Clark Clifford Oral History

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.

As an electronic publication of the Truman Library, users should note that features of the original, hardcopy versions of the oral history interviews, such as pagination and indexing, could not be replicated for the online version of the Clark M. Clifford transcripts.

Findings aids to both the Clark M. Clifford Papers and the Clark M. Clifford Files are also available online.

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 They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.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

• Acheson, Dean, 13, 71, 142, 143, 145, 149, 150, 158, 159-160, 162, 165, 358, 360, 361-362, 363, 366, 427,
  • 428, 437, 445
  Adams, Sherman, 398, 399
  Alabama, 54
  American Bankers, Association, 198
  American Legion, 138, 320
  “American Relations with the Soviet Union--A Report to the President—September 1946”, 14-17, 68, 70, 73-78,
  • 85, 87, 88, 183-186, 213-214, 372-378
  Americans for Democratic Action, 210, 212, 228
  Anderson, Clinton, 35
  Anderson, Patrick, 88, 216
  Anglo-American Alliance, 81-82
  Arabs, 97-98, 139-141
  Arizona, 336, 338
  Attlee, Clement, 46, 372
  Austin, Warren, 157

  Balfour Declaration, 104
  Barkley, Alben W., 228, 230
  Batt, William, Jr., 226, 227
  Belgium, 79
  Berkeley, California, 222
  Berlin airlift, 456
  Biemiller, Andrew J., 264
  Biemiller-Humphrey civil rights plank, 264-266
  Biffle, Leslie, 61, 63, 64, 230, 306
  Biological warfare, 74, 76
  Birkhead, Kenneth, 227
  Bloom, Sol, 143
  Boyle, William M., Jr., 321
  Bridges, Senator Styles, 143
  Brownell, Herbert, 301
  Bulgaria, 78, 254, 373, 456
  Bundy, McGeorge, 14, 92
  Byrnes, James F., 71, 176, 319

  California, 54, 325, 339, 340-341
  Carey, Idaho, 224
  Carr, Albert, 307-308, 310, 314
  Carter, John Franklin, 314-315
  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 129-130
  Chapman, Oscar, 34, 192-193, 337-338
  Chicago Tribune, 381
  Churchill, Winston, 46, 81-82, 372
  Civil rights, 51, 53, 232-234, 260-271, 287-288, 459
  Clayton, William, 159
  Clifford, Clark, 29, 180

  • and “American Relations with the Soviet Union—A Report to the President by the
    Special Council to the President—September 1946,” 14-17, 68, 70, 73-78, 85, 87, 88, 183-186, 213-214,
    • 372-378
    and the “Clifford-Ewing group,” 186-194, 197-198, 226-227, 278
    foreign affairs, and, 18
    and Forrestal, James V., 19
    government, interest in, 4
    and Israel, 95-106
    and the memo of June 26, 1948, 50-52, 213-238
    and Murphy, Charles, 404, 407, 443-444
    Naval Aide, as, 8-9
    poker player, as a, 416-417, 445
    political persuasion of, 205-207
    and the Presidential election campaign of 1948, 272-276, 288-292, 323, 325-331, 333-341
    and the railroad strike, 11-12, 57-64
    and Rosenman, Samuel, 3, 4-5, 6, 7, 9
    as Special Counsel to President Harry S. Truman, 10-14, 17
    and Truman, Harry S. 2-3, 10-14, 17, 65-66, 68-70, 71-72, 442-443, 459-460
    speechwriting for, 290-292, 295-298
    staff of, discussed by, 396-403, 404-412
    and the unification of the Armed forces, 109-119, 120, 122, 123-125
    and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, viewed by, 372-380
    and universal military training, 107-109
    and Vinson’s mission to Moscow, 311-314
    and the White House staff, resigns from, 438-441
    and The White House staffs, concern over the size of, 91-94
  Clifford-Ewing group, 186-194, 197-198, 226-227, 278
  Coal strike, 24, 403
  Colorado, 337
  Comintern, 254, 456
  Commerce Department, 174, 175-177
  Commodity Credit Corporation, 279
  Connally, Senator Tom, 143
  Connelly, Matthew J., 276, 277, 383, 450-453
  Containment, 84-87
  The Crucial Decade, 355
  Czechoslovakia, 79, 254, 373, 456

