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THE STORY BEHIND THE U.S. GOVERNMENT CREATING A NATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & WHY THE ORGANIZATION CHANGED ITS COURSE

CHANGE OF COURSE

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL BUSINESS HISTORY INITIATIVE

MARK ANTHONY THOMAS MIT SLOAN FELLOW

DECEMBER 2013

INTRODUCTION
On November 20, 1946, five men registered at the United States Capital as the nations first federal business lobbyists, under the newly passed Lobby Registration Act. Two of them Clarence R. Miles and Donald A. Youngrepresented the United States Chamber of Commerce, an organization founded three decades before, after more than fifty years of preceding attempts to bringing a viable, independent business voice to Washingtons side. Its founding president, Chicago banker Harry Wheeler envisioned and built the framework for a national organization where "partisanship and class, and industrial differences and commercial differences, should all yield to a desire for the commercial and industrial advancement of our country. In 1913, as the newly formed national chamber united its members for the first convention, he hoped the federal government would leverage the expertise of the chamber to consider the judgment of the business minds of this country and most notably, proclaimed, This Chamber will not, I trust, ever in its history become a lobbying organization. With the 1946 act and formal registration of its lobbyists, the chambers founding vision would not sustain, although the organization would. Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce bears faint similarities to its original creed. It is one of Washingtons most forceful lobbying firms, fiercely partisan and political, and the embodiment of global capitalism. The chamber adopted many of the same traits that foiled the ambition of preceding organizations and distanced itself from the ideas that shaped the organizations early successes. This is howand whythe Chamber changed its course.

19TH CENTURY AMERICA: IN BUSINESS CONTEXT

At the end of the nineteenth century, the United States surpassed Great Britain as the worlds largest economy, somethingjust a century beforeseemed inconceivable. Basking in this new

prosperity, U.S. leaders were quick to boast what the nation achieved. In merely a generation, the U.S. created nearly twice the wealth the British spent five centuries building.i In Europe, as early as 1901 alarmist books warned of the Americanization of the globe,ii sparking fears that the U.S. would be the worlds sole dominate power. During this transformative time, the American pillars of economic competitiveness would take shapewith labor, businessmen, government, manufacturers, and academic institutions creating a social infrastructure to compliment the physical groundwork of transportation and communications that were networking the nation. The growth of American industrialism and firms drove the ambitions of the countrys citizens and burgeoning immigrant populations. Business prosperity fueled the nations politics and regulatory responsibilitiesmonopolies were fragmented into competing companies, panics would stem the creation of the Federal Reserve System, and Washington D.C. would serve a permanent place in guiding the monetary policies that synchronize the collective interest of American firms. While the twentieth century would bring new challengeswith global decolonization, industrialization, and technological advancementdecisions made during the early 1900s would power the U.S. domination well into the twenty-first century. Today, the political and economic histories of the U.S. are largely presented absent of business leadership or guiding external influences. But theres little reform within the U.S. history and economic development, where businessmen werent involved.iii Universally, business historiansincluding Alfred Chandler, John Schumpeterpoint to the building of organizational and technical capabilities within firms, as the springboard for the American miracle.iv But the building of American business, which shaped the framework of a national capitalism society, would influence the way government governed andfrom an operational and management viewfunctioned.

Business transform Americans identity and international economic ambitions and it shifted the political rhetoric from general autopsies on the functional sciences of our democracy, to an assessment of the scale and scope of a newly conceived concept: the Economy. No place is this more evident than the presidential inauguration addresses, which set the national direction and theme of the U.S. Presidents agenda for the upcoming term. From George Washingtons 1789 address to Theodore Roosevelts speech in 1905, there were minimal references to business and the overarching American economy.v This all changed with transfer of power from Roosevelt to his hand-picked successor, the 27th U.S. President William Howard Taft. During Tafts March 1909 inauguration speech, he referenced business 22 timesmore than the entire first 26 U.S. presidential speeches combined. For Taft, the governments responsibility for managing the economy was now clearly defined; confirming the new, yet important, tax on government resources to supervise business. He reminded Americans this new supervisory role was a responsibility which didnt exist just 50 years before he took office.vi This wasnt Tafts first speech proclaiming the central interconnectedness between business, government, and the economic vitality of the country. His acceptance speech at the 1908 Republican National Convention, focused greatly on this topic, with more than 60 references to business and a great proclaim of his predecessors (and friend) economic achievements.vii

