Herbert H. Lehman

Duane Tananbaum

Description

This new biography of Herbert Lehman—the first in a half century—fills the void left by historians and political scientists who have neglected one of the truly great liberal icons of the mid-twentieth century. Based on extensive research in archival sources, Herbert H. Lehman restores this four-term Governor of New York, US Senator, national and international humanitarian, and political reformer to his rightful place among the pantheon of liberal heroes of his era. By focusing on Lehman's interactions with Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and John Kennedy, Duane Tananbaum shows how Lehman succeeded politically despite his refusal to compromise with his conscience. In his thirty-five years of public service, Herbert Lehman fought the Republicans in the State Legislature to provide economic security for New Yorkers during the Great Depression, and he battled the bureaucrats in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to feed the starving people in Europe and Asia during and after World War II. His efforts on behalf of "the welfare state," civil rights legislation, and immigration reform helped keep the liberal agenda alive until Congress, and the nation, were ready to enact it into law as part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society in 1964–1965.

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• Region
• 20th century
• History of the Americas
• Regional
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 20 décembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438463193
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Herbert H. Lehman
Herbert H. Lehman
A Political Biography
DUANE TANANBAUM
Cover photo of Herbert H. Lehman courtesy of Corbis Images/Getty Images.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2016 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Diane Ganeles
Marketing, Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tananbaum, Duane, 1949–
Title: Herbert H. Lehman : a political biography / Duane Tananbaum.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016007754 (print) | LCCN 2016009110 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438463179 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438463193 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878–1963. | Governors—New York (State)—Biography. | New York (State)—Politics and Government—1865–1950.| New York (State)—Politics and government—1951– | Legislators—United States—Biography. | United States. Congress. Senate—Biography. | Liberalism—United States. | United States—Politics and government—20th century.
Classification: LCC F124.L53 T363 2016 (print) | LCC F124.L53 (ebook) | DDC 328.73/092—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016007754
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
L IST OF I LLUSTRATIONS
P REFACE
C HAPTER 1
“A Dearly Beloved Friend”: Herbert Lehman and Lillian Wald
C HAPTER 2
“On a Chinese Laundry Ticket”: Herbert Lehman and Al Smith
C HAPTER 3
“That Splendid Right Hand of Mine”: Lieutenant Governor Herbert Lehman and Governor Franklin Roosevelt
C HAPTER 4
“The New Deal in Washington Is Being Duplicated by the ‘Little’ New Deal at Albany”: Governor Lehman and President Roosevelt, 1933–1936
C HAPTER 5
“The End of a Beautiful Friendship”? Lehman and Roosevelt, 1937–1939
C HAPTER 6
“Fighting for Freedom, for Security, and for the Dignity of Man”: Lehman and Roosevelt, 1933–1942
C HAPTER 7
“Governor Lehman … Doesn’t Know the Way Things Are Done in Washington”: Lehman, Roosevelt, and OFRRO, 1942–1943
C HAPTER 8
“Freedom from Want”: Lehman, Roosevelt, and UNRRA, 1943–1945
C HAPTER 9
“UNRRA’s Problem Is That It Is Trying to Cover a 6-Foot Man with a 2-Foot Blanket”: Herbert Lehman, Harry Truman, and UNRRA, 1945
C HAPTER 10
“The Work of UNRRA … Will Ever Be Close to My Heart”: Lehman and Truman, 1946
C HAPTER 11
“Fighting for the Cause of Progressive and Liberal Government”: Lehman and Truman, 1946–1948
C HAPTER 12
“If You Could See the Kind of People in New York City Making Up This Bloc That Is Voting for My Opponent”: Lehman and the Election of 1949
C HAPTER 13
“I Will Not Compromise with My Conscience”: Lehman and McCarthyism, 1950–1952
C HAPTER 14
“A Poison Has Begun Spreading Throughout Our Land”: Lehman and McCarthyism, 1953–1954
C HAPTER 15
“The First Duty of Liberals Is Not to Exercise Power, but to Uphold Principle”: Herbert Lehman and Lyndon Johnson, 1950–1954
C HAPTER 16
“An Inveterate Crusader”: Lehman and Johnson, 1955–1956
C HAPTER 17
“A Symbol of Courage and Conscience in Public Affairs”: Herbert Lehman and the Election of 1956
C HAPTER 18
“A Little Less Profile and a Little More Courage”: Herbert Lehman and John Kennedy, 1950–1959
C HAPTER 19
“You Weren’t Double-Crossed, I Was”: Herbert Lehman, John Kennedy, and the Bosses, 1958–1960
C HAPTER 20
“To Free This City … from the Shackles of the Boss System”: Herbert Lehman and the Bosses, 1961–1963
C HAPTER 21
“To Inspire Men and Women of All Generations”: Herbert Lehman and President Kennedy, 1961–1963
C HAPTER 22
“We Mourn That He Is Gone but Glad That He Had Lived”: Herbert Lehman and President Johnson, 1963–1964
C ONCLUSION
“Consistently Liberal”: Herbert Lehman and Liberalism
N OTES
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
