Oral History Interview with
Tom L. Evans
Kansas City businessman; friend of Harry S. Truman since
the early twenties; formerly Secretary of the Harry S. Truman Library,
Inc.; and Treasurer of the Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National
and International Affairs.
Kansas City, Missouri
August 13, 1963
J. R. Fuchs
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NOTICE
This is a transcript of a tape-recorded interview conducted for the Harry
S. Truman Library. A draft of this transcript was edited by the interviewee
but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember
that this is essentially a transcript of the spoken, rather than the written
word.
Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript
indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the oral
history interview.
RESTRICTIONS
This oral history transcript may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced
for purposes of research. It may not be published in full except by permission
of the Harry S. Truman Library.
Opened August, 1966
Harry S. Truman Library
Independence, Missouri
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Oral History Interview with
Tom L. Evans
Kansas City, Missouri
August 13, 1963
J. R. Fuchs
[471]
FUCHS: I'd like to ask you more about Fred Canfil. I noticed in some
records we have that he requested a pass for a Miss Elizabeth Tillman
to gain admittance to Mr. Truman's office; I presume it was Room 649 in
the Federal Courts Building. Who was this friend of Fred Canfil's?
EVANS: Miss--well, I think there was a Tillman that did quite a lot of
work for Fred Canfil. I was going to say that I was under the impression
it was Mrs. and she may have worked in his office of the United States
Marshal. But anyway, I know who she was now. He probably wanted her to
have access to the office so that she could go in and out of there and
use the typewriter and so forth. I know who she is now.
FUCHS: You don't recall that she ever worked for Senator Truman?
[472]
EVANS: No, I don't think she ever did.
FUCHS: I see. I am wondering about a statement I saw that Mrs. Boyle,
the mother of William Boyle, who was later the Democratic National Chairman,
of course, was very active for the nominee for the Senate, Mr. Truman,
in 1934. Do you recall how she participated?
EVANS: Well, she was very active all right, and she was, of course, very
friendly with the then Senator Truman. I think her participation was mainly
from this standpoint, Jim, that she had worlds of friends throughout the
State of Missouri. She had something to do with some organization, which
one it was I don't recall, but anyway, as a result, she had many contacts
and friends throughout the State of Missouri, I recall in the campaign
she arranged women's parties in Sedalia, Warrensburg, Springfield, all
around the state. So she was quite active.
[473]
FUCHS: Bill Boyle left Mr. Truman's senatorial office in early 1944 and
went to work for Bob Hannegan. Do you know how that happened to come about?
EVANS: Well, I just know, Jim, that he left--well, he didn't go to work
for Bob Hannegan; he went to work in the headquarters of the National
Democratic Committee. I just remember that he left and I, frankly, was
always under the impression--and I can't tell you how or where I got the
information and I'm not even sure it's true--but, at least, I've always
been under the impression that Mr. Truman wanted him to go over to the
National Committee because Bob Hannegan was not well, even in those days,
and that eventually Bill Boyle would become national chairman. Apparently
I have this some place, but, as I say, I can't say where. Bob Hannegan
was not at all well even in the '44 campaign.
FUCHS: Is there anything else that stands out in your memory of his first
year as President?
[474]
EVANS: I went to Washington on many, many occasions and there's any and
ail kinds of things that I can from time to time think about, but I don't
think of anything tremendously important. I know one of his biggest problems
was to get men in important positions and on two or three occasions I
had talked to some people at his suggestion about coming in to Washington
and taking positions in the executive branch, and I wasn't successful
in getting any of them. The reason being that these men that I had contact
with, that President Truman felt he could use, or wanted their help, were
men who were running businesses, and they'd taken on a lot of obligations
and they were just not in a position to give up their position. In fact,
in every case they would have come to Washington at a greatly reduced
salary, and that was his big handicap in the first years--I guess all
during his administrations, for that matter--in getting capable, qualified
men because of the fact they just were unable to give up their business
or their work
[475]
to come to Washington.
FUCHS: In most of these cases, did he suggest a name to you or did he
ask you for a suggestion, and would you care to name some of these people?
EVANS: Well, I think, it was in discussion, like at lunch or at dinner.
"You know so and so of such and such a company," he'd say to me, "don't
you think he could be of some help to me here on certain matters?" One
that I recall was a man by the name of Murray--I'm sure it was Murray--who
was later president of McKesson & Robbins. I don't believe at that
time he was president, but he was in an executive position and was with
McKesson & Robbins of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the large drug manufactures;
and he needed some help in that particular phase, that is, manufacturing
business, and we talked about him and he said "Well, why don't you feel
him out." I think I was going over to New York and I had dinner, I remember,
with Mr. Murray and he was
[476]
just not in a position to give up his position with McKesson & Robbins
and go to Washington, And that was true with a number of people. There
was a man that was active in the company that manufactures Bromo-Seltzer--I've
forgotten the name of the man. It's been a good long time ago and I haven't
thought of it since; but I know he was active in Washington a great deal
of the time in connection with legislation that would affect manufacturing
and retail prices and, anyway, the President knew that I knew him and
he asked me about him. He said "I find the best way to get these fellows
that are constantly finding fault and raising hell, so to speak, is to
get them down here to do some of this work. See if you think he would
be interested in coming down here and taking an executive position." Well,
this man, whose name I can't think of now--it will come to me sometime
when I have time to think about it--anyway, I remember I went to see him
in New York. He was in the position of hoping to become president
[477]
of that company--this company that manufactures Bromo-Seltzer. I remember
he told me about the many obligations that he had, such as buying a large
home with a heavy mortgage and was heavily in debt, and he just couldn't
do it at all. That just seemed to be the general pattern all the time.
I never was successful in getting anyone. Another good friend of mine,
whom the President had met and was impressed with, was a man by the name
of Nate Shapiro, a good friend of mine who operated a chain of drugstores
in Detroit called the Economical Cunningham Stores, and Nate Shapiro was
president of that. The President had need of a man in the Securities and
Exchange Commission, as I recall, and he asked me one time to check up
with my friend Nate Shapiro about a man that he was considering in the
Securities and Exchange Commission and this mans name was MacDowell or
McDaniel--I'll have to get it for you later, Jim, because I haven't thought
of him for a long time.
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