THE INTERCONNECTION
In retrospect, Tafts inauguration speech marked the federal governments growing acknowledgement of the integral role businessmen and firms served in constructing the prosperity behind the rhetoric. Yet, as early as the 1760s, cities were early adopters of pooling the interests of businessmen. Local chambers were operating in New York City, Charleston, and Boston during colonial and revolutionary America, building interests and promoting trade commerce, in sync with

government officials. In fact, the words Chamber of Commerce originate in New Jersey and New York City in 1767viii with more than 40 active chambers developing in the U.S in its first century.ix Not to be outdone, European businessmen studied the local alliances in America. But Great Britain would leap forward to shape national business interests, successfully connecting six of its chambers to create the Associated Chambers of Commerce (ACC) in 1860. In its early years, the ACC remained lean and largely ineffective, but the establishment of the London chamberand membership into the ACCthe organization was professionalized, building a collaborative relationship with the British Board of Trade.x Overall, in contrast to the principal European countries, the United States had no effective national organization of business associations with close ties to the government.xi

EARLY NETWORK FAILS

Throughout the 1800s, local networks of businessmen attempted to nationalize efforts. Initial efforts spawned a series of special interest organizations, but failed to create the nonpartisan, unilateral institutions that supported all businesses and sectors across the country. This would emerge as the goal standard. Without a clearly definitive national interest emerging as the unifying vision or a leader with the fortitude to shape a credible effort, none would successfully reach the clout sought. These failures offered one important lesson to those who eventually succeededthe federal government would have to lead. Established in 1868, the National Board of Trade was initially proposed at a Boston commercial convention and requested chamber organizations appoint a delegate to the national organization.xii The chambers and boards represented at early meetings included mostly northern organizations, with Philadelphia businessman Frederick Fraley elected the first president. A relatively clear mission and focus never materialized in practice. Early meetings appear to lack leadership and

offer too much democratic debate. Minutes capture conflicting interests over how the board would work with Washington. The practice of combined lobbying of businessmen, notably, was widely as problematic, and less valuable, despite the leaderships desire to push Congressional policies. Portlands Board of Trade representative John B. brown stated, This system of combined lobbying has become so common a practice, that I believe it is for the interest of this country at once to stop it, and all the robbery of the Government which it involves, in his persuasive argument against a proposed lobbying effort in 1870.xiii This sentiment, among widespread nepotism, led to government creation of the civil service in 1883 and prohibition of corporate contributions for federal candidates.xiv The National Board would struggle for influence over the next few decades, even proposing for merging into the efforts to launch a national chamber in 1911.xv In 1895, Atlanta Businessman Thomas H. Martin led the creation of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), with undisclosed support from William McKinleys presidential campaign. McKinleywho served as U.S. president from 1897 until his assassination in 1901saw early benefit of creating an alternative membership political organization for the Republican Party to build its base in southern (and conservative) democratic states. Strong partisan ties limited NAMs early impact and cross-sector influence, but NAM was instrumental in helping establishing the national chamber.xvi Another effort, the National Civic Federation, emphasized collaboration of business and labor and began operating in 1900. Though the NCF offered early influence, the national chambers work and influence would exceed NCF by shaping legislation and the nations direction.xvii Struggles with financial viability forced the organization to close in 1950. John A. Kasson, State Department Official and U.S. Minister to Austria and Germany in the 1870s and 1880s, expressed his support for a central committee on industry and commerce in a 1901 speech to the New York chamber, featuring chambers and boards around the country.xviii