  Daniels, Jonathan, 103

  • and Truman, Harry S., 319-321
  Davidson, C. Girard, 189, 193
  Dawson, David, 407
  Defense Department, 23, 119-120, 123, 129, 134
  • and foreign policy, 171-174
  Delta Conference at Cleveland, Mississippi, 160, 162
  Democratic National Committee, 274, 316-317, 318
  • Research Division of, 225-226
  Dewey, Thomas, 219, 273, 281, 285, 286, 288, 299, 301, 307, 326, 327, 334, 336, 337, 339, 341
  • and Truman Harry S., 302-305
  Douglas, William O., 230-231
  Drummond, Roscoe, 243
  Dulles, John F., 93

  Early, Stephen, 42
  Eaton, Charles, 143
  Economic Report of 1949, 346
  Economic theory under the administration of Harry S. Truman, 194-198
  Eightieth Congress, 302, 304, 306
  Eisenhower, David D., 93, 118, 228, 398, 424, 451

  • And the 1948 Presidential election, 207-212
  Elsey, George M., 68, 70, 127-129, 157, 272, 288, 290, 355, 408
  “Establishing the Presidential Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services,” 260
  Estonia, 78, 253, 373, 456
  Ewing, Oscar, 34
  • as a member of the Ewing-Clifford group, 187-194, 197-198
  Ewing-Clifford group, 186-194, 197-198, 226-227, 278
  Excelsior Springs, Missouri, 325
  Executive Order 9980, 260, 270
  Executive Order 9981, 260

  F Street Club, 102
  Fair Deal, 66, 67, 348-349
  Farmers, 51
  Federal Reserve Board, 7-8
  Ferdinand Magellan, 289
  Ferrell, Robert, 310
  Florida, 336
  Foley, Edward, 451
  Forrestal, James V., 6, 13, 71, 90, 125, 139, 141, 428, 432-436, 437-438

  • and Clifford, Clark, 19
    and replacement of, 134-136
    and unification of the Armed Forces, 19-23, 114, 115-116
  Forty-three page memo of June 26, 1948, 213-222, 238
  France, 79, 373, 379
  Freeland, Richard, 370
  French Indochina, 247-253
  Fulton, Hugh, 27

  Georgia, 54, 337, 338
  Goldman, Eric, 355
  Great Britain, 79, 81-83, 143, 144, 148, 373, 379
  Greece, 82, 142, 143-144, 148, 455

  • and the Truman Doctrine, 142-154, 155-158

  Harding, Warren, 47
  Hardy, Benjamin, 354, 355, 359
  Harlem, New York, 287
  Harper, Roy, 419
  Harriman, W. Averell, 206
  Harvard University, 162
  Hassett, William D., 383
  Henderson, Loy, 96
  Ho Chi Minh, 247-253
  Hoffman, Paul, 364
  Hoover, Herbert, 342, 343
  Hughes, Charles Evans, 187
  Humphrey, Hubert, 264
  Humphrey-Biemiller civil rights plank, 231-232, 264-266

  Illinois, 54, 325, 366
  Inaugural message of 1949, 344, 345, 346-347, 351, 352-357, 370

  • and the State Department, 358-369
  Independence, Missouri, 323
  Indochina, 247-253
  Inside the Democratic Party, 321
  Iron Curtain Speech, 81-82
  Israel, 139-140, 429
  • recognition of, 95-106
    and Truman, Harry S., 95-106
  Italy, 79, 148, 373

   

  Jacobson, Edward, 105
  Japanese, surrender in World War II, 28-29
  Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, 53-54, 423
  Johnson, Louis, 141

  • a discussion of, 137-139
  Johnson, Lyndon B., 14, 118
  Johnston, Alvanley, 59, 62
  Jones, Joseph, 145, 149, 150, 151
  June trip of 1948 taken by Harry S. Truman, 222-225

  Kaltenborn, H.V., 381-382
  Kennan, George F., 84-86, 88, 89, 90, 147, 164-165
  Kennedy, John F., 14, 118, 123
  Kentucky, 335
  Key West, Florida, 331-333, 344-346, 413-420, 422-423

