Max Lowenthal | |
|---|---|
 Max Lowenthal in his Washington office (1939) | |
| Born | Mordechai Lowenthal (1888-02-26)February 26, 1888 Minneapolis, Minnesota, US |
| Died | May 18, 1971(1971-05-18) (aged 83) New York City, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Minnesota |
| Alma mater | Harvard Law School |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, government legal counselor |
| Years active | 1923–1967 |
| Known for | Friendship withHarry S. Truman, mentorship ofCarol Weiss King |
| Notable work | The Federal Bureau of Investigation (1950) (book) |
| Children | David Lowenthal,John Lowenthal,Elizabeth Lowenthal |
| Relatives | Julian Mack (wife's uncle) |
| Family | David Lowenthal andJohn Lowenthal (sons);Betty Levin (daughter) |
Max Lowenthal (1888–1971) was aWashington, DC, political figure in all three branches of the federal government in the 1930s and 1940s, during which time he was closely associated with the rising career ofHarry S. Truman; he served underOscar R. Ewing on an "unofficial policy group" within the Truman administration (1947–1952).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Mordechai Lowenthal was born on February 26, 1888, inMinneapolis, Minnesota. In the 1870s, his parents Nathan (Naphtali) Lowenthal and Gertrude (Nahamah) Gitel, bothOrthodox Jewish, emigrated from Kovno (nowKaunas),Lithuania, to Minnesota. At a young age, he started using the more "American" name of Max. He had two older siblings, of whom only one survived childhood.[3][4][5][6][7]
He graduated from North High School in 1905, first in his class. He also attendedTalmud Torah, where he learned Hebrew. He received a BA in 1909 from theUniversity of Minnesota and graduated in 1912 fromHarvard Law School, where he began a lifelong friendship withFelix Frankfurter.[1][3][4][5][6][8]
Many of Lowenthal's accomplishments are presumed unknown as some are being discovered through historical research. Lowenthal had an incredibly discreet personality and often refused to take credit for his accomplishments.[citation needed]
A memo in Lowenthal's FBI file reveals the following chronology (supplemented[6]):
Lowenthal knewWalter Weyl (father ofWare Group memberNathaniel Weyl), who recommendedAdelaide Hasse as a researcher for theWar Labor Policies Board.[12]
Lowenthal ran a private law practice from 1912 to 1932. Cases involved workers rights, defense of right-to-strike legislation and shareholder rights in receivership cases.[6]
In the early 1920s, Lowenthal seems to have had a law office in New York City. WhileAnn Fagan Ginger does not mention him as a mentor ofCarol Weiss King in her biography of King, Ginger does say that King formed a "loose partnership" with radical attorneys, who includedJoseph Brodsky,Swinburne Hale,Walter Nelles, andIsaac Shorr as well as a long-term association withWalter Pollak (once partner ofBenjamin Cardozo), whom she met through her brother-in-lawCarl Stern.[17] Nevertheless, newspaper accounts of King (in the 1950s) mention Lowenthal as not only an associate but her employer.[18][19] TheSaturday Evening Post went even further in 1951 in a long article on Carol Weiss King:
Lowenthal is of special interest. A product of Harvard Law, he has been described by a New Deal associate as "self-effacing and ubiquitous." Shuttling between New York and Washington, he has maintained a New York office while holding a variety of Government posts dating back to World War I. On one hand, he has been an assiduous cultivator of high-level friendships, including Presidents Roosevelt and Truman and Supreme Court JusticesFelix Frankfurter andLouis Brandeis. On the other, he has been an equally assiduous collector of proteges for whom he has found many Government jobs.Alger Hiss andLee Pressman benefited by his friendship, and, for a time, did oneGeorge Shaw Wheeler, a young lawyer who became so carried away by communism that he denounced his United States citizenship to make a new career bebind theIron Curtain. Back in 1920, at the time of her admission to the New York bar, Carol also was a Lowenthal protégée, and it was in his office that she served her first and only legal clerkship.[20]
Another important protege of Lowenthal's (and his partnerRobert Szold) wasBenjamin V. Cohen, later known as one of Felix Frankfurter's Hotdogs in the New Deal. Lowenthal and Cohen both knew JudgeJulian W. Mack, who was one of Cohen's professor at Harvard (and was uncle of Lowenthal's wife). In October 1920, Cohen first worked for Lowenthal on a bankruptcy case involvingE.F. Drew & Company.[21]