THE OTHER SIDE: LABOR TAKES SHAPE

Parallel to the efforts of businessmen, were Americas new class of industrial labor workers, unionizing and gaining meaningful headway over the 1800s. On a local level, early unionism was a product of skilled workers, particularly in larger, diversified cities. The transforming economics of industrialismand growing business capitalismran counter to labor's vision for its membership. Yet, labor organizers shaped their own direction and agenda, equally as forceful and equivalently as ambitious. If business ambitions would support a space among the presidents brain trust, labor unions hoped for no less. In its early days, the first National Labor Union (NLU)founded in 1866gained international allies in state-supported unions in Prussia. NLU President William H. Sylvis was impressed with the Prussias labor department and called for the U.S. government to create a cabinet level position to speak to the workers needs. xix New national organized unions

emerged after the NLUs demise, only a few years after its peak. The first published government labor research, included development of datasets on labor and business activity. This information received high demand from elected officials and the general public.xx While the six-year Depression of 1873 offered setbacks for a national cabinet role, an 1878 Congressional investigation into the causes of the depression offered a proposal for a formal federal bureau of labor statistics.xxi President Chester Arthur signed into law a Federal Bureau of Labor in 1884, within the Department of Interior. This was far short of the unions aspirations, but nevertheless an acknowledgement Labor did find an ally in Roosevelt, with the creation of the Department of

Commerce and Labor. It would be a dreadful calamity, President Roosevelt reflected, if we saw the country divided into two parties, one containing the bulk of property owners and conservative people, the other the bulk of the wage workers and the less prosperous.xxii In 1913, President Taft would eventually sign off the cabinet-level position labor sought into law, just hours before Woodrow

Wilson was sworn in as president. He signed with hesitation, stating concern that nine departments of the executive branch were more than enough. As Taft sign-into law the congressional proposal to split the labor and commerce departmentstherefore dividing the organizationsNagel recommended he veto the bill. Nagel believed the government should promote closer relations rather than recognize commerce separate and distinct from labor.xxiii

SEEKING GOOD WILL BUSINESSMEN

Washington had no shortage of business lobbyists, who were loosely, undefined influencers before formal registration. Congressional legislatures and White House officials were in constant contact with chamber and trade organizations throughout the United States. Even with the existing groups, business and government officials expressed a need for additional leadership. In 1897, Frederic Emory, Chief of the State Department, hinted at a need for a national commerce organization to support international manufacturing and business efforts.xxiv The president of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce James CouzensVice President and General Manager of the Ford Motor Companysaid in 1908, he refused to join another business association. Speaking of the general consensus of the nations most prominent businessmen, he called for an association of associations, as a number of ineffective groups claimed to hold this space.xxv He would eventually serve on the board of directors of the national chamber, before becoming mayor of Detroit and a Michigan senator. Initial government-led efforts focused on building closer ties and extending current agency relations. Minnesota Senator Knute Nelson, who chaired the Congressional sub-committee on commerce, sent initially letters to regional chambers to survey support for a cabinet-level commerce post.xxvi In 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor was created to foster and develop foreign and domestic commerce, xxvii elevating labor out of the Department of Interior, and aligning it with commerce.

Over the next decade, as labor pushed for a direct cabinet position, the federal government continued to explore ways to institutionalize greater inclusion of businessmen. A failed attempt to organize a brain trust of businessmen, the National Council of Commerce, would have worked directly with the Department of Commerce and Labor. This fumbled under the leadership of Secretary Oscar S. Straus, despite being a prominent businessman from New York and involved since the 1890s in the movement to reform the consular service. He served as a member of the New York State Chamber of Commerce and as President of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, before his appointment.xxviii Though, many chambers expressed interest in the council, the selective rich mans club admission and a German-born leader tainted the efforts.xxix Charles Nagel, the

successor to Straus, disbanded the council with his appointment to lead the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1909.

