JOHN F. MECK PAPERS
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
After World War II the State Department, like many other agencies, found
itself badly in need of reorganization. Secretarys Stettinius and Marshall had
called for intra-agency studies and had attempted some internal adjustments; but,
despite these efforts, it would be several years until the process of reorgani-
zation was reasonably complete. In commenting on the situation the Hoover
Commission's report, entitled Foreign Affairs, observed that
"The time is particularly appropriate to appraise the
machinery . . . for the conduct of foreign affairs. The
United States emerged from the recent World War with a
radically new role in world affairs. As a result, today's
organizational requirements are drastically different . . .
forced to develop positive foreign policies and programs,
involving not merely the State Department but many other
departments and agencies as well, and to deal cooperatively
with other nations on a multilateral as well as a bilateral
basis."
The Commission's task force report agreed that the Department was
suffering from "absorption of certain war agencies" such as OWI and OSS
and that "the traditional line of demarcation between domestic and foreign
problems has completely disappeared." More candidly, it pointed out that the
job had become more than the Secretary and Undersecretary could handle under
the present organizational scheme; that relations between the Foreign Service
and the Department's civil service staff in Washington were seriously strained;
and that congress and the public were coming to regard the Department with
"growing distrust".
Fortunately, the task force investigating these conditions was placed in
the capable hands of John F. Meck, a Washington, D.C. attorney who had served
as Chief Counsel for the Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1945-46. Meck reported to
Harvey H. Bundy and James Grafton Rogers, former Assistant Secretarys of State
in the Hoover Administration. However, it was Meck who directed and coordinated
the entire effort and produced a very highly regarded task force report.
Meck's papers in the custody of the Hoover Library are confined almost
exclusively to the task force investigation of the State Department and to his
services as a consultant for follow-up studies of departmental reorganization
conducted by the Department itself (1949-51) and by the Brookings Institution
(1949-51). Other personal papers have been given to Dartmouth University.
The Meck Papers are arranged to reflect the major concerns of the task force
with subseries on: interdepartmental cooperation between the State Department and
other agencies involved in the conduct of foreign relations; the roles of Congress
and the President; and the internal organization of the Department itself. There
is also a small subseries on intelligence gathering and analysis. This area was
of great interest and concern to Meck and his consultants, but they soon realized
that it was such a complex subject that it deserved the attentions of a separate
task force.
Correspondence concerning the hiring of staff members, the parameters of
staff studies, schedules of staff and commission meetings, progress reports and
other housekeeping matters may be found under the heading "Task Force". The
foundation for later recommendations on interdepartmental cooperation was pro-
vided by two studies by Royden Dangerfield and George A. Latimer. The Dangerfield
study examined the overlapping responsibilities of the Commerce and State Depart-
ments in foreign affairs and provided a starting point for the Latimer study.
Researchers interested in the Latimer report are advised to begin with the sec-
tion on methodology and procedures in container four.
A very complicated and sensitive interdepartmental issue in 1948 had to do
with occupation policies in Japan and Germany, 1946-48. The interdepartmental
cooperation subseries contains memoranda and summaries of interviews concerning
this controversial subject.
The subseries on the "Internal Organization of the State Department"
concerns the Department's overall management problem of effectively formulating
and carrying out foreign policies and the status of the Foreign Service and its
proper relationship to the Department. Friction, recrimination and jealousy
between the civil service staff and foreign service officers was a problem of
long standing. The Chapin Report of 1945 had advocated amalgamation of the two
staff units, but the issue would not be resolved until nine years later. Meck's
papers contain a copy of the Chapin report and other staff studies, including
one by Donald W. Brown which furnishes a great deal of historical and anecdotal
material.
The British foreign service and cabinet secretariat were also studied for
insights into more effective ways of formulating and administering foreign
policy and conducting liaison between the Department and the White House.
Materials on the cabinet secretariat and liaison secretary concepts may be
found under "President's Role . . . " in container seven and under "Internal
Organization of State Department: Foreign Service" in container five.
This collection is particularly valuable because it contains a large
number of unpublished staff studies on various aspects of State Department
organization. Even more significant, perhaps, are summaries of interviews
with division heads., Assistant Secretaries and others such as: Dean Acheson,
William J. Donovan, George C. Marshall, Albert C. Wedemeyer and Sumner Welles.
