ABSTRACT

President Truman’s selection of Edwin G. Nourse as Chairman of the three-man council was considered an indication of his desire to appoint a person of professional standing rather than partisan loyalty. The major disagreement within the Nourse Council centered on the nature of its duties and responsibilities, Nourse viewed the Council’s role essentially as one of providing the president with expert and objective advice. The public debate between Chairman Nourse and Leon H. Keyserling over the nature of the Council’s role was a central aspect of the Council’s early development. Keyserling, Truman, and the Treasury Department all insisted on the necessity of easy credit policies to encourage investment and keep government financing costs down. The conflict between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve became so disquieting that in February 1951 Truman appointed a committee headed by Charles Wilson, Director of the ODM, to look into it.