Farley, James A. Papers

United States Postmaster General, 1933-1940; Chair of the Democratic National Committee, 1932-1940

The papers of James A. Farley consist of letters and a telegram from Harry S. Truman to Farley. The subject matter varies from responses to recommendation letters sent by Farley, to discussion of the political climate in Missouri during Truman’s time as a Senator.

Size: 2.5 linear inches (about 70 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: No donation of copyright was received with this collection. Documents created by U.S. Government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents in this collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Haley Petersen (2019) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

The papers of James A. Farley consist of letters and a telegram from Harry S. Truman to Farley. The subject matter varies from responses to recommendation letters sent by Farley, to discussion of the political climate in Missouri during Truman’s time as a Senator. The collection is arranged in a single Subject File.

The collection contains one letter from Farley to Truman regarding the political situation in Missouri in 1936, to which Truman responds in kind. Truman’s letter includes details regarding sentiments toward the president, notable figures on the Missouri political scene, and what he thinks it all could mean for the next election. He also notes that a visit from the president would be beneficial to the campaign.

The rest of the papers are responses from Truman sent to Farley between 1939 and 1952. Many are simple messages of thanks, demonstrating the friendly relationship shared between the two throughout the decades. Other letters are Truman’s responses to Farley’s recommendations. The correspondence includes a few mentions of Coca-Cola after 1940, in reference to Farley’s new position as the Coca-Cola Export Corporation’s Chairman of the Board.

Truman occasionally sent letters regretfully declining invitations that Farley had sent. One notable letter discusses Farley’s differing opinion of Franco’s government in Spain, which Truman openly disagreed with. Truman’s message explains precisely why he disagrees, yet is respectful and friendly all the same.

The Farley papers were originally opened for research as part of the Miscellaneous Historical Documents Collection (MHDC 283). Additional correspondence with or concerning Farley can be found at the Library in the papers of Harry S. Truman (President’s Personal File 62, President’s Secretary’s Files, and Post-Presidential Papers).