In 1923, Lowenthal was general counsel for theRussian-American Industrial Corporation (RAIC) of 31 Union Square, New York City, launched by theAmalgamated Clothing Workers union in 1922, following a 1921 visit to the Soviet Union by union presidentSidney Hillman. He was also one of the original directors of theAmalgamated Bank of New York, as advertised in theLiberator magazine. The ad mentions that the bank is owned and operated by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. It lists chairmanHyman Blumberg, president R. L. Redheffer, vice presidentJacob S. Potofsky, cashier Leroy Peterson, and other directors: Hillman,August Bellanca, Joseph Gold,Fiorello H. La Guardia,Abraham Miller,Joseph Schlossberg,Murray Weinstein,Max Zaritzky, andPeter Monat.[22]
The Amalgamated relationship seems to have started when Lowenthal defended Hillman in 1920 in a labor dispute inRochester, New York. As late as 1929, Lowenthal still had a close relationship with the Amalgamated Bank, as after theWall Street Crash of 1929 he recommended that the bank sell its securities for cash; throughout theGreat Depression, the bank held its assets in cash or cash-equivalents. "It was the advice of Max Lowenthal that helped more than anything else to keep our banks open during the Hoover banking collapse," Hillman later noted. Advising Lowenthal in this period was Benjamin V. Cohen.[21]
During his early days in politics, Lowenthal served as advisor to several United States senators.[citation needed] In 1929, he served as pro bono secretary on U.S. PresidentHerbert Hoover'sNational Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (later called theWickersham Commission) to investigate gang-related crimes and Prohibition enforcement through July 1930, when he resigned.[4] He assistedFerdinand Pecora with Senate committee hearings investigating the causes of theWall Street Crash of 1929. The hearings launched a major reform of the American financial system.[23] Around 1930, "another job that I was given in connection with the charge that in the Government that men were taking positions in the Government who had private investments," connected (unclearly recounted later by Lowenthal) to his Harvard Law School friend, U.S. Solicitor GeneralCharles Hughes, Jr. (1929–1930), son of 11th Chief JusticeCharles Evans Hughes, Sr. In 1933–1934, he consulted for the U.S. Senate Banking and Currency Committee. "I can't remember that I had worked for any congressional committee before that, but this I would not want to affirm categorically."[1]
In 1933, Lowenthal began advocating railroad reform by republishing his originalHarvard Law Review argumentThe Railroad Reorganization Act in book form along with a second book,The Investor Pays (1933)[24][25][26][27] (Felix Frankfurter attributed much of the work onThe Investor Pays to Benjamin V. Cohen.[21]) Abuses he cited included: control of receivership and of reorganization by owners prior to acknowledgement of insolvency, inadequate administration of properties prior to reorganization, inadequate regulatory supervision, and conflicts of interest. While making the rounds "as agents of the President" withTommy Corcoran (one of Felix Frankfurter's "Happy Hotdogs"), Lowenthal told any and all that nothing would happen "without the help of railway labor."[8] On July 5, 1935 Federal CoordinatorJoseph Bartlett Eastman wrote to Senator Wheeler (committee chair), with Lowenthal as committee counsel, to recommend 18 railroads (includingVan Sweringen Lines,Pennsylvania Railroad,Wabash Railway, andDelaware & Hudson Company) plus financiers (J.P. Morgan & Company, andKuhn, Loeb & Company) for investigation, as reported in theNew York Times andRailway Age.[28] Only in December 1936 did Lowenthal manage to obtain enough subpoenaed documentation to begin actual investigation, according toRailway Age.[29] By 1939, the Senate had introduced a "Lowenthal Bi|ll" to create a special "Railroad Reorganization Court" for bankrupt railroads and downsizing of capitalization and reduction of fixed charges.[30] In April 1939, ICC commissionerWalter M. W. Splawn and committee counsel Lowenthal testified. Lowenthal explained changes in the newReorganization Act of 1939 (passed and signed into law on April 3, 1939). Its special court would make for "sounder reorganizations" thanks to judges trained in railroads.[31]