Folder List
Box Contents
1
Brookings Institution
Conference at Dartmouth, 1952
Foreign Policy Study Guide, 1948-49
State Department Study
Correspondence
1949
1950 March-July
1950 August-Dec
1951
Staff Report
1949
1951
Staff Report by J.F. Meck, 1951
Brownlow Committee Report on Administrative Management, 1937
Citizens Committee for the Hoover Report, 1949-50
Congress' Role in Foreign Affairs
See Also: Brookings Institution
Interview Summaries
Staff Study, 1948
Defense Department: Establishment of, 1945-47
2
Eberstadt Report on Naval Logistics, 1945
Hoover Commission
Correspondence and Memoranda
Agriculture Task Force Initial Meeting, 1948
Clippings and Printed Matter, 1947-51 & undated (2 folders)
Federal Business Enterprises Report, 1948-49
Foreign Affairs Report
Second Draft, December 20, 1948
"First Draft", December 29, 1948
Revised Draft, January 19, 1949
3 Government Corporations, 1948
Independent Regulatory Agencies Report, Jan. 26, 1949
Legislation concerning, 1947
National Security Organization Sub-Committee Draft, 1-10-49
Revolving Funds Report: Dissent by Commissioner Rowe, 1948
Speeches by John F. Meck, 1949 & undated
Intelligence Gathering
Correspondence and Memoranda, 1946-48 & undated
Interview Summaries
1945 Apr-Jun
1948 July
1948 Aug-1949 Jan
Maps: Production of Selected Metals & Minerals in 1546
Meck Report for Brookings Institution, 1950-51
National Security Task Force Interviews and Report, 1948- 49
Staff Study by Frelinghuysen, 1948
4 Interdepartmental Cooperation
Correspondence and Memoranda
Dangerfield Report
See: Interdepartmental Cooperation
State-Commerce Relationships Study
Interview Summaries
See Also: Interdepartmental Cooperation
Meetings and Discussions
Meetings and Discussions
See Also: Interdepartmental Cooperation
Interview Summaries
Digest for Bundy and Rogers, 1948 Sept
Minutes and Memoranda, 1948
Occupied Areas
Clippings and Press Releases, 1948
Interview Summaries, 1948
Memoranda, 1948-49
Report on the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
Staff Study by Harold Guetzkow, Aug. 16, 1948
Staff Study by E.W. Harding
Departmental Responses to Questionaires
Analysis and Tabulation
Agriculture-Commerce
Defense-Federal Works Agency
GAO-Veterans Administration
5
Report, Sept. 15, 1948
Staff Study by Latimer
Correspondence
Methodology and Procedures
Narrative and Proposals
Supporting Data:
A-G,I
H,J,K,L,N
M,O,P
Q,R,S
Staff Study by J. Clayton Miller, July 31, 1948
Staff Study by Wallace J. Parks, 1948
6
Staff Study by James Q. Reber, Aug. 4, 1948
Staff Study by Reber, Sohm and Murrell, Aug. 16, 1948
State-Commerce Relationships Study
Correspondence & Memoranda, 1948-49
Contents, Recommendations & Chapters 1-7
Chapters 8-15 & Appendix
Enclosures 1-5
Enclosures 6-7
Interviews (Enclosure 5)
Revised Edition, undated
State Department as a Coordinator, 1948-49
Task Force Report, Appendix V
7
Internal Organization of State Department
Correspondence and Memoranda
1946-49 and undated
Welles, Sumner 1948-49
Acheson, Dean 1949 and undated
Bibliography
Budget, FY 1949
Carnegie Corporation Study, 1946
Foreign Policy Formulation
General, 1947-48 and undated
Acheson Lecture, 1948
Foreign Service
Correspondence and Memoranda, 1948-49 & undated
British System
Chapin Report on Amalgamation, 1945
Education Preparation and Entrance Examinations, 1948
Employee Attitude Survey, 1950
History of
See:
1. Internal Organization of State Department
Foreign Service, Staff Study (Composite)
2. Internal Organization of State Department
Foreign Service, Staff Study by Harold Stein
Interviews
Legislation
See Also: Internal Organization of State Department
Foreign Service, Staff Study by Stein, H.
1947-49
Personnel Examination & Selection Procedures, 1948
Personnel Recruitment Study, 1948
8
Personnel Statistics
Staff Study by Donald W. Brown, 1948
Correspondence and Corrections
Copy 3, Table of Contents thru page 112
Copy 3, pages 113-234
Copy 6, Table of Contents thru page 112
Copy 6, pages 113-234
9
Staff Study (Composite), 1948
Staff Study by Harold Stein, 1948
Staff Study of Strom, Johnson, and Hefner, 1948
Task Force Report, Appendix VII
Howe's Study for Puerifoy, 1947
Interviews
Arrangements & Schedules
1948 February--May
1948 June--August
1948 September--October
Organization Charts, 1935-48
Program Operating Ability, 1948
Public Affairs Office
Interviews, Memoranda, etc., 1948 and undated
10
Staff Study by Peter Frelighuysen
Reorganization Plan
Puerifoy Plan
Staff Study, 1948
Task Force Report: Appendix VI
Transportation and Communications
United Nations Activities
Printed Matter and Miscellaneous
Meck College Grades; Job Offers, 1934-36
President's Role in Foreign Affairs
British Cabinet Secretariat
Interview Summaries
Liaison Secretary Concept
Nelson Report, 1948
Staff Study by Louis W. Koenig, 1948 September 15
State Department Consultant
Correspondence and Memoranda, 1950-53
11
Administrative Reorganization, Task Force 2, 1949
Personnel Committee Study, 1950-51
Public Affairs Task Force 3
Correspondence and Memoranda, 1949-50
Report by Meck, 1949
Task Force
Correspondence and Memoranda
1948
February--March
April
May
June
12 July
August
September
October
November
December
1949
Bundy, Harvey H., 1948
Rogers, James Grafton, 1948-49
13
Expenses, Budget, etc.
Meetings, 1948-49
Miscellaneous
Report to Commission
Drafts: Preliminary Draft
Drafts: Annotated Copy (2 folders)
Drafts: Control Copy
Notes and Comments
14
Telephone Directories, 1948
Miscellaneous
Duplicates
Task Force Reports