Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Jurist of the Civil Rights Revolution

11. The Washington Years

100 chapter eleven The Washington Years Tuttle campaigned vigorously for Eisenhower in Georgia, but, to no one’s surprise, Adlai Stevenson carried the state. Ike carried the country, however , and he knew he owed his victory in no small part to the southern Republican strategists who had helped him win the nomination. Once elected, Eisenhower delegated the selection of most of his cabinet to his two most trusted advisors: Herbert Brownell and Lucius Clay. He claimed but one firm rule: no one who sought a position would be selected for it. Not a professional politician himself, Ike preferred men from outside government.1 For secretary of the treasury, Brownell and Clay recommended George M. Humphrey, president of the Mark M. Hanna Company of Cleveland. The Hanna Company had become, in Humphrey’s hands, one of the country ’s biggest industrial holding companies, with large interests in iron ore, steel, coal, fiber, plastics, copper, petroleum, shipping, and banks. Humphrey had attracted national attention in 1947 when he stunned most observers by negotiating a national miners’ wage contract, providing for a fifteen-cent-an-hour raise and an eight-hour day, directly with John L. Lewis. When a congressional committee demanded an explanation, he gave two reasons: “(1) he had observed, he said, that once Government intervened in labor disputes, the unions generally got their demands anyway ; and (2) the miners deserved an eight hour day and would probably be more productive for it.”2 After the war, Humphrey had chaired a committee responsible for the revision of reparations and the dismantling and reorganization of German plants to remove their war-making potential while providing ongoing industrial functions. In this capacity, he had come to know Gen. Lucius Clay, and through Clay he came to Eisenhower’s atten- The Washington Years » 101 tion.3 Humphrey had not taken a leadership role in Eisenhower’s campaign ; before the election, the two men had never met. When they did meet, they formed an instant bond. George Humphrey turned out to be the only member of the cabinet besides John Foster Dulles, the secretary of state, with whom Eisenhower developed a close personal relationship. Just as Eisenhower had not met George Humphrey before he decided to offer him a position in his cabinet, so had George Humphrey never met Elbert Tuttle. Shortly after January 1, before the inauguration, Tuttle answered the phone to find his friend Bobby Jones on the line. Jones explained that he was calling to introduce Bob Woodruff, and Jones put Robert Woodruff, the ceo of the Coca-Cola Company, on the phone. Woodruff took the phone and said, “I want to introduce you to George M. Humphrey.” Tuttle asked, “You mean George M. Humphrey, the designated secretary of the treasury?” Woodruff said yes, that was who he meant, and passed the phone to Humphrey. Humphrey explained that he was calling because he would be coming through Atlanta over the next weekend, and he wondered if Tuttle would meet him at the airport. George Humphrey and Robert Woodruff were neighbors of a sort; both had plantations in southern Georgia. After he was elected, Ike would visit Humphrey when he could. Whenever the three men—Eisenhower, Humphrey, and Woodruff— were together, and when they could get a fourth, often General Clay, they played bridge. Elbert Tuttle, who played bridge only to accommodate his wife, was bemused by the idea of these four powerful men making up a foursome at bridge. The weekend after Humphrey’s call, Tuttle, accompanied by his wife, Sara, drove out to the Atlanta airport. After they exchanged pleasantries , Sara sat to the side, giving the men some privacy. She had already agreed to go to Washington should Elbert be offered a spot he wanted, even though it meant leaving her new home empty. Early in 1949, Sara and Elbert had moved into the home they built in Ansley Park, near downtown Atlanta—an unpretentious two-story frame home painted Colonial yellow. A newspaper article called it a “dream home,” but one irate letter writer complained that it did not meet the standards of the neighborhood, where most homes were more palatial. Elbert and Sara were perfectly happy with it. She had been the most involved with planning and building; after all, she pointed out, Elbert had his hands full with “other things.” But 102 « chapter eleven he was equally pleased, because, as she explained, “If it suits...