Fred M. Vinson Oral History Project

A native of Louisa, Kentucky, Frederick Moore Vinson (1890--1953) served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, was appointed associate justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1937 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, was director of the Economic Stabilization Board and director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconstruction, and was appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1946 by Harry S. Truman. Vinson's associates and relatives discuss his relationships with Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, and Harry S. Truman; Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas; Vinson family history; Vinson's campaign style; the 1928 presidential election; Vinson and the Roosevelt administration; Vinson as a lawyer and lawmaker; Youngstown Sheet and Tube versus Sawyer; the 1931 State Democratic Convention; the Guarantee of Bank Deposit Act; the Norris-Rankin bill; the 1935 gubernatorial campaign; the Economy Act of 1932; the Social Security Act of 1935; the 1938 campaign for the United States Senate; election practices in Kentucky in the late 1920s; Vinson as United States Secretary of the Treasury; the Agricultural Adjustment Administration; Vinson's views on immigration; and the McGuffy-Snyder Coal Bill. A native of Louisa, Frederick Moore Vinson (1890--1953) served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, was appointed associate justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1937 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, was director of the Economic Stabilization Board and director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconstruction, and was appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1946 by Harry S. Truman. Vinson's associates and relatives discuss his relationships with Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, and Harry S. Truman; Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas; Vinson family history; Vinson's campaign style; the 1928 presidential election; Vinson and the Roosevelt administration; Vinson as a lawyer and lawmaker; Youngstown Sheet and Tube versus Sawyer; the 1931 State Democratic Convention; the Guarantee of Bank Deposit Act; the Norris-Rankin bill; the 1935 gubernatorial campaign; the Economy Act of 1932; the Social Security Act of 1935; the 1938 campaign for the United States Senate; election practices in Kentucky in the late 1920s; Vinson as United States Secretary of the Treasury; the Agricultural Adjustment Administration; Vinson's views on immigration; and the McGuffy-Snyder Coal Bill.