ROGERS, WILLIAM P.: Papers, 1938-62
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DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY ABILENE, KANSAS ROGERS, WILLIAM P.: Papers, 1938-62 Accession: A67-6 Processed by: TB Linear feet: 19 Approximate number of pages: 66,400 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE William Pierce Rogers was sworn in as Deputy Attorney General on January 28, 1953. Upon the resignation of Attorney General Herbert Brownell in October 1957, President Eisenhower selected Rogers as his new Attorney General. He was sworn in on November 8, 1957. Rogers resigned from his office on January 21, 1961 As Deputy Attorney General, Rogers was second in command of the Department of Justice. His primary responsibilities were overseeing the selection of federal judicial appointments, including judges, marshals, and United States Attorneys. In addition, he served on the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service Committee, the Government Contract Committee, and as the Special Presidential Representative to the Independence Ceremonies of Togo, Africa. As Attorney General, Rogers became the chief legal adviser to the President and the coordinator of all the activities of the Department of Justice. In addition, he represented the United States in legal matters generally and gave advice and opinions to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. As Attorney General, Rogers appeared in person to represent the Government in the United States Supreme Court in cases of exceptional gravity or importance. Rogers was also very active in the political campaigns of 1952 and 1956, accompanying Richard Nixon as one of his chief political advisers. The file consists of in-coming and out-going correspondence, memoranda, statistical material, telegrams, printed material, newspaper clippings, government documents, inter-office memoranda, and staff directives dealing with the day-to-day operations of the Department of Justice. In addition, there is attached to the file personal memorabilia which is not open to researchers. The file covers primarily the period 1953-1961. There is a segment of the file, i.e., WPR: Scrapbook (1938-1953) (1) and (2), which covers Rogers’ early career as a lawyer, his role as a member of Thomas E. Dewey’s staff in the District Attorney’s Office of New York, and some of his duties as the chief counsel to the United States Senate’s Permanent Investigation Committee. The file is in four sections: correspondence, subject, personal, and appointments. All but the last section are arranged alphabetically. DESCRIPTION OF SERIES Box Nos. Series 1-15 I. GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. 1952-61. 14 2 containers. Consists of Rogers’ personal and social correspondence with his friends and members of the general public. It includes greeting cards, congratulatory and sympathy correspondence, endorsements for office, requests for advice and transmittal letters. Arranger alphabetically by name of correspondent. 15-17 II. CHRONOLOGICAL FILE. A. William P. Rogers Subseries. 1953-61. 2 containers. Copies of letters and memoranda sent by Rogers. The material is mostly social in nature but contains scattered items pertaining to Justice Department matters. This file is incomplete as much of Rogers’ official correspondence and memoranda was not filed here. 17-18 B. Maggie Runkle subseries. 1958-61. 1 2 containers. Copies of letters and memoranda prepared by Maggie Runkle, secretary to William Rogers. The material is of a routine nature, consisting of letters acknowledging or transmitting documents and accepting or declining invitations. 19-36 III. INVITATIONS. 1953-61. 17 2 containers. Invitations received by Rogers during his service in the Justice Department. The invitations are arranged by year. For each year the invitations are arranged in two alphabetical sequences. One sequence contains invitations to speak; the other contains all other invitations. At the end of the series is one folder of invitations received by Mrs. Rogers. 36-42 IV. CONGRATULATORY LETTERS. A. Attorney General Subseries. 1957. 6 containers. Letters of congratulation received by Rogers upon his appointment as Attorney General in November 1957. Arranged alphabetically. 42-45 B. Deputy Attorney General Subseries. 1952-53 2 2 containers. Letters of congratulation received by Rogers upon his appointment as Deputy Attorney General in January 1953. Arranged alphabetically. 45-49 V. SUBJECT FILE. 1952-61. 14 2 containers. Correspondence, memoranda, reports and printed material collected by William Rogers during his service in the Justice Department. The material contains information on the administration of the Justice Department, legal and judicial matters, and Republican politics. Arranged alphabetically by subject, 59-63 VI. PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE. 1949-62. 