White House Office, Office of the Special Assistant for Executive Appointments

89 Pages·2008·0.09 MB·English

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY
ABILENE, KANSAS

WHITE HOUSE OFFICE, OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR
EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS; RECORDS, 1952-61

Pre-Accession
Processed by: JAW, JL
Date Completed: November 23, 1972

The records of the Office of the Special Assistant for Executive Appointments were deposited in
the Eisenhower Library in 1961. Because this accession is considered part of President
Eisenhower’s papers, it is covered by the letter of gift of Dwight D. Eisenhower to Franklin
Floete, dated April 13, 1960.

Linear Feet shelf space occupied: 33.2
Approximate number of pages: 61,540
Approximate number of items: 50,340

Literary rights in these papers are vested in the People of the United States.

As indicated in President Eisenhower’s letter of April 13, 1960, the following classes of
documents will be withheld from research use:

1. Papers that are security-classified pursuant to law or Executive Order until such
classification shall be removed.

2. Papers the use of which may be prejudicial to the maintenance of good relations with
foreign nations.

3. Papers containing statements made by or to me in confidence.

4. Papers relating to my family or private business affairs, and papers relating to the
families or private business affairs of persons who have had correspondence with me.

5. Papers containing statements about individuals which might be used to injure or
harass them or members of their families.

6. Such other individual files as I, or my representative, or the Administrator of General
Services may specify.
HISTORICAL NOTE

When the Eisenhower Administration took office in 1953, the Republicans lacked a coordinated
program to handle the job of filling Presidential appointments and other jobs outside the U.S.
Civil Service with people who were both competent and politically acceptable. President
Eisenhower recommended that such a program be worked out and appointed Charles F. Willis
Jr., as Special Assistant to coordinate its development. In May 1954 Mr. Willis sent a prospectus
to all Federal departments, Republican senators and congressmen, and other interested officials.
In June of that same year the program went into effect. The Office of Special Assistant for
Executive Appointments continued to function until the end of the administration. After Charles
Willis left the post, the position of Special Assistant was held successively by Edward Tait,
Robert Gray, and Robert Hampton.
SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection of records of the Office of Special Assistant for Executive Appointments
generated during the Eisenhower Administration focuses on the patronage appointments of the
executive branch of the federal government for the period 1953-1961.

More than three-fourths of this accession consists of data used by the Office of the Special
Assistant for Executive Appointments. This data was kept in two files, an index and a
biographical file. The personnel index was developed as a tracking device to locate
correspondence concerning endorsements. Most, if not all, of this correspondence is filed in the
Central Files and may be found by reference to that file without the use of this index. The
biographical file contains biographical sketches of members of the administration and possible
candidates for appointive positions. These sketches, which appear to have been written by both
the staff and the applicants, contain information called from various Who’s Whos, trade journals,
and newspapers as well as information supplied by the applicants.

A small portion of the file relates to the identification of positions which needed to be filled.
Notebooks were kept which contained information on appointive offices within the departments
and independent agencies. Each entry listed the name of the incumbent, the length of his term,
his duties and salary was well as the laws governing appointment. There is also correspondence,
memoranda, lists and reports on upcoming vacancies, resignations, appointments, and
evaluations of the effectiveness of the program.

About 9% of this accession is composed of miscellaneous material generated by the special
patronage assistants and those who shared their office. Included in this file are: material on the
operation of the National Citizens for Eisenhower Congressional Committee during the 1954
campaign, drafts of speeches on disarmament and radio-active material, copies of Robert
Cutler’s outgoing letters from the fall of 1956, campaign speeches of Mary Keedick and Robert
Gray, a Republican Speech Kit for 1956, speeches of Robert Gray on the budget and the “New
Republicanism,” 1960 campaign material, and drafts of the 1961 State of the Union Message.
DESCRIPTION OF SERIES

Box Nos. Series

1-14 Personnel Index, 1952-60. 14 containers. 3” x 5” cards arranged alphabetically by the
name of the person endorsed.

15-25 Personnel Index, 1952-60. 11 containers. 3” x 5” cards filed first by executive
department, branch of government, or independent agency, with further breakdown
by organizations within each department. Final arrangement is alphabetically by the
name of the person endorsed.

26-27 Personnel Index, 1952-60. 2 containers. 3” x 5” cards filed by category, e.g., attorney,
economists, and minorities. Within each section, cards are arranged alphabetically by
the name of the potential candidate.

28-42 Biographical File, 1952-60. 15 containers. Brief biographical sketches of members of
the administration and possible candidates for appointive positions arranged
alphabetically.

43-45 Presidential Appointments. 3 containers. 9 updated notebooks containing position
information on appointive offices within the departments and independent agencies.
The first volume contains an index.

