Leon H. Keyserling Oral History Interviews

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 oral history interview.

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 They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

Appendix I: Unsigned memorandum, dated June 29, 1948, entitled "Should the President call Congress back?" (Truman Library Personal Papers Collection, Papers of Samuel I. Rosenman, 1944-1966: Box 9; Subject File; 1948; Campaign 1948; HST Acceptance Speech).

Appendix II: Copy of June 25, 1946 letter from Senator Robert Taft to Wilson Wyatt, Administrator of the National Housing Agency, recommending Leon Keyserling for the position of Commissioner of the Federal Public Housing Authority (Truman Library Papers of Harry S. Truman Collection, Staff Member and Office Files, Clark M. Clifford Files: Box 7; Housing Administration [Folder 2 of 2]).

• 80
  Adams, Sherman, 125
  Agricultural Adjustment Administration, 5, 6
  Altmeyer, Arthur, 16
  American Economic Committee, 30, 31


 

• 88
  Beaufort County (S.C.) Welfare Board, 2
  Beaufort, South Carolina, 1, 2
  Bell, David E., 99, 103, 104
  Biffle, Leslie L., 177
  Black, Hugo L., 34, 176
  Blough, Roy, 108, 167
  Brandeis, Louis, 18
  Brannan, Charles F., 53, 58, 67, 78
  Budget, U.S. Bureau of the, 163-164, 166-170
  Burns, Arthur, 42, 125, 140, 150-151, 164, 190
  Burton, Harold H., 73
  Byrnes, James F., 6, 73


 

• 182-183
  Cardozo, Benjamin N., 13, 14
  Chapman, Oscar L., 77, 78
  Charleston, South Carolina, 1
  Civil rights, 81-82
  Clark, John D., 37, 41-42, 54, 108, 112-113, 115, 122, 130
  Clifford, Clark M., 51, 56, 58, 64, 67-70, 72, 73, 76, 99, 100, 103, 110, 111, 187
  Cohen, Benjamin, 36
  Colm, Gerhard, 126, 179-182
  Collett, J. Caskie, 74
  Columbia University, 4
  Corcoran, Thomas G., 36
  Council of Economic Advisers, 29-32, 37, 40-55
  Council of Economic Advisers:
  • appointments to, 40-43, 106-109, 111-112, 129-130, 148
    budget for, 123-125
    Congressional liaison, and, 173-177
    economic policies during Korean War, 133-139, 156-158
    economic policy of the Truman administration, impact on, 192-194
    function of, 44-46, 49-53
    membership, background and qualifications, 130-132, 145-147
    policies, general economic, 84-86, 88-92
    political activities by members of, 189-191
    problems of administration/policy, 140-147, 149-155, 165-167
    Recession of 1949, and the, 184-188
    staffing of, 126-129, 180-184
    staff meetings of, 178-180

• 58, 67, 78, 79
  Davis, John C., 183
  Davis, William H., 29
  Defense budget, U.S. (Korean War), 113-120
  Defense Production Act of 1950, 156-158
  Democratic National Convention, 1936, 35
  Democratic National Convention, 1940, 35-36
  Democratic National Contention, 1944, 36-37
  Democratic National Convention, 1948, 36
  Dickinson, John, 7
  Douglas, Paul H., 48
  Dykstra, Clarence, 25

• 124, 125
  Ellender, Allen J., 19, 20
  Elsey, George, 102
  Employment, legislation on, 25-30
  Ewing, Oscar R., 57, 64, 78


 

• 160-161
  Federal Reserve System, 47-49
  Fisher, Joseph, 128
  Frank, Jerome, 6, 7, 8
  Fulton, Hugh, 40


 

• 87, 152
  Green, William, 11, 29
  Gross, Bertram, 27, 28, 127, 183
  Gruenther, Alfred, 90


 

• 53, 140
  Harrison, Pat, 13
  Hatch, Carl, 73
  Heller, Walter, 42, 152
  Homans, Paul, 126
  Housing legislation, 19-23, 34, 40


 

• 9
  Inflation, 194-197
  Israel, 3


 

• 184
  Johnson, Hugh, 10
  Johnson, Louis A., 113, 117
  Joint Economic Committee, 120-123, 151, 174


 

• 62-63, 92-95, 116, 117, 153
  Kingsley, Donald, 57, 80
  Kirstein, Louis, 11
  Kissinger, Henry A., 51
  Korean War, economic policies during, 88-92, 118-120, 133-139, 156-158


