Sundquist, James L. Papers

Dates: 1920-2013

Administrative Analyst, U.S. Bureau of the Budget, 1941-1947, 1949-1951; Reports and Statistics Officer, Office of Defense Mobilization, 1951-1953; Fellow and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, 1965-1985

The papers of James L. Sundquist include correspondence, printed materials, speech drafts, notes, unpublished articles, a diary, and other documents created or compiled by Sundquist during his career as a scholar, author, government official, and political adviser.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 5 linear feet, 8 linear inches (about 10,000 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave his copyright interest in writings in this collection, and in any other collection in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, to the United States of America. 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: Randy Sowell (2018).


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1915 (October 16)

 

Born James Lloyd Sundquist, West Point, Utah

1935-1939

 

Reporter, Salt Lake Tribune

1939

 

B.S. degree, University of Utah

1941

 

M.A. degree in Public Administration, Syracuse University

1941-1947, 1949-1951

 

Administrative Analyst, U.S. Bureau of the Budget

1947-1949

 

Director of Management Control, European Command, U.S. Army, Berlin

1951-1953

 

Reports and Statistics Officer, Office of Defense Mobilization

1953-1954

 

Aide to Stephen Mitchell, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee

1955-1956

 

Aide to Governor W. Averell Harriman of New York

1957-1962

 

Administrative Assistant to Senator Joseph S. Clark, Jr. of Pennsylvania

1963-1965

 

Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture

1965-1985

 

Fellow and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

1985-2016

 

Senior Fellow Emeritus, Brookings Institution

2016 (February 17)

 

Died, Arlington, Virginia

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of James L. Sundquist include correspondence, printed materials, speech drafts, notes, unpublished articles, a diary, and other documents created or compiled by Sundquist during his career as a scholar, author, government official, and political adviser. The collection is arranged in a single series, a Subject File.

The collection contains newspaper articles written by Sundquist for the Salt Lake Tribune and other examples of his writings as a young man on such topics as religion, politics, and the U.S. Supreme Court; memorandums and other documents relating to his work with the Bureau of the Budget, the Military Government of Germany, and the Office of Defense Mobilization during the Presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman; drafts of speeches and statements Sundquist prepared for President Truman during the 1952 campaign (while he was on temporary loan to the White House); and correspondence, speech drafts, press releases, and other documents pertaining to his work during the 1950s and early 1960s as an assistant to Democratic National Committee Chairman Stephen Mitchell, Governor W. Averell Harriman of New York, and Senator Joseph S. Clark of Pennsylvania. Included among this material is information about Harriman's unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1956 and Clark's successful campaign for reelection to the Senate in 1962.

Sundquist's activities as Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture from 1963 to 1965 are noted in a handwritten diary he kept during that period, and in other documents reflecting his work for Under Secretary of Agriculture Charles S. Murphy on rural development programs, as well as his involvement in the early stages of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty." Also in the collection are correspondence, printed materials, and other documents associated with Sundquist's work as a scholar at the Brookings Institution after 1965; drafts of the Democratic Party platform that Sundquist helped prepare in 1968; information concerning various organizations to which Sundquist belonged; research materials relating to American political history and the history of the Democratic Party; and documents compiled by Sundquist after his retirement from the Brookings Institution in 1985.

The collection contains both personal and professional correspondence, including letters written by Sundquist, his first wife Beth, other relatives, close friends, and colleagues. The printed materials in the collection include articles written by Sundquist or quoting his opinions on American politics and government. There are also many unpublished articles and speeches in the collection; written by Sundquist and others, they reflect his interest in such subjects as reform of the U.S. Constitution, the interaction of American political parties, and the efficient administration of government on all levels.

Also included in the collection are reviews, correspondence, and other documents relating to books Sundquist wrote during and after his years with the Brookings Institution, including Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years (1968); Making Federalism Work (written with David W. Davis, 1969); On Fighting Poverty (edited by Sundquist, 1969); Dynamics of the Party System (1973); Dispersing Population (1975); The Decline and Resurgence of Congress (1981); and Constitutional Reform and Effective Government (1986).

The Truman Library also has an oral history interview with James L. Sundquist, as well as the papers of Stephen Mitchell, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-13

  SUBJECT FILE, 1920-2013
Correspondence, printed materials, speech drafts, notes, unpublished articles, a diary, and other documents. Arranged alphabetically by folder title and thereunder chronologically.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1920-2013

Box 1

  • A
  • Agenda for the Nation: Reviews and Correspondence
  • American Political History [1 of 2]
  • American Political History [2 of 2]
  • American Political Science Association
  • Arlington County Community Relations Committee
  • Arlington, Virginia: Political Activity
  • Articles and Published Statements by James L. Sundquist, 1969-1982
  • B

Box 2

  • Brookings Institution
  • Bureau of the Budget
  • C
  • Campaign, 1960
  • Cavanagh, Thomas E.: Revised Edition of Dynamics of the Party System
  • Cavanagh, Thomas E.: Revised Edition of Dynamics of the Party System, Chapters 1 and 2
  • Cavanagh, Thomas E.: Revised Edition of Dynamics of the Party System, Chapters 4 and 5
  • Cavanagh, Thomas E.: Revised Edition of Dynamics of the Party System, Chapter 6
  • Cavanagh, Thomas E.: Revised Edition of Dynamics of the Party System, Chapters 9 and 10
  • Cavanagh, Thomas E.: Revised Edition of Dynamics of the Party System, Chapter 11

