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Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr.

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Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg, Jr. (June 30, 1907 – January 18, 1968) was a Republican government official from Michigan. He worked for many years on the staff of his father, Arthur H. Vandenberg (1884–1951), who served in the U.S. Senate from 1928 to 1951. He was briefly appointed to Eisenhower's White House staff in November 1952 but resigned in 1953 at the very start of the Eisenhower administration. He also worked as a consultant and academic and edited his father’s papers for publication.

The reason for his 1953 resignation, originally blamed on health problems, was later revealed to be his inability to pass a security test because of his homosexuality.[1] In October 1964, following the arrest of President Lyndon Johnson's longtime aide Walter Jenkins on a "morals charge", columnist Drew Pearson published the circumstances of Vandenberg's 1952 resignation, and President Johnson himself repeated them publicly later that same month.[2]

Early years[]

Vandenberg was born on June 30, 1907, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His mother, the former Elizabeth Watson, died in 1917. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1928, just after his father entered the U.S. Senate.

After graduation, he joined his parents in Washington, D.C., and attended social events escorting Margo Couzens, the daughter of Michigan's other U.S. Senator, James J. Couzens.[3] He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, joining as a private and rising to major.[4] He was awarded the Legion of Merit "for his work in intelligence and public relations during the war."[5]

Government service[]

For 14 years before and after World War II he worked for his father in various capacities, described as his secretary, administrative assistant, or executive assistant.[4] Sometimes he handled political matters and played the role of his father's spokesperson.[6] Occasionally he substituted for his father at important meetings, as when he attended a meeting of Michigan Governor Kim Sigler with FBI officials to discuss "Communist activity in Michigan."[7] He managed his father's campaigns for re-election.[8]

Following his father's death in April 1951, he worked as a staff member for Nelson Rockefeller's International Basic Economy Corporation (IBEC), an overseas private investment firm that promoted economic development in Latin America, spending some of his time with IBEC in Brazil.[4][9]

He edited The Private Papers of Senator Vandenberg.[10] which appeared in the spring of 1952. The New York Times noted Vandenberg, Jr.'s work as "a series of competent explanatory notations" while International Affairs called it "illuminating documentation" and "an impressive memorial."[11] Scholars occasionally cite Vandenberg Jr.'s contributions to the volume.[12]

In the spring of 1952, there was speculation he would run for his father's U.S. Senate seat against Senator Blair Moody, a Democrat who had been appointed to complete the term of Senator Vandenberg.[13] Vandenberg said he would run if it meant a strong campaign in Michigan to win the Republican nomination for Eisenhower. Moody welcomed the prospect of a Vandenberg candidacy, saying it would mean a clean race and that he approved anything that would help Eisenhower win the Republican presidential nomination over the isolationist Taft.[14] After just a few days' consideration, Vandenberg declined to run, saying the Republican candidate needed to be an experienced campaigner and that he was uncertain his running would "greatly strengthen the Eisenhower movement in Michigan."[15]

Vandenberg was an early supporter of Eisenhower for President and helped organize a national executive committee on his behalf in January 1952 when he was not yet a candidate.[16] He met with Eisenhower in Paris several times in the spring of 1952, helping to organize his return from Paris to campaign for the Republican nomination.[17] He served on the staff of the national committee[18] and for a time in New York as Chairman of Citizens for Eisenhower, an organization of non-politicians outside the Republican Party's structure that had promoted Eisenhower's candidacy.[19][20] For a time he was posted to Washington, D.C., as assistant to national campaign manager Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.[21] In a Life magazine photo taken just before the Republican National Convention, Vandenberg posed at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel with Eisenhower, Lodge, future Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Kansas Governor and later Senate Majority Leader Frank Carlson, and Republican political operative Thomas E. Stephens.[22]

Once Eisenhower secured the Republican nomination, Vandenberg served as his Executive Assistant and coordinated the General's personal staff.[23]

In October 1952, Vandenberg privately expressed disappointment in a letter to Sherman Adams that Eisenhower, on a campaign tour of Wisconsin, did not distinguish himself as strongly as Vandenberg would have liked from Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Red activities and especially from his recent attack on General George Marshall.[24]