Illustrations 2.1 Herbert Lehman ( far left ), Democratic National Committee Chairman John Raskob ( second from left ), and other Al Smith backers gather in Albany, August 22, 1928. Courtesy of the Herbert H. Lehman Papers, Columbia University. 2.2 “Too Much Smith!” by Rollin Kirby, October 1932. Original cartoon in the Library of Congress. By permission of the Estate of Rollin Kirby Post. 2.3 “Lieutenant Governor to Governor,” by Rollin Kirby, November 1932. Original cartoon in the Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History, Columbia University. By permission of the Estate of Rollin Kirby Post. 3.1 Lieutenant Governor Herbert Lehman taking the oath of office from his brother, New York State Court of Appeals Judge Irving Lehman, as Governor Roosevelt and others look on, December 31, 1930. Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. 3.2 Franklin Roosevelt and James Farley congratulate Herbert Lehman on his nomination as the Democratic candidate for Governor as Mrs. Lehman looks on, October 4, 1932. AP Images. 3.3 Governor-elect Lehman and President-elect Roosevelt congratulate each other on their election victories, November 8, 1932. AP Images. 4.1 Governor Lehman with his predecessors, President-elect Franklin Roosevelt and Al Smith, at Lehman’s inauguration as Governor, January 1, 1933. AP Images. 4.2 Governor Lehman confers with President Roosevelt at Hyde Park, August 6, 1933. AP Images. 4.3 Governor Lehman and President Roosevelt campaign with members of the American Legion in Syracuse, New York, September 30, 1936. Courtesy of the Herbert H. Lehman Papers, Columbia University. 5.1 “Why Herbert!” by Rollin Kirby in the New York World-Telegram , July 20, 1937. By permission of the Estate of Rollin Kirby Post. 5.2 Governor Lehman shakes hands with Mayor La Guardia after their joint radio appearance, November 6, 1938. AP Images. 6.1 “Ready to Step In,” by Jerry Costello, Albany Knickerbocker News , April 1942. By permission of the Albany Times Union . 7.1 President Roosevelt congratulates Herbert Lehman on his appointment as head of the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations, as Edith Lehman looks on, December 4, 1942. AP Images. 8.1 “A Big Job for the New Chef,” by Jerry Doyle, November 1943. Original cartoon courtesy of the Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History, Columbia University. 8.2 UNRRA Director General Herbert Lehman inspects aid bound for Poland and Czechoslovakia, March 22, 1945. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images. 12.1 President Truman extends his best wishes to Senate candidate Herbert Lehman after their meeting at Blair House, October 23, 1949. AP Images. 17.1 Herbert Lehman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Adlai Stevenson at the “Tribute to Stevenson” dinner in New York City, April 25, 1956. AP Images. 17.2 Senator Lehman and Tammany Hall leader Carmine De Sapio confer at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 15, 1956. AP Images. 18.1 Herbert Lehman letter used in an advertisement for Senate candidate John F. Kennedy, October 23, 1952. Courtesy of The Jewish Advocate . 18.2 “Tell Us More about This,” November 3, 1955. A 1955 Herblock Cartoon, © The Herb Block Foundation. 18.3 “The Idea Is to Set It Up in a Quick Change, See?” January 5, 1959. A 1959 Herblock Cartoon, © The Herb Block Foundation. 19.1 Herbert Lehman discusses the campaign with Democratic vice presidential candidate Lyndon Johnson at a coffee sponsored by the Citizens Committee for Kennedy and Johnson, October 6, 1960. Courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library. 19.2 Herbert Lehman and Mayor Robert Wagner campaign with Democratic presidential candidate John Kennedy, October 12, 1960, © Burton Berinsky. 22.1 President Johnson presenting Herbert Lehman’s Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mrs. Lehman, January 28, 1964. Courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library.
Preface
You think you choose the subjects of your books. But sometimes, in ways you don’t know, the books choose you. 1
In the 1930s and early 1940s, New Yorkers chose their leaders wisely, electing Fiorello La Guardia as Mayor of New York City, helping send Franklin Roosevelt to the White House, and voting four times for Herbert Lehman to be their Governor. All three men believed that government should help people in need, and, guided by that liberal philosophy, they led New Yorkers and the nation through the Great Depression and the world crises that dominated those years.
As Lehman was concluding his fourth term as Governor in late 1942, Franklin Roosevelt called his old friend and colleague to Washington to head the State Department’s new Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations (OFRRO) that was tasked with providing aid to nations that were liberated from the Axis powers. After a trying year in the morass of the State Department and White House bureaucracies, Lehman was named the first Director General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in November 1943. Lehman remained in that position until early 1946, when he resigned in protest over the Truman administration’s failure to take stronger action to deal with the growing threat of worldwide famine.
In 1949, at age seventy-one,