James Farley - New Deal Years 1933–40

New Deal Years 1933–40

In accordance with political tradition, FDR appointed Farley Postmaster General, a post traditionally given to the campaign manager or an influential supporter, and also took the unusual step of naming Farley Chairman of the Democratic National Committee in addition to the cabinet post in 1933. Farley was constantly harassed by FDR's opposition for refusing to resign one of these posts. Farley worked hard to keep the Post Office going through the Depression and, through his expert stewardship, the once unprofitable Post Office Department finally began turning a profit. Farley was instrumental in revolutionizing Transcontinental airmail service, and reorganized the Post Office's Airmail carriers. Farley worked in concert with the Pan American World Airways' (Pan Am) president Juan Trippe to see that the mail was delivered safely and cost effectively. This was after a brief period of the Army carrying the mail, with servicemen killed flying in bad weather. Farley oversaw and was responsible for the flight of the first China Clipper.

Farley is remembered among stamp collectors for two things. One is a series of souvenir sheets that were issued at commemorative events and which bore his name as the authorizer. The other are twenty stamps known as "Farley's Follies." These were reprints, mostly imperforated, of stamps of the period, that were given to President Roosevelt and Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, both collectors, as well to special friends of the Administration. (Farley himself did not collect stamps.) When ordinary stamp collectors learned of this, they complained, and in 1935 many more stamps were reprinted for them, and it was established that new stamps had to be made immediately available to the general public. Today the souvenir sheets and single cutout reprints are not scarce. The original sheets were autographed to distinguish them from the reprints, and fifteen of them were displayed in an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum in June 2009.

Farley controlled Federal patronage in the new administration and was very influential within Roosevelt's Brain Trust and the Democratic party throughout the United States. Farley used his control of the patronage to see that Roosevelt's first 100 days of New Deal legislation was passed. Farley masterfully used the patronage machine to line up support for the New Deal's liberal programs. He helped to bring about the end to Prohibition and the defeat of the Ludlow Amendment, a 1939 attempt by isolationists to limit the foreign affairs powers of the president by requiring a referendum for a declaration of war without an attack. By swaying the votes of the Irish Catholic legislators in the Congress, Farley was able to bring about a defeat to the Amendment, which if passed, would have prevented the President from sending military aid to Great Britain. Many Irish legislators refused to lend aid to the British because of the potato famine and would have rather seen the British Empire destroyed by the Nazis. Farley's family had immigrated a generation before the famine, and did not hold this same resentment toward the British people.

Farley's close relationship with FDR deteriorated as 1940 drew closer. Farley began seeking support for a Presidential bid of his own after FDR refused to publicly seek a third term, only indicating that he could not decline the nomination if his supporters drafted him at the 1940 Convention. As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, this left Farley without a legitimate candidate. Roosevelt would publicly support Cordell Hull after privately telling Farley and others they could seek the nomination.

Farley also opposed the "packing" of the Supreme Court, but in all other instances, he was continuously loyal and supportive of FDR's policies. Farley was asked by FDR to seek the Governorship of New York multiple times during his tenure in the Administration but refused on every occasion.

In 1940, Farley resigned as Postmaster General and Party Chairman after placing second in delegates at the 1940 Democratic National Convention in Chicago where Roosevelt was "drafted" for a third term. Farley was the third Irish-American Roman Catholic to be nominated for the Presidency and was the first Irish-American Roman Catholic to achieve national success when FDR appointed Farley to his Cabinet as Postmaster General and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Eleanor Roosevelt flew to the convention to try to repair the damage in the Roosevelt-Farley relationship, and although Farley remained close to ER and Jimmy Roosevelt, he felt betrayed by FDR and refused to join FDR's 1940 campaign team.