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THE FTC DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF WARREN G. HARDING (1921-23),
CALVIN COOLIDGE (1923-1929), AND HERBERT HOOVER (1929-1933)

Selected Secondary Materials

GERALD D. BERK, LOUIS D. BRANDEIS AND THE MAKING OF REGULATED COMPETITION, 1900-1932 (2009).

THOMAS C. BLAISDELL, JR., THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION:  AN EXPERIMENT IN THE CONTROL OF BUSINESS (1932).

George Cullom Davis, Jr., The Transformation of the Federal Trade Commission, 1914-1929, 49 MISS. VALLEY HIST. R. 437 (1962). 

George Cullom Davis, Jr., The Federal Trade Commission: Promise and Practice in Regulating Business, 1900–1927 (1969) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois). 

GERARD C. HENDERSON, THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: A STUDY IN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND PROCEDURE (1924). 

ROBERT HIMMELBERG, THE ORIGINS OF THE NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION:  BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT, AND THE TRADE ASSOCIATION ISSUE, 1921-1933.  Himmelberg’s book examines the actions of the Commerce Department (including its efforts when Herbert Hoover served as Secretary of Commerce), the Justice Department, and the FTC.  

William E. Leuchtenberg, The Case of the Contentious Commissioner, in JOHN GARRATY, ED., QUARRELS THAT SHAPED THE CONSTITUTION (rev. ed. 1987).  Leuchtenberg discusses the career of William Humphrey (Commissioner, 1925-1933), and the litigation that followed after his removal, without “cause,” by Franklin Roosevelt.

Marc Winerman and William E. Kovacic, Outpost Years for a Start-Up Agency, The FTC From 1921 to 1925, 77 ANTITRUST L.J. 145 (2010).  Analyzes a period when, because of factors including the vagaries of the appointment process, the FTC remained dominated by Woodrow Wilson’s appointees well into the of Harding and Coolidge administrations.

Marc Winerman and William E. Kovacic, The William Humphrey and Abram Myers Years, The FTC from 1925 to 1929, 77 ANTITRUST L.J. 201 (2011).

Manuscript Collection

William E. Humphrey Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.  This collection includes a relatively limited and selective collection.  (Finding aid

Charles H. March Papers, West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center, Morris, MN. March served as a Commissioner from 1929 to 1945.

Victor Murdock Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.  As noted above, Murdock served as a Commissioner from 1917 to 1924, following a career in journalism (covering sports and politics) and in Congress.  He had been a leader in the Progressive Party, under whose banner Theodore Roosevelt ran in 1912.  During the 1914 debates on the FTC Act, Murdock headed the small Progressive Party contingent that had been elected to Congress.  He returned to journalism after he left the FTC.  (Finding aid

John Garland Pollard Papers, William & Mary Library, Williamsburg, VA.  As noted above, Pollard served as a Commissioner from 1920 to 1921.  He had previously served as Attorney General of Virginia and, after leaving the Commission, he taught at the College of William and Mary and served as Governor of Virginia from 1930 to 1934.  (Finding aid)

Huston Thompson Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.  As noted above, Thompson served as a Commissioner from 1919 to 1926.  He had previously served in the Justice Department and, as a football coach, he led the University of Texas to an undefeated season.  (Finding aid)

 

See also materials listed under Broad Surveys.