In 1935, Lowenthal metHarry S. Truman, after Truman joined a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Interstate Commerce Committee, investigating railroads and holding companies, which resulted in U.S. Senate Resolution 71 on February 4, 1935. SenatorRobert F. Wagner had to withdraw from the subcommittee, and SenatorBurton K. Wheeler filled his place with Truman. Senators on that subcommittee included: Wheeler (chair), Truman,Alben Barkley,Victor Donahey,Wallace White, andHenrik Shipstead. Heading the legal counselors for that subcommittee wasTelford Taylor, assisted by Lowenthal andSidney J. Kaplan, who later headed the Claims Division in the Solicitor General's office of the U.S. Department of Justice during World War II,[32]George Rosier,Lucien Hilmer, and John Davis.[1] According to close Truman's Appointments SecretaryMatthew J. Connelly, "Lowenthal served as counsel for Senator Truman during the hearings on the setting up of the Civil Aeronautics Board."[33] According to daughterMargaret Truman, Truman relied on Lowenthal to keep up pressure on theMissouri Pacific Railroad andAlleghany Corporation over the "Alleghany-Missouri Pacific matter."[34][35]
Lowenthal later recollected, "Until we went into World War II, I may have been doing some work for the Interstate Commerce Committee. I was for a number of years, in that category which was referred to as dollar-a-year men, but, when we went into the war, I had a talk with Senator Wheeler and suggested that probably I ought to be available on some wartime work, and Chairman Wheeler thought that was right."[1] Thus, Lowenthal did not serve with Truman on the so-called "Truman Committee" (1941-1944) (formally, the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, 1941-1948, from 1948 thePermanent Subcommittee on Investigations or "PSI," and current the "United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations"). "I attended one or two hearings out of interest, but I was completing work for the Interstate Commerce Committee at that time and then I was involved in some work in the war effort which was pretty absorbing -- it was day and night work," he later recalled.[1]
From 1944 to 1946, Lowenthal left official government service. In 1944, Lowenthal attended the1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In 1944, Truman wrote to his daughter that Lowenthal,William M. Boyle, andLeslie Biffle "were on my trail... Yes, they are plotting against your dad" along with many others "trying to make him VP against his will."[34] Truman told Lowenthal that FDR had included him on his shortlist of candidates for vice president. Lowenthal went with Truman to meet withPhilip Murray, head of theCongress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) union federation, for support. "I think that someone in his organization[36] had been urging another name on Phil Murray, but I believe in time he swung behind Mr. Truman."[1]
In Fall 1946, Lowenthal had lunch withBob Patterson, newly promoted fromAssistant Secretary of War toSecretary of War, whom he had known "for many years": Patterson told Lowenthal he was sending him to Berlin for a "war job, or a wartime-produced task... I think that was the last official position I held in government." The job was restitution of property stolen byNazis. Lowenthal spent six weeks in Germany to collect evidence so he could draw up a report,[5] reporting to the U.S. High Commissioner of Germany, GeneralLucius D. Clay.[1][3]
Upon his return to the States, Lowenthal "had a good deal of work" on Nazi-related cases of "heirless" property. In that period, the U.S. Attorney General (Tom C. Clark at that time) made recommendations that included "relaxing the universal ban on wire tapping"–at which time, Lowenthal "noticed that that was in the list."[1]
In 1948, Truman felt (according to Lowenthal in 1967) that theMundt-Nixon Bill that year was "to punish sedition."[1]
During 1947-1948, the FBI investigated Lowenthal. They used wiretaps, as evidenced in later-FOIA-ed FBI files. FBI files on Lowenthal also include draft versions of his 1948 book on the FBI.[37][38][39][40][41][42][43]
In 1950, Lowenthal published a book critical of theFederal Bureau of Investigation (see Works, below), which led to him being called before theHouse Un-American Activities Committee, where he denied he had "aided and abetted" Communist in government service . The book and negative press helped end a 38-year career in public service.[3]
On August 28, 1950,Lee Pressman testified that he hadnot recommended Lowenthal for a job at theWar Production Board.[7]
On September 1, 1950,Charles Kramer refused to answer questions as to whether he was acquainted with Lowenthal.[7]