Box 3

  • Clark, Senator Joseph S.
  • Clark, Senator Joseph S.: 1962 Campaign [1 of 2]
  • Clark, Senator Joseph S.: 1962 Campaign [2 of 2]
  • Coalition for Rural America
  • Committee on the Constitutional System [1 of 2]
  • Committee on the Constitutional System [2 of 2]
  • Constitutional Reform
  • Constitutional Reform and Effective Government: Reviews and
  • Correspondence
  • Correspondence, 1920-1940

Box 4

  • Correspondence, 1941
  • Correspondence, 1942
  • Correspondence, 1943
  • Correspondence, 1946-1956
  • Correspondence, 1963-2013
  • Correspondence, Undated
  • Cosmos Club
  • D
  • Democratic Advisory Council
  • Democratic National Committee
  • Democratic Party History Project
  • Democratic Party Platform, 1968
  • Democratic Party Platform, 1968: Drafts [1 of 2]
  • Democratic Party Platform, 1968: Drafts [2 of 2]

Box 5

  • Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture [1 of 2]
  • Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture [2 of 2]
  • Deseret Boy
  • Diary: Dec. 28, 1962—May 28, 1965
  • Dispersing Population: Reviews and Correspondence [1 of 2]
  • Dispersing Population: Reviews and Correspondence [2 of 2]
  • Dynamics of the Party System: Reviews and Correspondence [1 of 2]
  • Dynamics of the Party System: Reviews and Correspondence [2 of 2]

Box 6

  • E-F [1 of 2]
  • E-F [2 of 2]
  • Federalism [1 of 2]
  • Federalism [2 of 2]
  • G
  • H
  • Harriman, Governor Averell: Presidential Campaign of 1956
  • Harriman, Governor Averell: Press Releases of Speeches and Statements, 1954-1956 [1 of 2]
  • Harriman, Governor Averell: Press Releases of Speeches and Statements, 1954-1956 [2 of 2]

Box 7

  • I-J
  • International Institute of Administrative Sciences
  • K-L
  • M
  • Making Federalism Work: Reviews and Correspondence
  • Manpower Planning
  • Manuscripts: Articles by James L. Sundquist and Others
  • Military Government of Germany
  • Mitchell, Stephen A.: Correspondence, Reports, and Statements, 1953-1954
  • Mitchell, Stephen A.: Speeches, 1953 [1 of 2]
  • Mitchell, Stephen A.: Speeches, 1953 [2 of 2]

Box 8

  • Mitchell, Stephen A.: Speeches, 1954 [1 of 2]
  • Mitchell, Stephen A.: Speeches, 1954 [2 of 2]
  • "Moments of My Life," 1943
  • N-O
  • National Academy of Public Administration
  • No Confidence Vote: Proposed Constitutional Amendment
  • Northern Virginia Sun: Articles by Beth Sundquist and Related Documents, 1960-1964
  • Northern Virginia Sun: Articles by Beth Sundquist and Related Documents, 1965-1966

Box 9

  • Northern Virginia Sun: Articles by Beth Sundquist and Related Documents, 1967-1969 and Undated
  • Office of Civilian Defense
  • Office of Defense Mobilization
  • On Fighting Poverty: Reviews and Correspondence
  • Oral Histories
  • P
  • Personnel Records
  • Photographs
  • Politics and Policy: Reviews and Correspondence
  • Political Parties [1 of 2]
  • Political Parties [2 of 2]

Box 10

  • Political Realignment
  • Poverty Study, 1967
  • Printed Materials, 1934-1982
  • Printed Materials, 1983-1984
  • Printed Materials, 1985-1989
  • Printed Materials, 1990-1997
  • Printed Materials, 2000-2005
  • Printed Materials, Undated
  • Public Administration Review: Comments on Article About Jimmy Carter
  • Q-R
  • Quaderni Costituzionali
  • Religion

Box 11

  • Resumes, Honors, and Awards
  • Reviews of Books, Articles, and Manuscripts [1 of 2]
  • Reviews of Books, Articles, and Manuscripts [2 of 2]
  • Right Wing: Goldwater Campaign, 1964
  • S
  • Salt Lake Tribune: Articles by James L. Sundquist, 1939-1941
  • Scrapbook Pages: Early Years

Box 12

  • >Setting National Priorities
  • : Reviews and Correspondence
  • Speeches: Constitution [1 of 2]
  • Speeches: Constitution [2 of 2]
  • Speeches: General
  • Speeches: Political Parties
  • Speeches: Population
  • Speeches: Public Administration
  • Supreme Court Paper, 1938
  • Survey Report on Management Control in the European Command, 1948
  • Swedes in America

Box 13

  • T-V
  • The Decline and Resurgence of Congress: Reviews and Correspondence
  • Truman, Harry S.
  • W-Z
  • Weber Herald, 1933-1934
  • Yorktown School
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