FEDERAL ALLIES EMERGE

In Nagel, advocates for a national association would finally have an ally. Nagel, a successful St. Louis corporate attorney, had built a career helping businessmen navigate the legal matters and broad outlooks on business.xxx He was also elected as a state legislature and judge in Missouri and active in national republican strategy.xxxi Within months of Nagels appointment, he received letters from the Boston Chamber of Commerce suggesting he sponsor a new national organization. Confronting initial hesitation, the Boston Chamberin cooperation with the Chicago Chamber moved forward, only to abandon efforts, concluding that the federal government would have to lead any viable initiative.xxxii Instead, the Boston Chamber moved forward with a successful public campaign. By 1911, Nagel would see the results of that effort, receiving letters daily to reinstitute the push for a national chamber. Eventually convinced, Nagel present the idea to the entire presidential cabinetxxxiii and

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secured Taft including the call for a national charter for the chamber, as part of his upcoming address to Congress. It is cause for regret, however, that the great number of such associations and the comparative lack of cooperation between them fails to secure an efficiency commensurate with the public interest Some central organization in touch with associations and chambers of commerce throughout the country and able to keep purely American interests in closer touch with different phases of commercial affairs would, I believe, be of great value The authority and success of such an organization would evidently be enhanced if the Congress should see fit to prescribe its scope and organization through legislation which would give to it some such official standing as that, for example, of the National Red Cross. President William Taft December 5, 1911State of the Union Address Tafts reference of the National Red Cross was strategicand offers a different lens of historical analysis. Under Tafts Presidency, the American Red Cross and the State Department

made their working relationship formal and explicit; officiating the charity as an official organ of American diplomacy.xxxiv Acting U.S. Secretary of State Huntington Wilson was appointed to the American Red Cross Executive Committee. Wilson was instrumental in crafting Tafts Dollar Diplomacy program in Latin America to promote U.S. commercial interestsxxxv and promoted legislative bills, championed by local chambers that strengthen American business abroad.xxxvi Wilson joined Nagel in suggesting that the national chamber might contribute to the programs success.xxxvii Taft would eventually serve as the chairman of the Red Cross Board of Directors, stating in 1915, I have found it most useful in doing things that ought to be done, which there is no legal authority for the president to do.xxxviii Historians argue that Taft created the national chamber to counter labor and to broaden his national appeal for re-election success. I offer argument that disagrees with this assumption. Absent of the business leaders pushing for a national chamber, the Taft administration had every incentive to solicit support and engage non-government experts. Though Roosevelt was the first U.S. president

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to travel abroad, Taft broke all presidential records for traveling across the country, speaking at local chambers in his destinations.

xxxix

regularly

Democracies all embrace debate. But, the beginnings and rise of socialism in 1898and its strong alliances with some labor unionsattracted possible alternative views on reshaping Americas business system. For most of the public, to Nagels eventual admission, the economy seemed uncertain and inconsistent, despite the progress. Though the U.S. was the worlds largest economy, between 1870 and 1910, the country had experienced 13 economic recessions and business cycles, most recently the Panic of 1907which ended less than a year before Tafts inauguration. xl By January 1910, the U.S. would experience yet another economic contraction, entering into a two-year period of decline.xli But the 1912 recovery was different. Whereas markets, trade, and industrial production stabilized, actual volume of business activity in the U.S.between 1910 and 1913declined 23.3%.xlii The U.S. trailed Britain and Germany, who had larger, growing trade volume. European countries had superior facilities and more effective business interest organizations. xliii The

uncertainty of American capitalism and growing discontent of economic stability presented real challenges. Not only did the American Red Cross model provide a valuable framework, the economy had evolved to a place where the real value could be captured. In July 1912, Nagel privately wrote to Taft, It can be made perfectly clear that the general public is more interested in the absence of panics and in the stability of commerce than it is in any other question at this time.xliv So many peopleincluding economists, political scientists, and historianseven today, have accepted and repeated the assertions about businessmen of the progressive era so often, theyve converted them into stereotypes.xlv Only after the 1930s New Deal policies, and some five decades

