Dates: 1940-1941
The papers of Max Lowenthal contain correspondence and printed materials concerning the FBI and proposed wiretapping legislation.
Size: 2.5 linear inches (approx. 200 pages).
Access: Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National and International Affairs. Open.
Copyright: The donor gave its copyright interest in writings in this collection, and in any other collection in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, to the United States of America. Documents created by U.S. Government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents in this collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Angela Goff (2016)
Updated by: Angela Goff (2016) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
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1888 (February 26) |
Born Max Lowenthal, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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1909 |
B. A., University of Minnesota |
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1912 |
Graduated from Harvard Law School |
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1915-1971 |
Prominent attorney and government consultant |
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1935-1941 |
Chief Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce |
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1935-1971 |
Friend and unofficial adviser to Harry S. Truman |
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1950 |
Published an expose of the FBI, The Federal Bureau of Investigation |
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1971 (May 18) |
Died, New York City |
The papers of Max Lowenthal contain correspondence and printed materials concerning the FBI and proposed wiretapping legislation. The collection is arranged in a singles series, the Subject File.
The Subject File contains materials reflecting Lowenthal's opposition to wiretapping and his concern that the FBI was trying to increase the scope of its authority and investigative powers in ways that might threaten democracy. Included are references to Senator Harry S. Truman, a longtime friend of Lowenthal. There is also correspondence between the historian Mary Beard and a special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, Alexander Holtzoff, regarding J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI, and its alleged abuses of power. Other notable persons mentioned in the correspondence include Senator Burton Wheeler and John Edward Cooper.
More information concerning Lowenthal and the wiretapping controversy can be found at the Truman Library in the papers of Harry S. Truman (Papers as U.S. Senator and Vice-President, President's Secretary's Files, President's Personal File, and Post-Presidential Papers), Tom Clark, and George Elsey. The Library also has an online oral history interview with Lowenthal. A larger collection of Lowenthal's papers is at the University of Minnesota Archives.
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1 |
SUBJECT FILE, 1940-1941 Correspondence and printed materials concerning the FBI and proposed wiretapping legislation. |
Box 1
- Wire Tapping Resolution