Souers, Sidney W. Papers

Dates: 1916-1973

Director of Central Intelligence 1946-1947; Executive Secretary, National Security Council, 1947-1950; Special Consultant to President Harry S. Truman on Military and Foreign Affairs 1950-1953

The papers of Sidney W. Souers consist of certificates, press clippings, reports, correspondence, diplomas, invitations, printed materials, programs, and the contents of two scrapbooks mostly concerning his career in business, government, and the military, and his relationship with President Harry S. Truman.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 10 linear inches (about 1,600 pages)
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government her copyrights in this material and in any other material received by the U.S. government and maintained in a depository administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1973); Jim Armistead and Janice Davis (2010).


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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1892 (March 30)

  

Born, Dayton, Ohio

1911-1912

  

Attended Purdue University

1914

  

A.B., Miami University of Ohio

1920-1925

  

President, Mortgage & Securities Company, New Orleans

1925-1926

  

Executive, Piggly Wiggly Stores, Memphis

1925-1930

  

Executive Vice President, Canal Bank & Trust Company, New Orleans

1930-1933

  

Vice President, Missouri State Life Insurance Company, St. Lo

1933-1973

  

Executive, General American Life Insurance Company

1940-1946

  

Officer on active duty, U.S. Naval Reserve, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral

1944-1946

  

Assistant Director and Deputy Chief, Office of Naval Intelligence

1946 (January 23-June 10)

  

Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Group

1947-1950

  

Executive Secretary, National Security Council

1950-1953

  

Special Consultant to President Harry S. Truman on Military and Foreign Affairs

1973 (January 14)

  

Died, St. Louis, Missouri
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Sidney W. Souers consist of certificates, press clippings, reports, correspondence, diplomas, invitations, printed materials, programs, and the contents of two scrapbooks mostly concerning his career in business, government, and the military, and his relationship with President Harry S. Truman. The collection is arranged alphabetically in a single series.

The collection contains a significant amount of personal correspondence between Admiral Souers and President Truman, dating from 1945 to Truman’s death in 1972. Also included is correspondence with and letters from such persons as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, General Douglas MacArthur, Senator Henry Jackson, Congressman Frank Boykin, Allen W. Dulles, George F. Kennan, and Stewart Alsop.

The printed materials and other documents in the collection mostly relate to the business activities of Sidney Souers, his service in the U.S. Navy, and his career in government as the first Director of Central Intelligence, the first Executive Secretary of the National Security Council, and Special Consultant to President Truman on national security issues.

Related materials at the Truman Library include the Harry S. Truman Papers (President’s Secretary’s Files and National Security Council Files), the George M. Elsey Papers, and a number of online oral history interviews.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

  

Series

1-2

   SUBJECT FILE, 1916-1973
Certificates, press clippings, reports, correspondence, diplomas, invitations, printed materials, programs, and the contents of two scrapbooks mostly concerning Souers’s career in business, government, and the military, and his relationship with President Harry S. Truman. Arranged alphabetically.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1916-1973

Box 1

  • “Administration of National Security—Inquiry of the Subcommittee on National Security Staffing and Operations”
  • Binder, “For the Attention of the President”
  • Books
  • Certificates and Diplomas
  • Correspondence, 1953-1972
  • FBI National Academy—Graduation Exercises, September 29, 1950
  • Hoover, J. Edgar— Correspondence, 1947-1953
  • Invitations and Programs
  • Lindenwood College- Diploma, Programs, Press Clipping
  • Logs of Presidential Trips
  • Montague, Ludwell— Correspondence, 1969=1971
  • National Policy Machinery, Senate Subcommittee on— Correspondence, 1959-1960
  • National Security Council
  • News Clippings
  • “Organizing for National Security—Inquiry of the Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery, Committee on Government Operations,” Volume 1
  • “Organizing for National Security—Inquiry of the Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery, Committee on Government Operations,” Volumes 2 and 3
  • Photographs
  • Printed Materials

Box 2

  • Scrapbook, 1916-1966
  • Scrapbook, 1946-1953
  • Souers, Sidney W.—Death of
  • Truman, Harry S.— Correspondence, 1945-1964
  • Truman, Harry S.— Correspondence, 1964-1972
  • Truman, Harry S.— Death of
  • U.S. Naval Intelligence Service, “Manual of Operational Intelligence for the Caribbean Sea Frontier,” October, 1943
  • White House Counsel
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