That same day, U.S. RepresentativeGeorge A. Dondero called Lowenthal a "menace to the best interests of America." Dondero said that his government career was "replete with incidents where he aided and abetted Communists" starting in 1917.[44]
On September 15, 1950, Lowenthal appeared before theHouse Un-American Activities Committee AKA "HUAC" (two of whose members were Mundt and Nixon–of the Mundt-Nixon Bill). Already in August 1950, HUAC had re-subpoenaed four witness who had been part ofWhittaker Chambers'sWare Group:Lee Pressman,Nathan Witt,Charles Kramer andJohn Abt. The committee had asked both Pressman and Kramer whether they knew Lowenthal; both confirmed. Lowenthal brought former U.S. SenatorBurton K. Wheeler as counsel. After reviewing his curriculum vitae, the committee tried to link him with known or alleged Communist Party members and organizations, some of which he confirmed, others not, all without admitting any wrongdoing. Names mentioned included:Alger Hiss,Donald Hiss,David Wahl,Bartley Crum,Martin Popper,Allan Rosenberg, Lee Pressman, theRussian-American Industrial Corporation, theTwentieth Century Fund, and theInternational Juridical Association.[7]
On November 19, 1950, the government published Lowenthal's closed-session testimony from September 15, 1950. During testimony, Lowenthal had denied aiding or abetting Communists in government service. Specifically, he denied any involvement in the employment or sponsoring ofGeorge Shaw Wheeler, a former US government employee who had defected to Czechoslovakia in 1947 and publicly requestedpolitical asylum there in 1950. He noted that Wheeler had been transferred to his division on theBoard of Economic Warfare from theWar Production Board "toward the end of my service with the board" He also said that Wheeler had not worked with him in Germany." He also claimed to have advisedLee Pressman in 1944 against namingHenry A. Wallace as Democratic candidate for vice president.[44]
On November 27, 1950, SenatorBourke B. Hickenlooper noted, "In theWashington Post of November 26, 1950, there are published two reviews of a recent book entitledThe Federal Bureau of Investigation, by Max Lowenthal, New Deal mystery man of Washington." The first ("A Lawyer's Indictment in Mood of Prosecutor") was by Rev.Edmund A. Walsh S.J., ofGeorgetown University, which Hickenlooper read into the record. The second byJoseph L. Rauh Jr., a former civil servant, whom Hickenlooper denounced for criticizing the FBI, for chairing the National Committee for Democratic Action, and for affiliations withAlger Hiss,Donald Hiss,Felix Frankfurter,William Remington, andJames L. Fly ofAmericans for Democratic Action. Hickenlooper stated "I have the greatest admiration and respect for the integrity of the director, Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, and his staff personnel" at the FBI.[45]
During the 1950s, Lowenthal supervised "an operation... conducted... to prepare answers to the charges that SenatorMcCarthy was making." This followed McCarthy's claim that he possessed "a list" of Communists within the State Department. Lowenthal was later unable to recall clearly the names of anyone who helped him: Truman Library oral historianJerry N. Hess suggested that they might have includedHerbert N. Maletz,Lowell Mellett, and Franklin N. Parks. The White House was supportive: when Lowenthal came to Washington to work, sometimes he would be provided office space there.
In May 1951, White House Appointments Secretary Matthew J. Connelly asked Lowenthal to help GeneralHarry H. Vaughan in "setting up testimony", after Vaughan admitted repeated episodes of trading access to the White House for expensive gifts.[46][47] Later, he also helped Connelly himself (who was convicted of bribery charges in 1956).[1] (When asked whether Lowenthal served on that counter-McCarthy committee, Connelly, however, said, "Not that I recall. He had nothing to do with the White House."[33])
In mid-summer 1951, Truman wrote Lowenthal to thank him for a letter and respond regarding SenatorJoseph McCarthy's speech of Jun 14, 1951, attackingGeorge Marshall. They discussed the need for the U.S. government to support international security. "I certainly did appreciate your good letter," Truman ended.[34]
In 1952, when Truman announced he would not seek re-election, Vice PresidentAlben Barkley could not secure the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party due to a lack of endorsement from labor leaders. Connelly later recalled:
Hess: Do you recall the difficulty that Mr. Barkley had at the 1952 convention with the labor delegates?
