Louis Brownlow
Encyclopedia
Louis Brownlow was an American
author, political scientist, and consultant
in the area of public administration
. As chairman of the Committee on Administrative Management (better known as the Brownlow Committee
) in 1937, he co-authored a report which led to passage of the Reorganization Act of 1939
and the creation of the Executive Office of the President. While chairing the Committee on Administrative Management, Brownlow called several of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
's advisors men with "a passion for anonymity"—which later became a popular phrase.
, in August 1879. His parents were Robert Sims and Ruth Amis Brownlow. His father had been a soldier in the Confederate States Army
, serving in the Tennessee
, Missouri
, and Arkansas
area, and had been wounded in the hip by a minié ball
. His parents, each of whom had taught school at some time, moved from Giles County, Tennessee, to Missouri some time between 1877 and 1879 after Robert Brownlow was appointed postmaster for the town of Buffalo. Louis was frequently ill as a child, and educated at home. He was unable to attend college due to his family's poverty, but read books extensively.
In 1900, Brownlow was hired by the Nashville Banner, and over the next several years wrote for the Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville Times, and several other newspapers in Tennessee as well. He also worked for the Haskin Syndicate as a political writer and later as a correspondent in Europe
, the Middle East
, and the Far East
from 1906 to 1915. He ghost-wrote
Haskin's 1911 book The American Government, which was an influential treatise on Progressive
ideas about public administration.
He married the former Elizabeth Sims (daughter of Congressman Thetus W. Sims
) in December 1909. The couple had no children. Brownlow was a member of the Democratic Party
and a Methodist
, and belonged to the Cosmos Club
and National Press Club.
. He caught the attention of President Woodrow Wilson
in 1914 after being one of the few newspaper reporters to correctly predict that the German Empire
would go to war with Serbia
over the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
(which caused the start of World War I
). Expressing a desire to put into practice many of the administrative practices he had reported on from Europe, Brownlow sought and won from President Wilson appointment in 1915 as a commissioner of the District of Columbia
, serving until 1920. From 1917 to 1920, he was president of the commissioners, and a vocal proponent of home rule
. During this period, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
unionized
, and Brownlow supported its unionization (although not its affiliation with the American Federation of Labor
). He helped guide the city through the 1918 flu pandemic (he was the only commissioner not to fall ill), closing schools and businesses and banning all public gatherings. He also served on the District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission and the District Zoning Commission from 1917 to 1919. He was City Manager of Petersburg, Virginia
, from 1920 to 1923; City Manager of Knoxville, Tennessee
, from 1924 to 1926; and City Manager of Radburn, New Jersey
, from 1927 to 1931. He briefly worked for the United States Daily newspaper in 1927. He was a consultant to the City Housing Corporation in New York City from 1928 to 1931, and was elected a director of the corporation in 1931.
Brownlow began teaching political science at the University of Chicago
in 1931, and later that year was appointed director of the Public Administration Clearing House (which he had helped organize in 1930) at the university. He remained the Clearing House's director until 1945. Brownlow became chairman of the Committee for Public Administration of the Social Science Research Council
in 1933, where he worked to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners. He was also chairman of the National Institute of Public Affairs from 1934 to 1949.
) and charged it with developing proposals for reorganizing the executive branch. The three-person committee consisted of Louis Brownlow, Charles Merriam
, and Luther Gulick
.
On January 10, 1937, the Committee released its report. Famously declaring "The President needs help," the Committee's report advocated a strong chief executive, including among its 37 recommendations significant expansion of the presidential staff, integration of managerial agencies into a single presidential office, expansion of the merit system, integration of all independent agencies into existing Cabinet
departments, and modernization of federal accounting and financial practices.
While he was a member of the Committee on Administrative Management, Brownlow was named an official delegate to the Sixth International Congress of Administrative Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. Although he left government service after the termination of the Committee, Brownlow continued to be an advisor to presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
. He left that position in 1939.
Brownlow received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from American University
in 1938. He suffered a heart attack in December of that year.
in 1940, serving in various executive and advisory capacities to it until 1945. Brownlow was also director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Foundation in 1947, and director of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation
from 1948 to 1953. He retired from the University of Chicago in 1949, and served as a visiting professor at the University of Washington
in 1957 and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
at Syracuse in 1958 and 1959.
. A memorial service was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
has recognized outstanding contributions to the literature of public administration through presentation of the Louis Brownlow Book Award. The award is given to a book published in the previous two years which has made an exceptional contribution to the study of governmental institutions or public administration problems.