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after the creation of the federal civil service, would public policy schools develop professionals to manage public affairs.xlvi Thus, businessmen of large outlook, who could manage the complex forces controlling production, transportation, and investmentxlvii, could in return, offer a higher-depth that government saw increasingly beneficial to the U.S. global competitiveness. These businessmen often possessed an international experience that men of lesser profession lacked, xlviii building firms that were the envy of the world. With this, government rightfully sought inclusive ways to bring this expertise from outside in. We were divided by the rule of self interest in this country. The labor unions stood for one side, the merchants for another, industrials for another, agriculture for another, and each believed that its purpose must be to seek the greatest advantage for itself, regardless of the cost to the others.xlix Charles Nagel, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, on need for a national chamber.

THE NATIONAL CHAMBER IS CHARTERED

On February 12, 1912, A. H. Baldwin, president of the Bureau of Manufacturers, secretly met with a number of businessmenhandpicked by the Boston Chamberincluding representatives for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Southern Commercial Congress, the American Association of Commercial Executives.l Though neither Nagel nor Taft attended, this meeting led to the presidents letter inviting 1,000 businessmen to Washington. Baldwin and John F. Fahey, publisher of the Boston Traveler, would prepare an outlined constitution for a national organization before the businessmen would arrive.li Not all chambers and businessmen supported the effort, including the New York Chamber. In speaking of Europes national chambers as a model, A. Barton Hepburn, President of Chase National Bank and the president of the New York Chamber said, The cities in which (British Chambers) are

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located are of more nearly equal importance. He added, In the old countries, also, the chambers of commerce are semi-public bodies, having functions that are unknown to us here. We do not care to have our actions directed by force of numbers, regardless of the amount of trade in the different places.lii In a response, stated as a non-reply to Hepburns objections, Nagel expressed conviction that proper relationship between the federal departments and the merchants and manufacturers could not be established unless there was a public and representative organization with which the officials of the government could deal.liii At the conference held in Washington D.C. on April 12, 1912, Nagel stated, Attempt after attempt has been made. Men have devoted their energy and their thoughts to it. They have organized national boards and organizations of other kinds. Somehow the measures have not entirely

succeeded, and it has seemed to me that one of the great difficulties is that the government was never in a position to recognize one as against the other. Years later, he would reflect on this moment that the conditions were ripe for a Chamber of Commerce.liv Although Wilsons presidential win ended Nagels term, he was the only secretary of the unified Labor and Commerce department to serve four full years. He was equally as championed for his pro-immigration stanceliberal and humanelvand maintained relatively fair relations with the nations largest unions. Nagels commitment with the chamber would continue beyond his time in the Taft Administration, serving as a Board of Director from 1914 to 1917 and active in a number of roles until 1930.

HARRY WHEELER: THE MORAL CONSCIOUS

Wheeler, the Vice President of the Union Trust Company of Chicago, was unanimously elected to serve as the first president of the organization. Wheeler had served as president of the Chicago chamber, which was considered a model for its time. During Wheelers leadership in

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Chicago, the local chamber was described as having done more than all the city clubs, reform leagues, and voters unions of that city to unite men and to infuse business ethics into municipal government.lvi Wheeler would bring this ethos to the vision for the national chamber. He appeared to agonize over the defenselessness businessmen possessed, in securing a more positive brand among the American people. The first two annual meetings of the chamber offered little substance, leaving the chambers first two presidents to give the organization affluence and direction.lvii Two preceding organizational strategies were default directions sought by the chambers businessmen, lobby as a new Board of Trade, or work directly with the Department of Commerce, as a redressed National Council on Commerce. Wheeler and Fahey rejected both. lviii The Chamber also defeated a proposal from the Cleveland Chamberdespite it being one of the nations most dynamic, influential civic organizationslixthat would have made the chamber a roll of honor of American elite businessmen.lx Harry Wheeler envisioned a truly non-partisan Chamber of Commerceoffering consistency to the membersthe general public, Congress, and the President that created it. In a personal letter to President Taft in 2012, Wheeler wrote that no breath of partisanship must attach to the organization. Upon his election, he traveled the country to build momentum for the Chamber movement. In San Francisco, he said, "Ninety percent of business is honest. The American business man stands in the forefront of those who adhere to the highest principles of honor and integrity, but single-handed he has been powerless to present a proper defense."lxi He added that the chamber wasnt founded for warfarebut that compromise and arbitration might take the place of open antagonism. John Jay