Connelly: I remember it very well because I had Max Lowenthal–I believe you know Max Lowenthal–I had him out there and Max was very close to the labor boys. I had a room at the Mayflower Hotel with two TV sets watching the convention, and I used to get calls from Max, from Chicago, and the day Barkley arrived–unfortunately he had very bad eyes–and he walked through the lobby of the hotel and he didn't recognize the labor boys who were there. So they thought they were snubbed. So I then gotLes Biffle on the phone and Les had always been very close to Barkley and he was out there at the convention, as a matter of fact, he was sergeant at arms of the convention, and I told Les what happened. So then they made a strategic mistake, because labor leaders are all prima donnas, and I suggested to Les that Barkley set up a meeting with these fellows and talk to them individually. So instead of that they set up a breakfast the next morning and invited all the labor leaders. Well, they are very jealous of each other. So, all that achieved was one more snubbing for the prima donnas, so they sat on their hands as far as Barkley was concerned.[33]
Lowenthal introduced Truman to U.S. Supreme JusticeLouis Brandeis.[1]
In 1953, Lowenthal was "member" of the Truman Administration, according to the papers of American evangelistBilly James Hargis (who also lists him among "Alleged Reds" 1950–1954).[48]
Lowenthal's best known accomplishment occurred during his term as the chief adviser onPalestine toClark Clifford, an advisor to President Truman, from 1947-1952.[citation needed] President Truman credited Lowenthal as being the primary force behind the United States recognition ofIsrael.[49] On the other hand, Matthew J. Connelly pointed toDavid Niles, an associate ofHarry Hopkins from the WPA, as "very effective in the problems we had in connection with the recognition of Israel" because of his contacts in the Jewish community: "David Dubinsky, Abraham Feinberg. You name any leader in the Jewish faction, and he had intimate contacts with him." Connelly denoted Lowenthal as one of contacts–"oh, very much so, very much so." When Niles died in 1951, Connelly chose Feinberg to succeed him in that liaison role.[47]) Historian Michael J. Cohen argues thatClark Clifford relied on Lowenthal for advice on Israel, and Lowenthal in turn onBenjamin V. Cohen.[21]
In the late 1950s,Norman Thomas criticizedBertrand Russell for citing Lowenthal andCedric Belfrage as authorities on wrongdoings by the FBI. Russell responded in "The State of Civil Liberties" inThe New Leader, published on February 18, 1957. Russell retorted, "You seem to imply that criticisms of the FBI can be ignored if they come from Communists or Fellow-travellers. In particular, you point out that Mr. Lowenthal had a grievance against the FBI. It is, however, an almost invariable fact that protests against injustice originate with those who suffer from them." Russell recommended that Thomas go buy and read Lowenthal's book.[50]
As late as 1967, Lowenthal denied ever even discussing Israel with President Truman and claimed to have only heard of the partition of Palestine through a secondhand source in theWhite House.[citation needed]
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Lowenthal was married to Eleanor Mack, niece of JudgeJulian Mack. They had three children: David (1923), John (1925) andElizabeth (Betty).[6] His sons wereDavid Lowenthal andJohn Lowenthal.[51]
On September 15, 1950, Lowenthal told HUAC that he kept homes at 467West Central Park in Manhattan and inNew Milford, Connecticut.[7] During World War II, he resided at 1 West Irving Street,Chevy Chase, Maryland.[52]
Regarding Truman overall, late in life Lowenthal told Truman Library oral historianJerry N. Hess:
I was deeply sold on Mr. Truman's usefulness to America. I haven't been a hero worshipper but I have had deep affection for some men in public affairs whom I got to know, and that was certainly true in the case of Mr. Truman.[1]
During the same interview, however, Lowenthal remembered only one Truman staff member by name (Victor Messall).[1]
Regarding Truman's views onred scares in the United States, Lowenthal commented:
When he came back from service in the Army in the First World War, he was disgusted with the hysteria that prevailed in some quarters in 1919 and 1920, and I think he never forgot that -- that disgust that he had acquired. You may remember -- I don't mean to say that Mr. Truman mentioned this specifically -- there was a magazine published by a man namedGuy Empey.... A good many people were greatly excited and there was a good deal of "treat them rough stuff" during World War I and for a year or two or three afterward. I think that burned into Mr. Truman, who had been engaged in active fighting in France during the war, that such things should go on...You know, there was during World War I bitterness against theSocialists and against theIWW, not against, to any extent, theBolsheviks; that came later. You read about that period. They threwVictor Berger, the Socialist, out of the Congress. Mr. Truman was disgusted with such excitement, and I think that may have been part of his make-up from childhood onward, but I'm only guessing.[1]
He died age 83 on May 18, 1971, at home (444 Central Park West) of heart ailment.[3][4][5]
Lowenthal was a trustee of theTwentieth Century Fund from 1924 to 1933.[7][53][54]
Recollections of Lowenthal from Truman Library oral histories are mixed.
