University of California, Berkeley Unified School District, Bay Area Social Planning Council, League of Women Voters, 1956-70
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Bancroft Library University of California/Berkeley Regional Oral History Office Earl Warren Oral Hlstory Project THE GOVERNOR AND THE PUBLIC, THE PRESS, AND THE LEGISLATURE Marguerite Gallagher Administrative Procedures in Earl Warren8s Office, 1938-1953 Verne Scoggins Observations on California Affairs by Governor Earl Warren's Press Secretary Beach Vasey Governor Warren and the Legislature Interviews Conducted by Amelia Fry and Gabrielle Morris Copy NO. - 01973 by The Regents of the University of California This manuscript is made available for research purposes. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral ist tor^ Office, 486 Library, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. INTRODUCTION The present volume of the Earl Warren Series contains the recollections of Marguerite Gallagher, Verne Scoggins, and Beach Vasey, and is largely concerned wlth the external relations of the governor's office of the State of California, 1943-53 Ever since Plato's Republic, writers have scrutinized the built-in paradoxes that reside in the functions of a head of state, Just as the dichotomies have continued to impede the management processes of even the most capable public executives, questions about the phenomena still fascinate the inquiring minds of scholars, For instance, how does the chief executive of a large, complex state set up his office to provide efficient handling of masses of mail, of legislative programs and thousands of bills, and of press relations, without eroding his vote-getting aura of personal concern for each individual and each problem? Nor is that the only contradiction inherent in a governor's office. There is the challenge, on one hand, of administering the budget, the departments, and the personnel of the executive branch--a job of constant decision-making, presumably based on a struggle for up-to-the-minute and reliable data on the operations for which he is ultimately responsible. And on the other hand, there is the duty of a political salesman to sense and to sell to the voters the acceptable ways in which his administration is giving the public what it wants. What is virtue in one job can be a liability in the other, and therein lies the juggleras act which governors perform with varying degrees of success and political survivorship. It was with these and related questions in mind that the interviewers tape recorded Verne Scoggins, Beach Vasey, and Marguerite Gallagher as representative of the aspects of public relations, legislation, and office adminis- tration respectively, Their vantage points reveal some of the operations of one unusually popular governor in one post-World War I1 state, Their accounts can be valuable chiefly as personal views from the inside out, and as such may provide one more clue in the scholars' perennial search for criteria and methodology of public administration , Gallagher recalls fifteen years wlth Warren, first in the attorney general's office, later helping William Sweigert set up the governor's office, and then taking charge of pmcessipg phe growing volume of correspondence f ram the public dealing with Warren' s legislative proposals and also his natianal polltical aspirations . Seoggins describes the highly effective press relations operation he maintained and shares his wider perspective on vo%er response to Warren and changing political currents. Vasey legislative secretary from 1944 to 1953, sketches his work with the legislature which was funneled through this one individual to officially maintain the separation between executive and legislative branches of government. These memoirs provide a good view of the details of operation of the governor's office, which was considerably expanded in size, and systematized for greater efficiency during these years. Other aspects of the many responsibilities of the executive function are dealt with in %he memoirs of Helen Re MacGregor, William S. Mailllard, Merrell F. Small, and William T. Sweigert. Taken as a whole, the interviews with Warren's personal staff give a sense of a smoothly-functioning team, the members of which not only worked well together, but also engoyed each other as individuals and shared Warren's sense of the high purpose of government. The friends and associates began a custom of reunion dinners with Chief Justice and Mrs. Warren in 1954, In 1970, Helen MacGregor recalls that William Mailliard commented "that his life had been enriched and motiva%ed because it had touched Earl Warren's." "In retrospect," she added, "I think we had our Camelot to a greater degree rthan the Kennedy administration) ." Some