Oscar R. Ewing (March 8, 1889 – January 8, 1980) was a 20th-century American lawyer, social reformer, and politician who was one of the main authors of the

Fair Deal The Fair Deal was a set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1945 and in his January 1949 State of the Union address. More generally. the term characterizes the entire domestic agenda of the Truman administr ...

program of U.S. President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

Background

Oscar Ross Ewing was born on March 8, 1889, in

Greensburg, Indiana Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Decatur County, Indiana. The population was 11,492 at the time of the 2010 census. History Greensburg was laid out in 1822. The founder, Thomas Hendricks Sr.'s wife being a native of Greensburg, ...

. His parents were George McClellan Ewing and Nettie Ross Ewing. In 1910, he graduated from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest ca ...

. In 1913, he graduated from Harvard Law School.

Career

Private practice

Ewing first taught at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

Law School. Then, he joined a firm in Indianapolis. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army and left as captain. In 1920, he joined the law firm of Hughes, Schurman and Dwight in New York City. In 1937, he co-founded Hughes, Hubbard and Ewing, where he remained until 1947. In 1942, he became a special U.S. prosecutor who won the conviction of

William Dudley Pelley William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890 – June 30, 1965) was an American fascist leader, occultist, spiritualist and writer. Pelley came to prominence as a writer, winning two O. Henry Awards and penning screenplays for Hollywood films. His ...

, leader of the

Silver Shirts The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an underground American fascist and Nazi sympathizer organization founded by William Dudley Pelley and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. History Pelley was a form ...

, for sedition. In 1947, he won the convictions of

Douglas Chandler Douglas Chandler (May 26, 1889 – after 1970s) was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1947 but was released in 1963. Early life Born in Chicago, Il ...

and Robert Best on charges of treason, both of whom had broadcast for the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Government service

By 1940, Ewing had become assistant chairman of the Democratic National Committee; in 1942, he came vice chairman until he stepped down in 1947. In the Winter of 1946–1947, after the Republicans swept mid-term elections, Ewing began holding quiet meetings at his home in Washington that lead to formulation of Truman's Fair Deal. Participants included: Clark M. Clifford, then Truman's special counsel (later, last Secretary of Defense under President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

); Leon Keyserling of the Council of Economic Advisers and advocate of planned economic growth; C. Girard Davidson, assistant secretary of

U.S. Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...

; David A. Morse, Assistant Secretary of the

U.S. Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the United States federal executive departments, executive departments of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of fede ...

; and Charles S. Murphy, an Administrative Assistant to Truman. In 1948, the Fair Deal helped Truman defeat Governor

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

. In 1947, Truman appointed him administrator of the Federal Security Agency (FSA–now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). In 1948, Clifford and he were in charge of Truman's "whistle stop" tour. As head of FSA until 1952, he promoted civil rights, extended federal welfare programs, and broadened Social Security coverage. He opened the old Gallinger Hospital in Washington, DC, to African-American doctors. He advocated for a national health plan. Ewing is credited as the organizer and leader of this unofficial policy group of Truman's, though some other members changed (1947–1952). They also supported recognition of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

(1948), Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act (YYYY), and a "welfare state."

Return to private practice

In 1952, Ewing returned to private law practice. In 1960, he moved to Chapel Hill, where he served as a director of the Research Triangle Foundation until 1989. From 1963 to 1967, he was also chairman of the

Research Triangle The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to ...

Regional Planning Commission.

Private and death

Ewing had a close, personal friendship with Truman. On November 4, 1915, he married Helen E. Dennis. They had two sons, George and James D. Ewing. She died in 1953. In 1955, he married Mary Whiting MacKay Thomas. He died of ischemia complicated by

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on January 8, 1980, at home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

References

External sources

Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Oscar R. Ewing Papers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, Oscar 1889 births 1980 deaths American political consultants American social reformers Harvard Law School alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni United States Army personnel of World War I University of Iowa faculty 20th-century American lawyers