4 containers. Correspondence, bills financial statements and personnel forms concerning the social and personal activities of William Rogers. This series also contains some important correspondence between Rogers and Edgar Eisenhower. Arranged by subject. 63-68 VII. SCRAPBOOK. 1938-61. 5 2 containers. Newspaper clippings, magazine articles and other printed material pertaining to the activities of William Rogers. Arranged roughly chronologically. 69-71 VIII. CALLS AND APPOINTMENTS. A. Appointment Books Subseries. 1951-60. 2 2 containers. Ten bound diaries in which Rogers recorded his important appointments. Arranged chronologically. 71-76 B. Calls and Appointments Subseries. 1953-61. 5 2 containers Loose sheets listing telephone calls received by Rogers’ office and visitors who arrived at the office to see him The lists of calls and visitors are filed together from September 1953 to January 1957, and separately from February 1957 to January 1961. They are in chronological order. 77-79 C. Index Subseries. 1953-61. 3 containers. Slips of paper listing persons who visited Rogers and the date of their visit. arranged in two alphabetical segments, one covering Rogers’ term as deputy Attorney General, and the other his term as Attorney General. 80-83 IX. PUBLICATIONS. 1948-59. 4 containers. Books, magazines and pamphlets, mostly pertaining to legal and judicial matters, which were collected by William Rogers. Arranged alphabetically by title. CONTAINER LIST Box No. Contents SERIES I: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 1 Ab-Allen, G. (misc) [Meade Alcorn and RNC] Allen, N.-Am (misc) [Gordon Allott re number of federal judges] An-App (misc) Ar-Ay (misc) [Jewish support for Republicans] Bab-Banse (misc) Bantz-Barnes, S. (misc) [William Bantz re Washington state judicial appointment; Stanley Barnes] Barnes, W.-Bass (misc) [South Carolina judicial matters] Bast-Beall (misc) [Arnold Bauman re U.S. attorney for District of Columbia] Beard-Becker (misc) [William Becker re Rogers’ naval friends] Becks-Bennet, J. (misc) [divisions of American Bar Association; George Bender and labor investigations; William Bennet re NY politics; James Bennet re UN conference in London, violence on radio] Bennet, M.-Bew (misc) Bic-Bix (misc) [Walter Biddle re Kansas and Republican politics; John Biggs re Virgin Islands legal matters] Bla-Boldt (misc) [George Boldt of Washington state] 2 Boldt-Booke (misc) [George Boldt; immigration legislation] Bookm-Bradl (misc) [George Boos re Michigan political rallies; Raimond Bowles re New Hampshire politics] Brads-Briggs (misc) Brill-Brown, G. (misc) [William Broomfield re Michigan judicial appointments] Brown, J.-Bru (misc) [Herbert Brownell re legal arguments in Little Rock affair] Bry-Burger, G. (misc) [Daniel Bryant re Republican dinners] Burger, K.-Burgess, C. (misc) [court case re Army responsibility in Alaskan fire; Warren Burger re international judicial conference, training of judges, court efficiency] Burgess, K.-Butt (misc) Cad-Cape (misc) [Jerome Cantor re Nixon campaign] Capu-Cas (misc) [Joseph Caputa re European reaction to Little Rock, ICA; G. Harold Carswell re Florida court work] Cass-Call (misc) [U.S. Social Defense correspondents to the U.N.] Cer-Chor (misc) [Norman Chandler re airline case; Rep. Frank Chelf re Panama] Chot-Clark, K. (misc) [Murray Chotiner and FTC; congestion in federal courts] Clark, R.-Cliff (misc) 3 Cob-Com (misc) Comm-Cor (misc) [Owen Connolly re New York politics; Edward Cooper re broadcasting regulation; Ralph Cooper re Florida judicial appointment; Philip Cortney re TV quiz show hoax] Cott-Cre (misc) [B. Hayden Crawford re Oklahoma politics] Cron-Crossley, R. (misc) [Sobell and Rosenberg cases; Randolph Crossley re Hawaii politics] Crossley, R.-Crou (misc) [Randolph Crossley; Paul Crouch re New York appointment] Cros-Cutt (misc) [investigation of labor extortion] Dal-Davis, C. (misc) [John Dalton re meeting with Cuban officials] Davis, E.-Denman (misc) [Sim DeLapp re North Carolina judicial appointments] Den-Diggs (misc) [Edward Devitt re federal sentencing procedures; Raymond Dickey re political considerations in judicial appointments] Dewey, Gov. Thomas E. [construction of air force base] Dill-Don (misc) [Benjamin Dillingham re Hawaii politics and judicial appointment; visa for Cuban official; Everett Dirksen re Civil Rights Commission, number of judges] Dor-Dro (misc) [Francis Dorn re New York politics; William Drennan re West Virginia judicial appointment] Dru-Dwo (misc) [Rogers re conduct of regulatory commission; U.S. Attorneys as judges] 4 Eag-Eid (misc) Ein-Ema (misc) [Edgar Eisenhower re politics, judicial appointments] Eme-Eze (misc) [article re FCC scandal; Samuel Ervin re FBI investigation of Mississippi lynching] Pres. Eisenhower, Corres. with October 1959-January 1961 [moratorium on nuclear testing; crime statistics; anti-trust