Some are favorable:
Others are less favorable:
Stephen J. Spingarn,Federal Trade Commission Commissioner (1950–1953), recalled,
Max Lowenthal was a good friend of the President's from the days in the '30s... They became friends at that time, and he had total access to the White House. During the McCarthy period he was there all the time, almost daily; he used to hang out in Matt Connelly's rear office. I had had an encounter early in my White House career with Max Lowenthal.Clark Clifford told me that Max was worried about anInternal Security bill (of 1950).[56]
However, Spingarn also suspected that Lowenthal (and Connelly) "stuck the knife in me."Phileo Nash told Spingarn it was Connelly, influenced by Lowenthal:
I mentioned that Max Lowenthal had once told Niles, and possibly others that I was a Fascist, that was in 1949, because I told Lowenthal I favored wiretapping under proper controls... Nash said it was quite possible that Max Lowenthal was very vindictive, and he mentioned that Max Lowenthal is currently spending much time in Matt's office with L's son.[57]
Spingarn further recalled:
There was an operation run, more or less, under the supervision of Max Lowenthal in the basement of the White House which was to prepare answers to the charges that McCarthy was hurling so freely during all that period and get them ready in a hurry, not wait until the lie had gone around the world before the truth has gotten its pants on. I rememberHerb Maletz–good man–worked in that thing and one or two others whose names I can't remember at the moment.Max Lowenthal was very much involved in that, and in his bookThe Truman Presidency,Cabell Phillips has me teamed up with Max Lowenthal in running that operation, which is not correct. I did an awful lot of work on the McCarthy stuff, but I did it in terms of trying to devise some machinery, or system, or operation.[58]
After the FBI book came out,Westbrook Pegler, a right‐wing columnist, called Lowenthal "the mysterious New York lawyer, who now appears to have picked Harry Truman for President."[3]
In the early 1930s, claimedWhittaker Chambers in his 1952 memoirWitness, Lowenthal (Max "Loewenthal" inWitness) was a member of theInternational Juridical Association (IJA), along withCarol Weiss King,Abraham Isserman, andLee Pressman.[59] In the inaugural issue of theMonthly Bulletin of theInternational Juridical Association (May 1932), "Max Lowenthal, member of the New York bar" appears in an article called "Protest Meeting."[60] During his 1950 HUAC testimony, Lowenthal admitted that he had helped organize the "National Lawyers Guild" in the 1930s. He was also a member of theAmerican Bar Association and theNew York Bar Association.[7]
Lowenthal's correspondents included fellow MinnesotanGeorge B. Leonard.[61]
In 1950 he wrote a book about theFBI,[62][63] in which he dealt with issues he felt were still unresolved "although they were brought to light and discussed by statesmen in 1908 and 1909 when the police force now known as the FBI was created." TheNew York Times announced the book a day in advance of its publication on November 21, 1947, with a subtitle that read "Lawyer Says Hoover Policies Set Up Secret Police."[64] InNew York Times Sunday Book Review, Cabell Phillips said the book showed "immense research and careful documentation" and "almost for the first time... it pulled aside the self‐righteous cloak in which the FBI has wrapped itself."[3] Writing for theUniversity of Chicago Law Review in 1952, however, T. Henry Walnut (member of the Pennsylvania Bar) noted "From Mr. Lowenthal's review of the FBI's political activities they would appear negligible between the years 1924 and 1946, when the Bureau picked up the trail of the Communist. This period, however, was not a political vacuum. It was filled with differences as bitter as any the country has ever known... If Mr. Lowenthal is still looking for evidence as to what can be done through the FBI, under its present centralized direction from Washington, to oppress dissenting individuals and groups, it would be well for him to study the period from December 8, 1941 to the end of 1945.[65]George M. Elsey, Administrative Assistant to the President (1949–1951) felt that "Lowenthal had a passionate dislike of the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover in particular." Asked to read galley proofs for his book on the FBI, he later commented, "The book was so unfair, so grossly biased, so sloppily done in every respect that it couldn't possibly influence anybody about the FBI. Any serious reader would just lay the thing aside in disgust... The President was just tolerant, shrugged his shoulder, tended to laugh it off and say, 'Oh, Max is that way'."[66]
Books:
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