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Like many other [[Presidential appointments]] Olds would need to be [[Senate approval|approved]] by the Senate, which in almost every case would delegate that task to a [[Senate committee]], in this case the [[Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce]]. The nomination had been entered very close to the end of Olds' term due to the delay in the nomination of another pro regulation commissioner, [[Thomas C. Buchanan]].<ref name=casestudy />
Like many other [[Presidential appointments]] Olds would need to be [[Senate approval|approved]] by the Senate, which in almost every case would delegate that task to a [[Senate committee]], in this case the [[Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce]]. The nomination had been entered very close to the end of Olds' term due to the delay in the nomination of another pro regulation commissioner, [[Thomas C. Buchanan]].<ref name=casestudy />


In 1948 in the debate over the deregulating [[Kerr Bill]], Olds together with another Commissioner [[Claude L. Draper]] published a study, and also testified,<ref name= CaroSenate10>{{cite book | author=Robert A. Caro | author-link=Robert Caro | title=[[Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson]] | publisher=10. Lyndon Johnson and the Liberal | year=2002 | isbn=0-394-52836-0}}</ref> that forcefully argued that the Federal Power Commission had both the authority and the duty to regulate the prices that [[Natural Gas]] was sold to wholesalers. This was opposed not just by other members of the FPC but also Senators from the gas-producing Southwest, including [[Robert S. Kerr|Robert Kerr]] of Oklahoma, who was seen at the time as Olds' principle opponent for re-nomination,<ref name=casestudy /> and [[Lyndon Johnson]] of Texas.<ref name=FP/>
In 1948 in the debate over the deregulating [[Kerr Bill]], Olds together with another Commissioner [[Claude L. Draper]] published a study, and also testified,<ref name= CaroSenate10>{{cite book | author=Robert A. Caro | author-link=Robert Caro | title=[[Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson]] | publisher=10. Lyndon Johnson and the Liberal | year=2002 | isbn=0-394-52836-0}}</ref> that forcefully argued that the Federal Power Commission had both the authority and the duty to regulate the prices that [[Natural Gas]] was sold to wholesalers. The Federal Power Commission did not take a position on the Bill<ref>https://onepetro.org/JPT/article/19/01/23/162946/Federal-Gas-Regulation-and-the-Producing-Segment</ref> and it was opposed by Senators from the gas-producing Southwest, including [[Robert S. Kerr|Robert Kerr]] of Oklahoma, who was seen at the time as Olds' principle opponent for re-nomination,<ref name=casestudy /> and [[Lyndon Johnson]] of Texas.<ref name=FP/>


The opposition to Olds came entirely from the oil and natural gas interests, with all those testifying against him being directly or indirectly connected to them.<ref name=casestudy /> While the electricity companies made no public opposition although there was an assumption that they privately opposed Olds.<ref name=casestudy />
The opposition to Olds came entirely from the oil and natural gas interests, with all those testifying against him being directly or indirectly connected to them.<ref name=casestudy /> While the electricity companies made no public opposition although there was an assumption that they privately opposed Olds.<ref name=casestudy />

Revision as of 07:16, 12 September 2024

Leland Olds

The Leland Olds hearing in 1949 was the unsuccessful re-nomination of the head of the Federal Power Commission which has been cited as a precursor to McCarthyism.

Background

The Federal Power Commission was a five-member regulatory body appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.[1] One of the FPC's strongest leaders was Leland Olds who by 1949 had served two terms. Olds' insistence on enforcing the Natural Gas Act of 1938 raised the ire of the oil industry in Texas.

Olds was an economist who in the 1920s, before he was appointed by Roosevelt as chairman of the commission, had been the Industrial editor for the Federated Press[2] a left wing news agency which served Trade Union newspapers but had an ambiguous relationship with the American Communist Party.[3]

In 1944, when Olds was renominated by Roosevelt, his writing for the Federated Press had been brought up by the anti-New Deal Republican Edward Moore of Oklahoma used as evidence that Olds was "opposed fundamentally to private enterprise."[4] During these re-nomination hearings a number of state public utility commissioners were opposed to Olds due to concerns with over centralizing utility regulation away from the States.[5] However Olds was confirmed both within the Committee and on the Senate floor.[4]

Hearings

Like many other Presidential appointments Olds would need to be approved by the Senate, which in almost every case would delegate that task to a Senate committee, in this case the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. The nomination had been entered very close to the end of Olds' term due to the delay in the nomination of another pro regulation commissioner, Thomas C. Buchanan.[5]

In 1948 in the debate over the deregulating Kerr Bill, Olds together with another Commissioner Claude L. Draper published a study, and also testified,[6] that forcefully argued that the Federal Power Commission had both the authority and the duty to regulate the prices that Natural Gas was sold to wholesalers. The Federal Power Commission did not take a position on the Bill[7] and it was opposed by Senators from the gas-producing Southwest, including Robert Kerr of Oklahoma, who was seen at the time as Olds' principle opponent for re-nomination,[5] and Lyndon Johnson of Texas.[2]

The opposition to Olds came entirely from the oil and natural gas interests, with all those testifying against him being directly or indirectly connected to them.[5] While the electricity companies made no public opposition although there was an assumption that they privately opposed Olds.[5]

Robert Caro's book Master of the Senate describes how Lyndon B. Johnson, whose campaign in the 1948 United States Senate election in Texas received extensive funding from Texas oilmen, defeated Olds' re-appointment by orchestrating a smear campaign to accuse Olds of Communist sympathies.[4] This involved utilizing the staff of the House Un-American Activities Committee to dig up old writings which were then taken out of context to falsely paint Olds as a communist or communist sympathizer. The subcommittee in charge of reappointment was stacked against Olds,[citation needed] and anti-Olds witnesses appearing before the committee were coached by Johnson.[4]

The subcommittee in charge of reappointment was stacked against Leland and coached by Johnson.[citation needed] Despite support from Eleanor Roosevelt[8] he was denied renomination.

Despite coming out publicly against Olds[9], at the end of the nomination fight Johnson came up to Olds and said “Lee, I hope you understand there’s nothing personal in this. We’re still friends, aren’t we? It’s only politics, you know.”[10]

The vote on the Senate floor after the subcommittee's rejection was a similar rejection of Olds, 53 to 13.[5]

Aftermath

Following such episodes, the FPC was reluctant to impose price regulation on the producers with many regulations being reversed after he left.[11]

The Olds hearings were seen by many as a template for later McCarthyite purges.[10]

The lack of action by the FPC after Olds left was seen as the cause of the Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Wisconsin lawsuit.

References

  1. ^ 16 U.S.C. § 792.
  2. ^ a b "Leland Olds, 1890-1960" (PDF). Gale Group. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  3. ^ https://spectator.org/fierce-anti-feminist-and-in-your-face/
  4. ^ a b c d Robert A. Caro (2002). Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. ch. 10-12. ISBN 0-394-52836-0.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "The Senatorial Rejection of Leland Olds: A Case Study" Joseph P. Harris American Political Science Review Vol. 45, No. 3 (Sep., 1951), pp. 674-692
  6. ^ Robert A. Caro (2002). Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. 10. Lyndon Johnson and the Liberal. ISBN 0-394-52836-0.
  7. ^ https://onepetro.org/JPT/article/19/01/23/162946/Federal-Gas-Regulation-and-the-Producing-Segment
  8. ^ https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydocedits.cfm?_y=1949&_f=md001404
  9. ^ https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth249173/m1/3/
  10. ^ a b Hayward, Steven. "The Making of LBJ". Claremont Review of Books.
  11. ^ https://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/18/211452/
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