The American Society for Public Administration
also bestows its Louis Brownlow Award on the best article written by a public administrator to appear in the journal Public Administration Review
in the past year.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, political scientist, and consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
in the area of public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
. As chairman of the Committee on Administrative Management (better known as the Brownlow Committee
Brownlow Committee
The President's Committee on Administrative Management, commonly known as the Brownlow Committee or Brownlow Commission, was a committee that in 1937 recommended sweeping changes to the executive branch of the United States government. The recommendations made by the committee resulted in the...
) in 1937, he co-authored a report which led to passage of the Reorganization Act of 1939
Reorganization Act of 1939
The Reorganization Act of 1939, Pub. L. No. 76-19, 53 Stat. 561, 5 USC 133 , is an American Act of Congress which became law on April 3, 1939, and which gave the President of the United States the authority to hire additional confidential staff and reorganize the executive branch for two years...
and the creation of the Executive Office of the President. While chairing the Committee on Administrative Management, Brownlow called several of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's advisors men with "a passion for anonymity"—which later became a popular phrase.
Early life and career
Louis Brownlow was born in Buffalo, MissouriBuffalo, Missouri
Buffalo is a city in Dallas County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,238 at the 2009 census. It is the county seat of Dallas County.Buffalo is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, in August 1879. His parents were Robert Sims and Ruth Amis Brownlow. His father had been a soldier in the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, serving in the Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
area, and had been wounded in the hip by a minié ball
Minié ball
The Minié ball is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilising rifle bullet named after its co-developer, Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the Minié rifle...
. His parents, each of whom had taught school at some time, moved from Giles County, Tennessee, to Missouri some time between 1877 and 1879 after Robert Brownlow was appointed postmaster for the town of Buffalo. Louis was frequently ill as a child, and educated at home. He was unable to attend college due to his family's poverty, but read books extensively.
In 1900, Brownlow was hired by the Nashville Banner, and over the next several years wrote for the Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville Times, and several other newspapers in Tennessee as well. He also worked for the Haskin Syndicate as a political writer and later as a correspondent in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, and the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
from 1906 to 1915. He ghost-wrote
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
Haskin's 1911 book The American Government, which was an influential treatise on Progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
ideas about public administration.
He married the former Elizabeth Sims (daughter of Congressman Thetus W. Sims
Thetus W. Sims
Thetus Willrette Sims was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 8th congressional district of Tennessee. He was born on April 25, 1852 near Waynesboro, Tennessee in Wayne County. He attended a private school at Martin Mills and moved with his...
) in December 1909. The couple had no children. Brownlow was a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
, and belonged to the Cosmos Club
Cosmos Club
The Cosmos Club is a private social club in Washington, D.C., founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878. In addition to Powell, original members included Clarence Edward Dutton, Henry Smith Pritchett, William Harkness, and John Shaw Billings. Among its stated goals is "The advancement of its members in...
and National Press Club.
Political and academic career
Brownlow came to Washington, D.C., as a reporter for two Tennessee newspapers, and made the acquaintance of President Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. He caught the attention of President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
in 1914 after being one of the few newspaper reporters to correctly predict that the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
would go to war with Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
over the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
(which caused the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
). Expressing a desire to put into practice many of the administrative practices he had reported on from Europe, Brownlow sought and won from President Wilson appointment in 1915 as a commissioner of the District of Columbia
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, serving until 1920. From 1917 to 1920, he was president of the commissioners, and a vocal proponent of home rule
District of Columbia home rule
District of Columbia home rule is a term to describe the various means by which residents of the District of Columbia are able to govern their local affairs...
. During this period, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
The Metropolitan Police Department, also known as the DC Police, DCPD, MPD, and MPDC is the municipal police force in Washington, D.C...
unionized
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, and Brownlow supported its unionization (although not its affiliation with the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
). He helped guide the city through the 1918 flu pandemic (he was the only commissioner not to fall ill), closing schools and businesses and banning all public gatherings. He also served on the District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission and the District Zoning Commission from 1917 to 1919. He was City Manager of Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, from 1920 to 1923; City Manager of Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, from 1924 to 1926; and City Manager of Radburn, New Jersey
Radburn, New Jersey
Radburn is an unincorporated planned community located within Fair Lawn, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.Radburn was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age"...
, from 1927 to 1931. He briefly worked for the United States Daily newspaper in 1927. He was a consultant to the City Housing Corporation in New York City from 1928 to 1931, and was elected a director of the corporation in 1931.
