<--PREV Doc #49  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #51 Document #50; February 20, 1953 To Edgar Newton Eisenhower Series: EM, AWF, Name Series ; Category: Personal and confidential The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part I: Charting a New Course; January 1953 to April 1953 Chapter 1: Developing a spirit of teamwork   Dear Ed: The Head of the Treasury Department, Secretary Humphrey, is one of the soundest and, I think, wisest men I have had the pleasure of meeting.1 He is the one that selected Mr. Andrews to head the Tax Collection Department.2 He did so from a long list of so-called "eligibles." I am sure that he did it on the basis of the man's experience record and personal qualifications. In making his selection, I am quite sure that he was not influenced by any doctrinaire position as between the competence of tax lawyers and tax auditors.3 Since Bill Rogers has been with us a long time, I would not be at all surprised that he may have conferred with Bill either directly or indirectly; however, I would not make a guess as to this--I am just saying that it would be possible.4 In any event, you give me the first hint I have had that there is a suggestion to take the Tax Collection Department out of the Treasury. So I think you can rest on that. As ever 1 See no. 2. 2 Thomas Coleman Andrews, of Virginia, a Harry F. Byrd Democrat, reform-minded state and Richmond city auditor, and former president of the American Institute of Accountants, had served on Eisenhower's staff in North Africa during World War II. Eisenhower had named him Commissioner of Internal Revenue in mid-January; the Senate confirmed him February 4 (New York Times, Jan. 14, 18, Feb. 5, 1953). 3 Edgar wrote (Feb. 17, AWF/N) that he recently had heard that the Administration planned to remove the Internal Revenue Bureau from the Treasury Department, "the purpose being to give the Commissioner of Internal Revenue a more independent status." Edgar said that this alarmed him, because lawyers had been trying to prevent Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and auditors from giving advice on income-tax law. Andrews was on the CPAs' side, "and therefore his appointment to the position he now holds is like a red flag to the lawyers." 4 Edgar had suggested that the President talk to William Pierce Rogers (LL.B. Cornell 1937). Rogers, a Navy veteran and a former assistant district attorney in New York, had been a Senate committee counsel after World War II and then a partner in a prominent Washington-New York law firm. He joined the Eisenhower Administration as Deputy Attorney General. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal and confidential To Edgar Newton Eisenhower, 20 February 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 50. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/50.cfm <--PREV Doc #49  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #51

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