  • poker playing at, 415-417
  Keyserling, Leon, 189, 194
  Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, 321-323
  King Arthur, 378
  Kissinger, Henry A., 14, 92
  Korea, 126, 248
  Krock, Arthur, 15, 68, 72-73, 183, 243, 329, 334, 338

  Lashly, Jacob M., 449, 450
  Latvia, 78, 253, 373
  Laurence, David, 243
  League of Nations, 453
  Leahy, Admiral William D., 89, 186
  Lenin, V. I., 169
  Lewis, John L., 24, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49, 61
  Lincoln, Abraham, 261, 353, 425
  Lippman, Walter, 243
  Lithuania, 78, 253, 373, 456
  Lloyd, David D., 227, 274

  McAdams, Clark, 206-207
  McGrath, J. Howard, 317, 336
  MacNamara, Robert, 118, 119-120
  Madison Square Garden speech, 175-177, 389-391, 429
  Marines, United States, 114
  Markel, Lester, 294
  Marshall, George, 13, 71, 93, 143, 149, 159-169, 310, 313-314, 319, 362, 429
  Marshall plan, 25, 80, 88, 157, 213, 249, 370, 380, 455

  • and Israel, 96, 97-100, 101, 103, 104, 106
  Martin, Representative Joseph W., 143
  Marx, Karl, 374
  Maryland, 337
  Massachusetts, 337
  Memoirs, by Kennan, George F., 147, 158
  Memoirs, by Truman, Harry S., 180-181
  Memorandum of June 26, 1948, 50-52, 213-238
  Michigan, 54, 325, 335
  Miller, Emma Guffey, 237
  Missouri, 334
  Montana, 4
  Morse, David A., 189
  Morse, Wayne, 64
  Muehlebach, Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, 325
  Murphy, Charles, 189, 315-316, 408, 409, 410, 441
  • and Clifford, Clark, 404-407, 443-444

  Nash, Philleo, 319
  National Association of Manufacturers, 198
  National Military Establishment, 134
  National Plowing Match, Dexter, Iowa, 282
  Nation Security Act, 127, 129, 132
  National Security Council, 125, 126-127,
  National Security Resources Board, 129, 130-132
  Naval Aide to the President, 8-9
  Navy Department of, 113

  • and Clifford, Clark, 2-4, 5-6, 8-9
    and Unification of the Armed Forces, 112-115
  New Deal, 66-67
  New Jersey, 336
  New Mexico, 338
  New York, 300-302
  New York Times, 294, 329
  Newsweek, 243-245
  Niles, David K., 96, 105-106, 319
  Nixon, Richard M., 14, 92, 388
  North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 80, 88, 166, 214, 357, 380, 455
  North Carolina, 337, 338
  Noyes, David M., 307-310, 314
  Nuclear weapons planning, 74, 76-77

  Ohio, 54, 325, 335
  Oil, 139-141
  Oklahoma, 335
  Omaha, Nebraska, 223
  Oregon, 64

  Palestine, 96, 102
  Patterson, Robert Porter, 13
  Patton, Jim, 280
  Pennsylvania, 340
  Pentagon, 83, 119, 134
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 255, 258
  Phillips, Cabel, 57, 198-199, 207
  Point IV, 347, 352-357, 358-359, 363-364
  Poland, 78, 254
  Political memorandum of June 26, 1948, 50-52, 213-238
  Potsdam Conference, 3, 46, 372, 374
  Present at the Creation, 143, 149, 358, 445
  Presidential Electors Association dinner of 1949, 380-382
  Presidential Election Campaign of 1948

  • civil rights as an issue, 260-271
    and Clifford Clark, 272-276,
    and the Democratic National Committee, 316-317, 318
    and the Democratic National Convention, 228-233
    Eightieth Congress, as an issue in, 302, 304, 306
    June trip of 1948, 222-225
    and New York State, 300-302
    the Progressive Party and, 298-299
    the Research Division of the Democratic National Committee, and, 225-226, 316, 318
    results of, 54, 325-331, 333-341
    States Rights Party, and, 298, 299
    Thurmond, Strom, and, 298, 299
    Truman, Harry S., and, 281-286, 288-292
    • chances of winning, 242-246
      Dewey, Thomas, uses as an issue in, 302-305
      Kiel Auditorium speech of, 321-323
    and Turnip Day speech, 238, 240-244
    and Wallace, Henry, 298-299, 300, 301
  The President’s Men, 88, 216, 402
  The Progressive Party, 298-299
  Public Papers of the President, 286, 352