Edison, another banker, ensured financial stability, and Elliot H. Goodwin, a Harvard graduate, served as the Chambers first general secretary.lxii

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Wheeler stayed out of the Taft re-election campaign and kept the chamber from recommending federal appointees. After Tafts reelection defeat, Wheeler pushed for close relations with Woodrow Wilsons administration and rejected efforts to criticize the new democratic government.lxiii Wheeler was successful in galvanizing support. His message permeated through the league of businessmen he inspired. Walter D. Foss, an inventor and president of the Wooster Brush Co., served as the president of the National Paint, Oil, and Varnish Association (NPOVA). Speaking in Boston in 1915, to the Boston Paint Club, he referred to the Chamber as a commercial House of Representatives. Foss would tell his members, Our 260,000 business men and firms, we are through our councilor, lending a hand to this great force which will have much to do with the development of our nation's commerce and prosperity. He offered enthusiastic support to the effort and Wheelers leadership.lxiv

DEATH OF THE LOBBYIST?

The creation of this chamber finds absolutely the death of all time of a lobby system, likewise, for all time the death of those contributions to political parties which have their hands extended for service to be rendered to special privilege or special interest Harry Wheelerlxv Early disputes with the special interest groupsincluding National Founders Association, American Bankers Associationled to some initial membership resignations from the Chamber, or like NAM, threats to leave.lxvi The chamber avoided the big businessmen, but attracted all the leading companies and chambers as members. The chamber polled its members views on legislative and proposals, drafting referenda to represent their interests. Through this referendum system, the government could pulse smaller and medium-sized business firms across the country. In return, legislatures could dispense information and mobilize support for issues within an agency they considered essential.lxvii

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As the membership became more active, member associations sought more results from approved referenda. Wheeler and Fahey left this concern unanswered, but determined that

unresolved, this would cause long-term detriment to the businessmens moral.lxviii Although the (chamber) is proud to be so considered a part of the constructive work of the administration, Wheeler said at the 1913 annual meeting, It owes to the administration no other obligation, no other pledge, no other loyalty. Time would evidence that Wheeler and Fahey built the most successful national association of the early 1900s. Early referendums secured larger policy wins, including a plan for a national federal budget, and support for the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Chamber would work with Nagel to lead early international efforts, such as adopting a universal calendar for all nations, and offering oratorical leadership to foreign businessmen at the International Congress of Chamber of Commerce in Boston in September 1912. lxix The chamber would launch The Nations Business, its bimonthly periodical, communicating the resolutions, opinions, and economic ideas it championed. The Nations Business would become the largest business publication in America. Early publications and reports would feature only cold, explanatory facts.lxx This approach to nonpartisanship translated well into the Woodrow Wilson presidency. As Wilsons focused on promoting foreign trade and investments, he appointed George Rublee to the board of the Chamber-endorsed FTC. Rublee was one of the chambers leading businessmen on the push to investigate world trade conditions and develop recommendations to Congress. lxxi The

chamber also championed the industrialization of the U.S. military and ethical business, self-control, and bank deposit guarantees. The Chamber would pass resolutions that declared its confidence in the general integrity and sound ideas of modern businessreiterating through resolutionthemes evoked in Wheelers early speeches.lxxii

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Wheelers desire for the Chamber to not to lobbyas lobbying was perceived during that timequickly faded, as more White House officials and members of Congress asked for the Chambers recommendations and testimonies.lxxiii With the election of R.G. Rhett, the chairman of the Peoples Bank of Charleston, to lead the chamber in 1916, he would bring the southern businesses into the fold. This would strengthen the organization, but gradually help it move from opinions to more direct legislative demands and an embrace of labor hostility rather than unity.lxxiv Though Wheeler would serve as president again, the activities easily classified as lobbying today, were now an integral course of the organizations strategy.