White House staff[]

Following Eisenhower’s victory in the presidential race, at the end of November 1952, the President-elect designated Vandenberg to be his Appointments Secretary,[25] He immediately began performing those duties,[26] then in January took a vacation in Florida "because of ill health." "Close associates of General Eisenhower," reported the New York Times, "said there was no basis for speculation that Mr. Vandenberg's absence meant that he might not take office with the new Administration. They said he was 'a little bit under the weather'."[27]

On January 13, 1953, however, a week before Eisenhower's inauguration, the White House announced that Vandenberg was taking a leave of absence for health reasons. The New York Times now reported Vandenberg "was granted an extended leave of absence because of ill health. He suffers from an undisclosed 'blood condition' and said it would be some months before he could hope to assume his White House duties."[28] In April he resigned his position blaming "an attack of stomach ulcers." He told the press that he was uncertain of his prognosis and "the uncertainty was unfair to the President." He said that rumors of trouble between himself and the President were "definitely not true." Instead he planned to work for IBEC again.[4][29][30]

Later career[]

"I am delighted that you are continuing to take a friendly interest in an individual who, regardless of anything in the past, is obviously a sensitive character, devoted to his country and well informed in the international field."

President Eisenhower to Nelson Rockefeller
February 23, 1957

Vandenberg next served as a visiting lecturer in international affairs in the Government Department at the University of Miami, holding as well the title of Director at the Governmental Affairs Foundation of New York.[31]

Eisenhower invited him back to the White House in June 1954 to attend a "stag dinner" for the President and 16 guests. The New York Times listed the names of those invited–almost all men in private industry—but only wrote about Vandenberg.[32] An academic journal announced his plan to travel abroad in the summer of 1954[33] and in December of that year, he met with the President to report on his three-month trip, which the President described as covering the Middle East and Far East. Eisenhower asked him to "follow up with a written memorandum."[34]

Vandenberg resigned from his academic position following the publication of an exposé in Confidential magazine in 1956, which he called a "smear."[2][35][36]

Rockefeller advised Vandenberg to return to university teaching and perhaps publish some of his lectures. President Eisenhower later wrote discreetly to Rockefeller concerning "a mutual friend of ours" and said he was aware of the contents of an article, presumably the Confidential exposé, though he had not read it. He wrote: "I am delighted that you are continuing to take a friendly interest in an individual who, regardless of anything in the past, is obviously a sensitive character, devoted to his country and well informed in the international field." He seconded Rockefeller’s advice about teaching and publishing and added: "For my part, I am truly grateful to you for being helpful in this situation, as you are in so many others."[35]

Vandenberg worked for the rest of his life as a public relations consultant.[35]

1964 revelation[]

On October 7, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson's Special Assistant and Chief of Staff Walter Jenkins was arrested on a morals charge in Washington, D.C. He resigned on October 14.

James Reston, writing in the New York Times the following day, wrote that "President Eisenhower was embarrassed by a comparable morals charge against one of his first appointees of his first Administration," but gave no specifics.[37] Drew Pearson in his October 19 "Washington Merry-go-round" column recounted the 1952 events and confirmed Vandenberg's homosexuality. He described Vandenberg as one who showed great promise—"bright, intelligent, a great asset to the President"—but was "unable to pass a security test" at the last minute.[1]

Campaigning in San Diego on October 28, 1964, just days before the 1964 presidential election, President Lyndon Johnson was questioned about morality in his administration. Johnson replied that every administration had its scandals and cited the case of Eisenhower's appointments secretary, thus confirming Pearson's outing Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr.[38] Later that evening, Johnson described his San Diego response to Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach:[39][40]

I said that every administration has these problems...Now the press plays it up pretty big, as if I indicted Eisenhower as having a pervert as his appointments secretary....I did not intend to do that....My thought was that every President I'd known [had such problems]. From Hoover when he had Andrew Mellon...to Roosevelt with Sumner Welles, to Truman with Matt Connelly and with Harry Dexter White, Eisenhower with Vandenberg....

