Bell, David E. Papers

Budget Examiner, Bureau of the Budget, 1945-1947; Special Assistant in the White House, 1947-1948, 1949-1951; Assistant to the Chief, Fiscal Division, Bureau of the Budget, 1948-1949; Administrative Assistant to the President, 1951-1953

The papers of David E. Bell consist of speeches by former President Harry S. Truman, press releases, Congressional voting records and Presidential messages to Congress. These papers primarily span the years when Mr. Bell served in the Bureau of the Budget and the White House from 1945 - 1953. Also included are papers obtained during his service as Director of the Bureau of the Budget from 1961 - 1962. Further miscellaneous materials included are correspondence, a map of Independence, Missouri, and a chart of the organization of federal executive departments and agencies.

See also David E. Bell Files and Oral History.

Size: 1.2 linear feet (about 2,400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: David Bell did not donate his copyright interest in these papers to the U.S. government. Documents created by U.S. government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1973)
Updated by: Sondra Pena (2004) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and Amy Williams.

The papers of David E. Bell are organized into one series which is arranged alphabetically. The date span is 1945 - 1979 although there is a considerable gap in the time span of the materials. The bulk of the documents are from the years 1945 - 1952 with only two folders representing the years 1961 and 1962 and only a couple of documents dated 1979. The papers of David E. Bell consist primarily of Presidential Messages to Congress and speech drafts for the 1952 Presidential campaign. These speeches were delivered by Harry S. Truman in his support for Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson. The messages to Congress include those of the 79th (first and second sessions), the 80th (first and second sessions), the 81st (first and second sessions), the 82nd (first and second sessions, and the 87th (first and second sessions). The messages all contain remarks on a wide variety of policy areas delivered by President Truman and then later by President John F. Kennedy. Also included in this file is a comprehensive voting record analysis. This summary of voting records of Committee Chairmen and other senior members of the Congress on issues of importance to the Truman administration was compiled at the request of President Truman himself. A memorandum from Kenneth Hechler to Mr. Bell with a copy of a letter from President Truman is attached to this document outlining the specifics of his request. Various other documents found in this collection include trip itineraries and press releases for the 1952 campaign as well as correspondence with the donor, David E. Bell, a governmental organizational chart, and a map of Independence, Missouri.