Commerce Cabinet Crisis V: The Return of Commerce Cabinet Crisis
I’d forgotten to revive this feature after Judd Gregg’s withdrawal. But here goes:
Upon his ascension to the Presidency, Herbert Hoover, a former Commerce Secretary, naturally turned to former subordinate Robert P. Lamont to take the helm at this not-so-important agency. Sources disagree as to whether Lamont was born in Illinois or Detroit. But he definitely built the “summerland” vacation cabin in Wisconsin which apparently went on to have a distinguished career as a haunted house.
Everyone agrees that Lamont moved to Chicago where he was a businessman and possibly involved with the Robert P. Lamont Office Building project. Either way, during World War One he was the top procurement officer in the country, and he went on to serve as an Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Harding administration. After being tapped by Hoover to be Secretary of Commerce he failed to revive the economy from its Depression doldrums. In 1932 he left the Hoover administration in a pioneering “revolving door” move to become president of the American Iron and Steel Institute. President Hoover offered the following effusive remarks:
Secretary of Commerce Robert P. Lamont has found it necessary to resign in order to reenter private business.
Mr. Lamont has remained in his position at great sacrifice for several months at my request. I regret extremely his loss from the Cabinet as his abilities and service have commanded the respect and confidence of the entire country.
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Roy D. Chapin of Detroit, as Mr. Lamont’s successor.
Indeed!
20 Responses to “Commerce Cabinet Crisis V: The Return of Commerce Cabinet Crisis”
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February 17th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
There ought to be a word based on “failure” the way “successor” is based on “success”.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Supposedly it’s going to be Harold Ford who gets the Commerce job. I wholeheartedly disagree with this selection. Ford is not only a has-been, but he’s a has-been who can’t help Obama at all. I recommend Roland Burris for the job for the following reasons:
1) Gives him another thing to put on the family monument.
2) Gets rid of him in the Senate, where Pat Quinn can appoint someone who isn’t a walking punchline.
3) Puts him in a place where he can’t really do much to hurt anyone.
4) An even more diverse cabinet!
Realistically, I wouldn’t mind seeing Gary Hart returning to government, or Robert Reich for that matter.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
The Stimulus bill has $650 Million in it to pay for my DTV rebate card , so you can appoint Trigger the Golden Palamino to be Secretary of Commerce for all I care.
It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Don Williams – I got my super basic converter box the other day (the cheapest model at Target) and I’m loving it. I think more than a few people would scrap their cable TV bill if they saw how great the picture was with DTV. I get about 20 channels of crystal clear programming in Chicago, probably more if I had a decent antenna instead of rabbit ears. Add a Netflix subscription, watch C-Span online, and you have a pretty good substitute for cable TV at 1/5th the cost.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Happy day for Don! It was clearly all your hard work that paid off.
Joejoejoe: out of curiosity, what 20 channels do you get?
February 17th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Adam – After a quick check I think I get 3 NBCs (regular, weather, something called NBC Universal which may as well be the bobsledding network), 3 ABCs, 2 WTTWs (PBS), 2 WYCCs (PBS), 4 versions of MeTV, WGN, a Chinese station, several Spanish stations, Fox, some UHF stations (50?, 60?), Ion. One of the stations rebroadcasts Deutche Welle news. That’s about it. I don’t get CBS but I should when I get a decent unidirectional antenna, about $20.
You can plug in your exact address in the site below and find out what stations may be available in your area.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx
February 17th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Note: I live in a middle unit of a 4 story apartment building and my view is of the brick building next door 6 feet away. I’m sure people with a more open abode get better reception.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Sorry, but that wasn’t a pioneering revolving door move. Van H. Manning resigned as director of the Bureau of Mines in approximately 1921 and became director of research at the newly formed American Petroleum Institute. In the latter position, he exerted a heavy influence on a Bureau of Mines study of oil pollution in coastal waters and through it on the Oil Pollution Act of 1924.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
This is one of my favorite features of your blog. I also like all the other features, but man, this stuff cracks me up. Would anyone mind terribly if I tossed my hat in the ring? If asked, I would not say no to Secretary of the Department of Commerce. There, we have a candidate.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Curious that NBC doesn’t run either MSNBC or CNBC on their secondary digital channels.
I think it will come down to the wire whether Matt gets through all of the Commerce Secretaries before we finally get one confirmed. I did come across an article of interest to anyone who dislikes Herbert Hoover and/or zoning laws (apologies if its already been linked)…
Zoning is a legacy of Herbert Hoover. As Commerce Secretary, he championed the “Standard Zoning Enabling Act” to address “the moral and social issues that can only be solved by a new conception of city building.”
http://citiwire.net/post/554/
February 18th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Wait wait, THE Roy D. Chapman?
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