always been under the impression that Mr. Truman wanted him to go over to the National Committee because Bob Hannegan was not well, even in those days, and that eventually Bill Boyle would become national chairman. Apparently I have this some place, but, as I say, I can't say where. Bob Hannegan was not at all well even in the '44 campaign.

FUCHS: Is there anything else that stands out in your memory of his first year as President?

[474]

EVANS: I went to Washington on many, many occasions and there's any and ail kinds of things that I can from time to time think about, but I don't think of anything tremendously important. I know one of his biggest problems was to get men in important positions and on two or three occasions I had talked to some people at his suggestion about coming in to Washington and taking positions in the executive branch, and I wasn't successful in getting any of them. The reason being that these men that I had contact with, that President Truman felt he could use, or wanted their help, were men who were running businesses, and they'd taken on a lot of obligations and they were just not in a position to give up their position. In fact, in every case they would have come to Washington at a greatly reduced salary, and that was his big handicap in the first years--I guess all during his administrations, for that matter--in getting capable, qualified men because of the fact they just were unable to give up their business or their work

[475]

to come to Washington.

FUCHS: In most of these cases, did he suggest a name to you or did he ask you for a suggestion, and would you care to name some of these people?

EVANS: Well, I think, it was in discussion, like at lunch or at dinner. "You know so and so of such and such a company," he'd say to me, "don't you think he could be of some help to me here on certain matters?" One that I recall was a man by the name of Murray--I'm sure it was Murray--who was later president of McKesson & Robbins. I don't believe at that time he was president, but he was in an executive position and was with McKesson & Robbins of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the large drug manufactures; and he needed some help in that particular phase, that is, manufacturing business, and we talked about him and he said "Well, why don't you feel him out." I think I was going over to New York and I had dinner, I remember, with Mr. Murray and he was

[476]

just not in a position to give up his position with McKesson & Robbins and go to Washington, And that was true with a number of people. There was a man that was active in the company that manufactures Bromo-Seltzer--I've forgotten the name of the man. It's been a good long time ago and I haven't thought of it since; but I know he was active in Washington a great deal of the time in connection with legislation that would affect manufacturing and retail prices and, anyway, the President knew that I knew him and he asked me about him. He said "I find the best way to get these fellows that are constantly finding fault and raising hell, so to speak, is to get them down here to do some of this work. See if you think he would be interested in coming down here and taking an executive position." Well, this man, whose name I can't think of now--it will come to me sometime when I have time to think about it--anyway, I remember I went to see him in New York. He was in the position of hoping to become president

[477]

of that company--this company that manufactures Bromo-Seltzer. I remember he told me about the many obligations that he had, such as buying a large home with a heavy mortgage and was heavily in debt, and he just couldn't do it at all. That just seemed to be the general pattern all the time. I never was successful in getting anyone. Another good friend of mine, whom the President had met and was impressed with, was a man by the name of Nate Shapiro, a good friend of mine who operated a chain of drugstores in Detroit called the Economical Cunningham Stores, and Nate Shapiro was president of that. The President had need of a man in the Securities and Exchange Commission, as I recall, and he asked me one time to check up with my friend Nate Shapiro about a man that he was considering in the Securities and Exchange Commission and this mans name was MacDowell or McDaniel--I'll have to get it for you later, Jim, because I haven't thought of him for a long time.