Commerce Cabinet Crisis I
The first-ever Secretary of Commerce was William C. Redfield who took over in 1913, the first year that the Department of Commerce and Labor was split into the present-day Department of Commerce and Department of Labor:
Redfield did this and that for a number of years before moving to the then-independent city of Brooklyn. He appears to have been an opponent of Brooklyn’s incorporation into New York City. In 1896, he joined many so-called “Bourbon Democrats”—conservatives—in opposition to William Jennings Bryan’s capture of the party nomination on a free silver platform and served as a delegate to the rogue convention of Gold Democrats that mounted a third party campaign against Bryan and eventual victor William McKinley.
He ran for congress as a Gold Democrat and lost. He was Commissioner of Public Works in Brooklyn in 1902-03 and made it to congress for the 1911-1912 term before getting the Commerce gig. As Secretary, he inaugurated the tradition of undistinguished people serving without distinction in this not-very-important job.
33 Responses to “Commerce Cabinet Crisis I”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Matt YglesiasContact Me
Donate
January 24th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I’m kind of a “bourbon Democrat” myself, but I don’t think it’s the same thing.
January 24th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
My list of cabinet positions:
State
Defense
Treasury
Justice
Interior
Environment and Energy
Food and Agriculture
Health and Human Services
Housing and Urban Development
Education
I think that the Commerce and Labor departments can be scrapped, as they seem to be basically the “Business Czar” and “Labor Czar” and don’t really have too many statutory authorities. I’m not sure why VA should be cabinet-level. And Interior ought to transfer its environmental functions but take on infrastructure (which is, after all, internal).
January 24th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
We need a Department of Superb Facial Hair, and we need a man like that to run it.
January 24th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
High quality facial hair there, especially considering it was starting to go out of fashion by 1913. Very nice!
January 24th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
The only Commerce secretary who ever went on to bigger and better things was Herbert Hoover. This should be telling us something.
January 24th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Back when it was Commerce and Labor, Teddy Roosevelt had a wonderful idea, which his faction tried to push through congress. He tried to push through legislation that would have federalized all corporate incorporations – no more Delaware corporations – with the commerce department, and would have made it illegal for corporations to introduce more stock than they were worth – with the commerce secretary making that determination. If the market cap was determined to be greater than the corporation was physically worth, than – the stocks would be pruned by the commerce secretary. This would, in one blow, have destroyed the stock market as we know it, tying a rope around the financial sector. Just think, we would have had a stock czar. Talk about missing a beautiful socialist moment! One of Teddy’s most excellent ideas! Strangling the speculative economy in its cradle, it would have slowed American growth, but would certainly have allowed us to avoid the depression and have produced a society where the malefactors of great wealth did not sit on our necks, demanding trillion dollar bailouts.
Roosevelt republicans. We need a few. Looking back, no president distrusted the wealthy more – hence, the income tax, the interstate commerce commission, a special justice department section just to investigate corporate crimes, all of it stems from Teddy.
January 24th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Herbert Hoover was not “undistinguished pe[rson] serving without distinction in this not-very-important job.” Hoover was one of the most distinguished people in American public life in the 1920s. And he served with distinction. And he had many interesting “progressive” ideas. (Progressive as in Progressive Era ideas, not liberal) Hoover was one of the few bright lights in the otherwise undistinguished Harding and Coolidge administrations.
The fact that Hoover’s ideas were not comensurate with the scale of the Depression, should not diminish the fact that he was a energetic and distinguished Secretary of Commerce.
January 24th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I’d say Harry Hopkins, Averell Harriman and Pete Peterson all went on to bigger things. Though sure, like many other cabinet departments it’s been headed by plenty of Redfields.
January 24th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Foot on the pedal – never ever false metal
Commerce running hotter than a boiling kettle
My job’s ain’t a job – it’s a damn good time
City to city – I’m running my rhymes
On location – touring around the nation
Bill Redfield always on vacation
Itchy trigger finger but a stable turntable
I do what I do best because I’m illing and able
Ain’t no faking – your money I’m taking
Going coast to coast – watching all the girlies shaking
While you’re at the job working nine to five
Secretary of the Commerce – cold kickin’ it live
Sorry. I’m a Brass Monkey Democrat.
January 24th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
High quality facial hair there, especially considering it was starting to go out of fashion by 1913. Very nice!
As it happens, a large percentage of white males in Brooklyn today are rocking similar mutton-chops. I suspect it’s a hundred-year cycle.
January 24th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Of course none of this resentment of Commerce could stem from the fact that Matt was rejected by The New Republic (http://www.campusprogress.org/tools/224/get-a-job-matthew-yglesias) and that The New Republic most prominent editor was former Commerce Sec. Henry A. Wallace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Republic#Early_years)
January 24th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
JimboSlice – I never had the good fortune of getting turned down for a job by The New Republic (also known as “dodging a career bullet”) and I still find the Department of Commerce to be ridiculous. Put that point of anecdotal data in your pipe and and smoke it like delicious Finnish herring. Big Media Matti’s opinion is suspect on a number of topics (Big Chocolate, the Nixon Library, Andris Biedrins) but he’s rock solid on Commerce.
January 24th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Take a look at the number of employees the VA has.
It’s the fourth largest department by funding and the second largest by employees (only DOD has more.) Sure, I guess you could put 235,000 people and nearly $100 BN under the care of another department…but what exactly would you gain?
January 24th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
All of you people –and Matthew — are wrong. The Obama Administration is about to suffer a big black eye with its own supporters due to lack of a Commerce Secretary.
Details here:
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/rich_bankers_and_inequality.php#comment-1048150
January 24th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
So Bryan and this guy served together in the Cabinet? Talk about a team of rivals.
January 25th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Dear JimboSlice, The New Republic was and is a pretty shitty place to work.
You do know that Wallace left TNR and soon thereafter ran for President, dont you?
If so, you probably also know that the magazine that he had run refused to support his candidacy,
Interesting reason for that.
The New Republic was owned by an asshole even before gerbil-boy Marty ran it down.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:48 am
Herbert Hoover was actually a pretty remarkable, accomplished man until he became President, at which point he was hopelessly over his head.
January 25th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I wonder what Redfield’s family background was. Could there have been a branch of the Roosevelts who Anglicized their name?
March 12th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Incredible site!
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:50 am
tramadol
Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Very nice site! [url=http://yieopxa.com/yxyrqox/2.html]cheap cialis[/url]
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Very nice site!
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:14 am
viagra
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
buy cheap viagra
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 am
It is the coolest site,keep so!
cheap brand pfizer viagra
April 9th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I want to say – thank you for this! viagra
April 10th, 2009 at 1:29 am
FANTASTIC!
April 10th, 2009 at 2:22 am
This is very up-to-date information. I think I’ll share it on Digg.