The President now feared some of the press thought "that I am guilty of McCarthy-like character assassination....because I did specify that Ike had this problem with his appointments secretary. So, my problem is...to immediately identify the appointments secretary in my own mind—not for public use, but to be sure in my own mind that I'm on safe ground....we better get the facts on...Arthur Vandenberg, Jr."[41] Within the past month Johnson had read in an FBI file that Vandenberg "had some sex problems," but he still feared that his public comments might expose him to a lawsuit for slander.[39] Months later, Johnson read in Joe Alsop's FBI file that Vandenberg was one of Joseph Alsop's lovers.[42]

Years later, Johnson's press secretary George Reedy used Johnson's remarks about Vandenberg as an example of how Johnson, despite great face-to-face political skills, could be "incredibly clumsy when talking to a group of journalists." He continued:[43]

He could convert a normal, even praiseworthy, thought into a shocking declaration which he did not intend to make. In the aftermath of the Walter Jenkins case, for example, he appeared to be counterattacking the Republican Party for having had some homosexuals in its midst when he was only trying to say that homosexuality was not, and should not be, a partisan issue.

Later years[]

Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr., never married and died in Miami, Florida, on January 18, 1968.[2][4][8]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gadsden Times (Florida): Drew Pearson, "Homosexuality bipartisan problem in U.S. capital," October 19, 1964, accessed November 13, 2010
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Clendinen, Dudley (November 27, 2011). "J. Edgar Hoover, ‘Sex Deviates’ and My Godfather". http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/opinion/sunday/j-edgar-hoover-outed-my-godfather.html. Retrieved November 28, 2011. 
  3. ↑ New York Times: "Notes of Social Activities in New York and Elsewhere," February 24, 1929, accessed November 16, 2010. She also spelled her name Margot.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 New York Times: "Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr. Dies," January 19, 1968, accessed November 14, 2010
  5. ↑ New York Times: "Vandenberg's Son Honored," March 1, 1947, accessed November 16, 2010
  6. ↑ New York Times: James A. Haggerty, "Dewey Wins in Test on Georgia Group," June 19, 1948, accessed November 16, 2010; New York Times: Edward B. Lockett, "The Big Two on Capitol Hill," June 1, 1947, accessed November 17, 2010; New York Times: "Willkie is Called the 'Man to Beat'," June 19, 1940, accessed November 17, 2010; Billboard: "Little White Lies?", June 26, 1948, accessed November 19, 2010. In 1940, he escorted the Cherry Queen at the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan; Traverse City Record Eagle: "Index to Year of 1940", accessed November 19, 2010
  7. ↑ New York Times: "Vandenberg Hits Silence by Russia," February 15, 1947, accessed November 16, 2010.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 TIME: "Milestones: Jan. 26, 1968," January 26, 1968, accessed November 19, 2010
  9. ↑ On IBEC, see Elizabeth A. Cobbs, "Entrepreneurship as Diplomacy: Nelson Rockefeller and the Development of the Brazilian Capital Market," in Business History Review, v. 63 (1989), 88-121, esp. 99. Vandenberg wrote a speech for Rockefeller to deliver at the re-opening of a museum in Brazil; Zueler R. M. A. Lima, "Nelson A. Rockefeller and Art Patronage in Brazil after World War II", accessed November 19, 2010
  10. ↑ Houghton Mifflin, 1952, with the collaboration of Joe Alex Morris. Some of Vandenberg's research is reflected in his correspondence with General Eisenhower. See The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 12, 683-4, 642-4.
  11. ↑ New York Times: James Reston, "The Education of a Statesman," April 20, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010; Clifton J. Child, "Review," in International Affairs, v. 29 (1953), 398-9; Richard H. Heindel, "Review," in American Historical Review, v. 58 (1953), 401-2
  12. ↑ James A. Gazell, "Arthur H. Vandenberg, Internationalism, and the United Nations," in Political Science Quarterly, v. 88 (1973), 375-94 passim
  13. ↑ New York Times: Elie Abel, "Young Vandenberg Backed for Senate," February 9, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010