who have disagreed with Warren philosophically or on specific issues have commented that members of his immediate staff would contribute to the record only the favorable aspects of his administration . Although there is little negative comment in these interviews, the narrators' loyalty and competent hard work can be said to be marks of Warren's ability to inspire such devotion and his skill in matching people to responsibilities. Others who served for a time in the execntive suite had died by the time of this research progect or were otherwise unavailable; only one declined to be interviewed about his role in Warren's admini stration. Amelia Re Fry, Director Gabrielle Morris, Intervi ewer-Editor 4 April 1973 Earl Warren Era Oral Hlstory Regional Oral History Project Off ice 486 The Bancroft Library Uni versit y of calif ornia/~erkeley The Banoroft Library University of California/Berkeley Regional Oral Hfstory Off ice Earl Warren Oral History Project Marguerite Gallagher ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES IN EARL WAFEEN8S OFFICE, 1938-1953 An Interview Conducted by Amelia R, Fry @1973 by The Regents of the University of California TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Marguerite Gallagher INTERVIEW HISTORY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 1 S OFFICE 1 -Routine of the Off ice Responsibilities of the Off ice I1 THE GOVERNOR 1 S OFFICE Off ice Manual Developed by William Sweigert 8 Alleged "Buggingt' of the Governor's Off ice : 19h3 10 The ~iihtfor Health Insurance The Job of Administrative Ass istant : Correspondenc e Works for the National Republican Party on the l9&8 and 1952 Presidential Campaigns The Republican Conventions Coat inuing Political Work between Campai~ns - -- INDEX INTERVIEW HISTORY Marguerite Gallagher was chosen not only to provide a view of the governor's office operations, but also to relate the changes that occurred inside the attorney general's office before and after Earl Warren assumed that office in 1938, In addition, her presence as the California delegation's Girl Friday in the Republican conventions, in presidential campaigns, and in the gubernatorial contests added a bonus of information on political activities. Her reminiscences were tape recorded in the afternoon on January 25, 1972, in her neat, well-appointed house in Sacra- mento. Her friendliness and good disposition are probably two reasons why she was welcome to work under several governors, and her efficient attention to the task at hand exemplified her value as one who could handle a myriad of tasks on campaign trains or in the governor's office. We moved steadily through an outline of queries and answers, and when it was clear that neither her memory nor available papers at hand (she had kept none) could add more, we drew the interview to a close. Yet it was a pleasant conversation, easily paced, and not hurried. Later, Miss Gallagher checked over the transcript, making several clarifications and additions, deleting only a few passages here and there that failed to add information. At our request, she hunted up a photograph of herself and, with a mild protest ("I carefully avoid having pictures taken because they always depress me! ") she sent it to us for the frontispiece. She also contributed several other group photographs of the governor's staff, which will be deposited in the photograph files of the Earl Warren Collection of the Emcroft Library. Amelia Fry Director, &rl Warren ProJect 22 February 1973 Regional Oral History Office 486 The Bancroft Library University of Calif omia, Berkeley mte of Interview: January 25, 1972 I THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE Fry: You told me that you started in 1926 in the attorney general's office in San Francisco, and then trans- ,ferred to Sacramento in -- Gallagher: Thirty-four, I thfnk ft was. Fry: Just before Earl Warren became attorney' general? Gallagher: Four years before Earl Warren became the attorney general. I was a legal secretary. Fry: Did this mean that you helped with civil -and criminal? Gallagher: I was a secretary, a legal secretary. I did all the things a legal secretary does, I was secretary to several of the attorneys, and there were a succession of them who handled the criminal briefs, and I took dictation from them; I did typfng, I typed the briefs, I did all the things a legal secretary does, Fry: This was under U.S. Webb, then. Gallagher: Yes. And in Sacramento I was working with Jess Hession, who was the deputy in charge of the Sacra- mento office, I worked for any number of deputies during those years, because they changed, you know, Young men would come fn and work for a whfle, Judge rThomas Francis] McBride -- do you know Judge Mc~ride? Fry: Yes, I do, Gallagherr Tom was a law