 

• 34
  Lawton, Frederick J., 168, 169
  Lewis, Daniel J., 15
  Lewis, John L., 11
  Lewis, John P., 128
  Lovett, Robert A., 91, 137


 

• 48
  McCormack, John W., 36, 37
  McGrath, J. Howard, 58, 78
  Marshall, George C., 91-92, 137
  Martin, William M., Jr., 48, 94, 142
  Maybank, Burnet R., 124
  Mellett, Lowell, 36
  Minton, Sherman, 34, 73
  Mitchell, Wesley C., 25
  Montague, Gilbert H., 7
  Morse, David, 58, 78
  Moulton, Harold G., 7
  Murphy, Charles S., 32, 33, 58, 67, 72, 73, 98
  Murray, James E., 27
  Murray, Philip, 29

• 7-10, 13, 34
  National Labor Relations Act, 12-13
  Nitze, Paul, 138
  Nixon, Richard M., 186
  Norris, George W., 24
  Nourse, Edwin G., 37, 41, 49-55, 71, 108, 109, 111-115, 122, 126, 142, 172, 190


 

• 174
  O'Donnell, Kenneth, 63
  Okun, Arthur M., 42
  O'Mahoney, Joseph C., 27, 74, 124


 

• 25-26
  Pace, Frank, 168-169
  Patman, Wright, 27
  Patton, James G., 29
  Perkins, Frances, 12, 16
  Phillips, Cabell, 61, 80, 83-84
  Phillips, Dayton E., 123
  Podell, David, 8
  Porter, Paul, 53
  Presidential election (1952), 198-199
  Pritchard, Edward, 28
  Public works, 9


 

• 184-187
  Richberg, Donald, 10
  Riefler, Winfield, 8
  Rifkind, Simon H., 7, 8
  Robinson, Joseph T., 13
  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 10, 11, 13, 16, 22, 35, 85, 175, 176
  Rosenberg, Anna, 29
  Rosenman, Samuel I., 22
  Ruml, Beardsley, 25, 26
  Rusk, Dean, 62, 63
  Russell, Richard D., 74

• 1
  Salant, Walter, 126, 183
  Saltonstall, Leverett, 124
  Saulnier, Raymond J., 42
  Sawyer, Charles, 75, 155
  Schlesinger, Arthur, 62
  Senate, U.S., 38, 39
  Smith, Alfred E., 24
  Smith, Ellison D., 6
  Smith, Harold, 168
  Snyder, John W., 48, 74, 75, 142, 145, 155, 156
  Social Security Act, 15-19
  South Carolina Produce Association, 2
  Speeches, Presidential, drafting of, 97-100
  State of the Union Messages, 170-172
  Steelman, John R., 74, 105-111
  Stowe, David H., 99, 103
  Supreme Court, U.S., 13-14, 176-177
  Swope, Gerard, 7, 11
  Swope Plan, 7


 

• 19-22, 120-125
  Teagle, Walter, 11
  Thomas, Elmer, 27
  Truman Committee, 40
  Truman, Harry S.:
  • abilities as President, 74-75
    Budget, U.S., knowledge of, 169-170
    civil rights, and, 81-82
    Council of Economic Advisers, appointments to, 40-42, 106-109, 129, 130, 148
    Council of Economic Advisers, knowledge of functions, 49-51, 53, 87, 92
    Federal Reserve system, and the, 47-48
    Keyserling, Leon, relationship with, 76, 145
    mentioned, 28, 29
    monetary policy, U.S., and, 142-143
    Nourse, Edwin G., relationship with, 54-55
    political philosophy, 73-74, 80-81
    President, evolution of as, 199-204
    Senate, U.S., service in, 37-40
    Wardman Park group, influence on, 64-68, 71, 80
  The Truman Presidency, 80, 83
  Tugwell, Rexford G., 3, 4, 6, 8


 

• 194-197
  Unemployment insurance, 15-17, 19


 

• 29

• 3, 8-17, 19, 20, 23-25, 27, 33-38, 75
  Wallace, Henry A., 8
  Wardman Park group, 57-61, 63-72, 77-80, 83, 96-98, 101
  Waugh, Frederick, 126, 179, 183
  Webb, James E., 114, 117, 168, 169
  Whitney, A.F. 25
  Wilson, Charles E., 48, 91, 137, 142-143
  Wilson, Woodrow, 18
  Wolman, Leo, 11