45-51 Administrative Files, 1952-61. 7 containers. Correspondence, memoranda, reports
and lists re: vacancies, potential candidates, appointments, resignations and the
Personnel Management Program arranged alphabetically by topic.

52-56 Miscellaneous File, 1953-61. 5 containers. Correspondence, reports, speech kits,
“Fact Papers”, campaign memorabilia and drafts of speeches organized in rough
chronological order.
CONTAINER LIST

Box No. Contents

Personnel Index, 1952-60

1 A-Belc

2 Beld-Burk

3 Burl-Cous

4 Cout-Edl

5 Edm-Geo

6 Ger-Hef

7 Hei-Jus

8 K-Ly

9 Mc-Moo

10 Mor-Pittm

11 Pitts-Schild

12 Schill-Sz

13 T-Whi
14 Why-Zu

Personnel Index, 1952-60

15 State

Caribbean Commission

Development Loan Fund

Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission

G.A.T.T.

International Atomic Energy Agency

Int[ernational] Bank for Recon[struction] and Develop[ment]

International Boundary and Water Comm[ission]

International Boundary Comm[ission] U.S., Canada and Alaska

Internat[ional] Civil Aviation Organ[ization]

In[ternational] Com[mission] Northwest Atlantic Fisheries

Internat[ional] Civil Aviation Organ[ization]

Internat[ional] Cooperation Administration--Dir[ector] and Dep[uty] Dir[ector]

Internat[ional] Development Advisory Board [ICA]

Intern[ational] Joint Comm[ission], U.S. and Canada

International Labor Organiz[ation]

ILO--Geneva 1958--not Presidential

Internat[ional] North Pacific Fisheries Commission

Mexican Pres[idential] Inauguration

Olympic Games 1960

Pan Amer[ican] Railway Cong[ress] Assoc[iation]
President’s Representatives

South Pacific Commission

Ambassadors

United Nations

Mass Communications for UNESCO

Inter-Amer[ica] Child Instit[ute], U.S. Rep[resentative]

Legal Adviser State

16 Commerce

Bureau of Standards

Civil Aeronautics Admin[istration]

Coast and Geodetic Survey

Federal Highway Administra[tion]--Commerce Dept.

Federal Maritime Administration

Federal Maritime Board

Patent Office

Justice

Ass[istant] Att[orney] Gen[eral]

Interior

Bureau of Mines

Commissioner of Indian Aff[airs]

Commissioner of Reclamation

Solicitor for the Dep[artment] of Interior
Ter[ritory] and Island Possessions

Governor of Alaska

Governor of Guam

Governor of Hawaii

Sec[retary] Territory of Hawaii

Governor of Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands Corporation

Government Secretary for the Virgin Isl[ands]

17 Labor [divider only]

Secretary of Labor

Assistant or Undersecretary of Labor

Commissioner of Labor Statistics

Director of Women’s Bureau

Solicitor for Dept. Of Labor

Wage and Hour Division--Labor Dept.

Treasury [divider only]

Annual Assay Commission

Appraiser of Merchandise at the Port of New York

Assayer, U.S. Assay Office [New York, New York]

Assayer of the Mint of the U.S. at Denver

Bureau of Inter[nal] Revenue

Collector of Customs

Commissioner of Narcotics
U.S. Comptroller of Currency

Comptroller of Customs

Director of the Mint

General Counsel for Dept. Of the Treasury

Inter- Amer[ica] Development Bank

Register of the Treasury

Sup[erintendent] of U.S. Assay Office

Sup[erintendent] of Mint

Treasurer of the U.S.

Defense

General Counsel

Court of Military Appeals

Dept. of Army

Sec[retary] of Army

Assist[ant] Sec[retary] of Army

Undersec[retary of Army

Adjutant Gen[eral]

Chief of Finance

Judge Advocate General

Nat[ional] Guard Adjut[ant] Gen[eral]

Nat[ional] Guard Bureau

Registrar of the [United States Military Academy]

Surgeon General of the Army
Dept. of Navy

Sec[retary] of Navy

Undersec[retary] of Navy

Assist[ant] Sec[retary] of Navy

Chief, Bur[eau] of Yards and Docks

Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy

Commandant of Marine Corps

Dept. of Air Force

Sec[retary] of Air Force

Undersec[retary] of Air Force

Assist[ant] Sec[retary] of Air Force

18 Agriculture

Commodity Credit Corp[oration]

Farmers’ Home Administration

Rural Elec[trification] Administration

General Counsel of Agriculture

Post Office

Health, Education and Welfare

Board of Regents, National Library of Medicine

Chief, Children’s Bureau

Commissioner of Education

Commissioner of Soc[ial] Sec[urity]