  14. ↑ New York Times: "Foe Invites Vandenberg," February 12, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010
  15. ↑ New York Times: "Vandenberg Puts Senate Race Aside," February 16, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010. In the race for the Republican nomination, Michigan's delegates were thought to be critical; New York Times: William M. Blair, "Key Blocks Report Eisenhower Gains," July 9, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010. Moody lost his seat to Michigan Republican Charles E. Potter.
  16. ↑ The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 914n, 956n
  17. ↑ New York Times: "Vandenberg Slated as Eisenhower Aide," May 31, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010
  18. ↑ The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1091
  19. ↑ New York Times: James A. Hagerty, "Eisenhower Groups Opens Office Here," February 8, 1952, accessed November 12, 2010
  20. ↑ Herbert S. Parmet, Eisenhower and the American Crusades (NY: Macmillan, 1972), 106
  21. ↑ New York Times: James Reston, "Eisenhower Camp Revisits its Set-up," March 19, 1952, accessed November 17, 2010; New York Times: Paul P. Kennedy, "Hoffman to Head Eisenhower Team," March 21, 1952, accessed November 17, 2010
  22. ↑ Life: "Republican Bigwigs," July 1, 1951, accessed November 21, 2010
  23. ↑ The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1092n, 1325, 1341, 1420; Parmet, 111
  24. ↑ The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1372-4, 1374n
  25. ↑ New York Times: "The Nation: Others Named," November 30, 1952, accessed November 12, 2010
  26. ↑ New York Times: William R. Conklin, "Eisenhower Selects Aldrich to be Ambassador to Britain," December 1, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010
  27. ↑ New York Times: W.H. Lawrence, "Eisenhower Selects Conant for Bonn Post," January 13, 1953, accessed November 16, 2010
  28. ↑ New York Times: "Virginian Endorsed by Byrd is Named Tax Bureau Chief," January 14, 1953, accessed November 12, 2010. Time said he was "ailing." TIME: "National Affairs: Appointments," February 9, 1953, accessed November 12, 2010
  29. ↑ Deseret News: "Ulcers Cause Vandenberg to Quit Post," April 14, 1953, accessed November 13, 2010
  30. ↑ New York Times: "Vandenberg Forgoes U.S. Post," April 14, 1953, accessed November 16, 2010
  31. ↑ Richard H. Leach, "News and Notes," in Journal of Politics, v. 16 (1954), 594
  32. ↑ New York Times: "Eisenhower Entertains," June 25, 1954, accessed November 14, 2010
  33. ↑ "Other Activities" in American Political Science Review, v. 50 (1956), 934
  34. ↑ The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 15 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966), "Document 1183: Eisenhower To John Foster Dulles," December 6, 1954, available online, accessed November 14, 2010.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 18 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966), "Document 48: Eisenhower To Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller," February 23, 1957, available online, accessed November 14, 2010
  36. ↑ "Notes" in Southern Economic Journal, v. 23 (1857), 358
  37. ↑ New York Times: James Reston, "Setback for Johnson," October 15, 2010, accessed November 13, 2010
  38. ↑ According to Time magazine, reporters did not at first understand who Johnson meant, since Vandenberg had not actually served as appointments secretary, and President Eisenhower answered questions by saying "I can't recall it." But everyone would have known of Drew Pearson's column more than a week earlier. TIME: "Johnson & the Jenkins Case," November 6, 1964, accessed January 18, 2011
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Michael Beschloss, Reaching for Glory (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 98
  40. ↑ Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon was accused of tax evasion, Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles of homosexuality, while Treasury Department official Harry Dexter White was charged with spying. Matt Connelly, Truman's appointments secretary, went to jail for tax evasion.
  41. ↑ Beschloss, 99
  42. ↑ Beschloss, 253-4, 254n
  43. ↑ George Reedy, "The President and the Press: Struggle for Dominance," in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, v. 427 (1976), 69
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