  Railroad strikes, 11-12, 37-41, 48, 57-64
  Rayburn, Representative Sam, 143, 241
  “Red herring,” 391
  “Regulations Governing Fair Employment Practices within the Federal Establishment,” 260, 270
  Republican Party, 281-282
  Research Division of the Democratic National Committee, 225-226, 274, 316, 318
  Reston, Scotty, 243
  Rhode Island, 336, 338
  Roberts, Chalmers, 247
  Romania, 78, 253, 373, 456
  Roosevelt, Franklin, 20, 30, 31, 32, 39, 41-42, 43-44, 48, 53, 65, 66, 67, 181, 195, 206, 208, 212, 216, 217,

  • 219, 230, 236, 247, 258, 259, 261-262, 270, 291, 292, 293, 294, 393, 403-404, 411-412, 457, 458
  Rosenman, Judge Samuel, 10, 12, 17, 25, 37, 42, 55-56, 64-67, 120, 121, 180, 235, 291, 293, 369, 403, 411
  • and Clifford Clark, 3, 4-5, 6, 7, 9
    and Truman, Harry S., 255-256
    and the twenty-one point message to Congress, 29-30, 31
  Ross, Charles, 29, 36, 58-59, 180, 276-277, 297, 382, 385, 386, 390
  Rostow, Walt, 14
  Rowe, James, 216
  Russell, Senator Richard B., 268
  “Russian Report,” See “American Relations with the Soviet Union.”

  St. Louis, Missouri, 1, 33, 122, 321-322, 323, 324
  St. Louis Post Dispatch, 206
  Selective Service Act, 421
  Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 162
  Sherwood, Robert, 291
  Sir Lancelot, 378
  Snyder, John, 29, 33-34, 37, 38, 201, 451
  Souers, Sidney, 130
  South Carolina, 53
  The South and Truman, Harry S., 52-54
  Special Council to the President, Clark Clifford as, 10-14, 17
  Soviet Union, relations with the United States, 183-186
  Stalin, Joseph, 372, 373
  State Department:

  • and foreign policy, 171-174
    and Point IV, 358-369
  State of the Union Address of 1949, 344, 345, 346, 347-351, 352, 359
  State, War, and Navy Building, 318-319
  States Rights Party, 298, 299
  Steel Strike of 1952, 420
  Steelman, John R., 29, 36, 62-63, 132, 201, 203, 383, 398, 400, 401, 402-403, 431
  Stowe, David H., 132, 407
  Strategy Services, Office of, 130
  Studebaker Corporation, 364
  Symington, Senator Stuart, 123
  Symington Committee, 123

  Taft, Robert A., 273
  Taft-Hartley Act, 49-51, 204, 278, 304, 421, 422
  Tennessee, 335
  Texas, 23, 338
  Thurmond, J. Strom, 298, 299, 335, 339
  Time magazine, 311, 312
  Trieste, 455
  Truman, Harry S., 5, 7, 9-10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 24, 27, 42-43, 44, 65-66, 83, 84, 87, 90, 130, 132, 178-179,