THE CHAMBER BREAKS

Between 1914 and the Great Depression, lobbying regulation bills were regularly introduced in Congressand just as regularly died in Congress. By the late 1920s, aggressive lobbying stemmed a number of reforms efforts, most notably the Caraway Bill. This bill passed in the U.S. Senate, but died in the house.lxxv It was universally known that American businessmen were fully vested in influencing the overarching success and function of the federal government. The Nations Business summed up this collective thinking, writing that Congress doesn't want to abolish the lobbyist. It merely wants to label him."lxxvi Senator William Cabell Bruce agreed with this perspective, offering during legislative debate, "I say without a moment's hesitation that the lobbyist is my best friend."lxxvii FDRs presidency called for a different relationship with the Chamberwhich began with constructive collaboration. FDR was rumored to have borrowed his famous line from then Chamber president Julius Barnes quote in the New York Times, In a condition of this kind, the thing to be feared most is fear itself.lxxviii The Chamber would break publically with the President in 1934, in a full-throated condemnation of social security and clash over the national labor relations act.lxxix

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In September 1934, the White House and the Chamber engaged in a heated exchange, which read like a vote of no confidence. The Chambers board addressed a statement to FDR declaring, theres "a general state of apprehension among business men of the country" due to the failure of the federal government to balance its budget, the increased regulation on private businesses, government competition with business, continued labor disturbances, and permitting radical statements from the administration on property rights.lxxx The chamber presented the White House with six propositions, demanding a reply on: the balancing of the budget, further devaluation of the dollar, international stabilization of exchange, continued competition with private enterprise, agriculture, and the public works program.lxxxi The President didnt reply. He did howeverin an interviewrebuked, saying, the Chamber, after all, was only one of hundreds of similar national organizations which might also expect replies to questionnaires if a precedent were set now. W.M. Kiplinger, publisher and founder of Kiplinger, wrote this in the Nations Business, on the way forward of the organization: Were the (Chambers) resolutions too "negative?" Yes, it seems to me they were. They did more protesting then recommending. They did not sketch anything like a well-rounded program for government action. The consequence: Not an open split between the New Deal and organized business ... Merely a slight widening of the differences between political thought and business thought. The New Deal believes strongly in the ultimate effectiveness of governmental action, and the business element believes strongly in the ultimate effectiveness of private initiative.lxxxii W.M. Kiplinger, Founder of Kiplinger In 1937, speaking to the organization, Nagel offered this insight; We have given of late years to legislation for everything that has suggested itself. He further warned against fast, quick

legislative proposalsasking that each proposal be well thought out and concise.lxxxiii The chamber would never recourse its New Deal tone with the federal government and double-down on defending the principles of capitalismas the fear of communism threatened the American business system.

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A New Republican article encouraging Eric Johnston, president of the Chamber (1941 1946), to run for U.S. president reflects the challenges and changes of the chamber in a post-FDR economic environment. He states the case for business in such a way as to make it attractive rather than arouse suspicion and hatred. The article says Johnston stood behind the word 'capitalism' instead of code words such as 'private-enterprise system' or the 'American Way of Life,"lxxxiv used to soften the rhetoric. The chamber, itself, would adopt these code words for its slogans and mission statements and embark on a full-frontal approach to protect the system of business thought against the growing forces against it.

The Republican Party (1908). The Republican Party Platform of 1908. University of California San Diego Presidency

Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29632)
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