Brownlow began teaching political science at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1931, and later that year was appointed director of the Public Administration Clearing House (which he had helped organize in 1930) at the university. He remained the Clearing House's director until 1945. Brownlow became chairman of the Committee for Public Administration of the Social Science Research Council
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
in 1933, where he worked to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners. He was also chairman of the National Institute of Public Affairs from 1934 to 1949.
Brownlow Committee
On March 22, 1936, Roosevelt established the Committee on Administrative Management (commonly known as the Brownlow CommitteeBrownlow Committee
The President's Committee on Administrative Management, commonly known as the Brownlow Committee or Brownlow Commission, was a committee that in 1937 recommended sweeping changes to the executive branch of the United States government. The recommendations made by the committee resulted in the...
) and charged it with developing proposals for reorganizing the executive branch. The three-person committee consisted of Louis Brownlow, Charles Merriam
Charles Edward Merriam
Charles Edward Merriam, Jr. was a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, founder of the behavioralistic approach to political science, and an advisor to several U.S. Presidents...
, and Luther Gulick
Luther Gulick (social scientist)
-Life:Luther Halsey Gulick was born January 17, 1892 in Osaka, Japan.His father was congregationalist missionary Sidney Lewis Gulick and his mother was Clara May Gulick. He shared his name with his grandfather, missionary Luther Halsey Gulick Sr. , and uncle physician Luther Halsey Gulick Jr....
.
On January 10, 1937, the Committee released its report. Famously declaring "The President needs help," the Committee's report advocated a strong chief executive, including among its 37 recommendations significant expansion of the presidential staff, integration of managerial agencies into a single presidential office, expansion of the merit system, integration of all independent agencies into existing Cabinet
United States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
departments, and modernization of federal accounting and financial practices.
While he was a member of the Committee on Administrative Management, Brownlow was named an official delegate to the Sixth International Congress of Administrative Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. Although he left government service after the termination of the Committee, Brownlow continued to be an advisor to presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
. He left that position in 1939.
Brownlow received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in 1938. He suffered a heart attack in December of that year.
Post-Brownlow Committee
Brownlow helped co-found the American Society for Public AdministrationAmerican Society for Public Administration
The American Society for Public Administration is a membership association in the United States sponsoring conferences and providing professional services primarily to those who study the implementation of government policy, public administration, and, to a lesser degree, programs of civil society...
in 1940, serving in various executive and advisory capacities to it until 1945. Brownlow was also director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Foundation in 1947, and director of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation
Woodrow Wilson Foundation
The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1922, organized under the laws of New York, for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals" through publications and support of research. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the national chairman, and there were local chairmen in each of the 48...
from 1948 to 1953. He retired from the University of Chicago in 1949, and served as a visiting professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in 1957 and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs is the public policy school of Syracuse University...
at Syracuse in 1958 and 1959.
Death
Louis Brownlow died in Arlington, Virginia, in September 1963 after delivering a speech at the Army Navy Country Club. The cause of death was a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. A memorial service was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
Honors named for Brownlow
Since 1968, the National Academy of Public AdministrationNational Academy of Public Administration (United States)
The National Academy of Public Administration was founded by James E. Webb, then-administrator of NASA, and other leading public administration practitioners in 1967 and chartered under Title 36 of the United States Code in 1984 under Public Law 98-257. The Academy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan...
has recognized outstanding contributions to the literature of public administration through presentation of the Louis Brownlow Book Award. The award is given to a book published in the previous two years which has made an exceptional contribution to the study of governmental institutions or public administration problems.
The American Society for Public Administration
American Society for Public Administration
The American Society for Public Administration is a membership association in the United States sponsoring conferences and providing professional services primarily to those who study the implementation of government policy, public administration, and, to a lesser degree, programs of civil society...
also bestows its Louis Brownlow Award on the best article written by a public administrator to appear in the journal Public Administration Review
Public Administration Review
Public Administration Review is a bi-monthly academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Society for Public Administration. The editor is Richard J. Stillman II....
in the past year.
Publications
- The President and the Presidency. Chicago: Public Administration Service, 1949.
- A Passion for Anonymity: The Autobiography of Louis Brownlow: First Half. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955.
- A Passion for Anonymity: The Autobiography of Louis Brownlow: Second Half. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.
- The Anatomy of the Anecdote. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.
For further reading
- Emmerich, Herbert. "Comment and Critique: Louis Brownlow and the American Society for Public Administration." Public Administration ReviewPublic Administration ReviewPublic Administration Review is a bi-monthly academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Society for Public Administration. The editor is Richard J. Stillman II....
. 23:4 (December 1963).