  • • 198-199, 220, 221, 229, 230, 371, 457
  • accomplishments of, 453-459
    administrator, as an, 384-385
    Carter, Jay Franklin, a discussion of his article written about, 107-110
    and civil rights, 51, 53, 232-234, 260-271, 287-288, 459
    and Clifford, Clark, 459-460
    • advances in the administration of, 68-70, 71-72
      first meeting with, 2, 3
      relationship with, 442-443
      resignation from the offices of, 438-441
    criticism of, 448
    Daniels, Jonathan, and, 319-321
    and Dewey, Thomas, 302-305
    economic theory under the administration of, 194-198
    and the Eightieth Congress, 302, 304, 306
    and Eisenhower, Dwight D., 207-212
    and the Fair Deal, 348-349
    and Forrestal, James V., 134-136
    and the Inaugural of 1949, 344, 345, 346-347, 351, 352-357, 370
    • and the State Department and, 358-369
    and Indochina, 247-253
    and Israel, 95-106
    and the June trip of 1948, 222-225
    and Kaltenborn, H.V., 381-382
    and Key West, Florida, 331-333, 344-346, 413-420
    and the Marshall plan, 159-169
    Memoirs of, 180-183
    and the National Security Council, 125, 126-127
    and New York State, 300-302
    and Point IV, 352-357, 358-359, 363-364
    politics of, 198-205
    and the pre-press conferences of, 385-388
    Presidency; on assuming the office, 393-395
    Presidential election campaign of 1948, 228-237
    • chances of winning, 242-246
      outcome of, 325-331
      as the underdog, 281-284, 286
    attends Presidential Electors Association dinner of 1949, 380-382
    press conferences, 388
    and Noyes, David, 307-310
    and the railroad strike, 11-12, 37-41, 57-64
    the retirement of, 445-447, 448-449
    Roosevelt, Franklin D., 258-260
    and Rosenman, Samuel, 255-256
    and the South, 52-54
    speeches of, 290-292, 293-298, 307
    staff of, 180-183, 396-403, 404-412, 426-435
    staff meetings of, 382-384
    State of the Union message of 1949, 344, 345, 346, 347-351, 352, 359
    strength of, 47
    submarine ride of, 417-419
    and the Taft-Hartley Act, 49-51, 204
    and the Truman Doctrine, 142-153, 161, 166
    and Turnip Day, 238, 240-244
    and Twenty-one point message 29-31
    and the unification of the Armed Services, 19-23, 110-119
    and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, 168-170, 372-380
    and Universal Military training, 107-109, 122-123
    and the Vinson Mission to Moscow, 309-314
    and Wallace, Henry, 174-177, 389-391
    and Warren, Earl, 340-342
  Truman, Mrs. Harry S. “Bess”, 245, 289, 328
  Truman, Margaret, 289
  Truman Doctrine, 25, 80, 142-154, 155-158, 161, 166, 213, 380, 455
  Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism, 370
  Truman Library, 342-343, 348
  Turkey, 82, 455
  • and the Truman Doctrine, 142-153, 154, 155-158
  Turnip Day, 238, 240-244
  Twenty-one point message of September 6, 1945, 24, 29-31

  Unification of the Armed Services, 6-7, 19-23, 70, 141-142

  • difficulties in, 107, 109-119, 120, 123-125
  Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, 84, 102, 104, 144, 146, 147, 152, 154, 155, 156, 168-170, 253-254
  • and American Relations with the Soviet Union, 372-380
  United Kingdom, 373, 379
  United Mine Workers, 218
  United Nations, 357
  • and the Truman Doctrine, 156, 157-159
  United States, relations with the Soviet Union, 372-380
  United States Chamber of Commerce, 198
  Universal Military Training, 69, 107-109
  University of California, 222
  Unsigned memo of June 26, 1948, 213-222, 238-240
  Utah, 336

  Vandenberg, Arthur, 143, 262
  Vardamar, Commodore James K., 1-2, 3, 5, 7-8, 125
  Vaughan, General Harry, 382, 383
  Vietnam, 147, 247-253
  Vinson, Fred, 309, 422, 446

  • proposed mission to Moscow, 309-314
  Virginia, 337

  Wadsworth, James Wolcott, 109
  Wallace, Henry, 174, 175-177, 219, 298-299, 300, 301, 429

  • Madison Square Garden speech of, 389-391
  War Mobilization and Reconversion, 33
  Wardman Park Hotel, 186
  Warren, Earl,
  • and Truman, Harry S., 340-342
  Washington, D.C. 324
  Washington, George, 267, 353
  Washington Post, 247
  Washington University, 1
  Weiler, Marry M. 329, 330
  Wizman, Dr. Chiam, 104
  West Virginia, 336, 338
  White House staff, size of, 91-94
  Whitney, A.F. 59, 60, 61, 62
  Wilson, Charles, 420, 422
  Woodring, Harry H., 138
  Wyoming, 338

  Yugoslavia, 79