27 Facts About Frederick Lawton

Frederick Joseph Lawton was an American bureaucrat who served as the ninth Director of the Bureau of the Budget.

Frederick Lawton spent most of his professional career working with the government bureaucracy.

Frederick Lawton helped President Franklin D Roosevelt wager with members of Congress to support the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Frederick Lawton first joined the Office of Management and Budget as an executive assistant in 1935.

Frederick Lawton was appointed to the post of Director of the Bureau of the Budget in 1950, and held the position until 1953.

Frederick Lawton advocated a civil service, rather than a patronage system for tax agents.

Frederick Lawton opposed a number of plans in Congress, including a fair trade bill and attempts to decentralize the federal offices in Washington, DC, to other areas of the country.

Frederick Lawton was born in Washington, DC, on November 11,1900, and lived there throughout his life.

Frederick Lawton was a registered Democrat for much of his life.

Frederick Lawton was married to the former Cecilia Walsh of Sussex County, New Jersey and had three children; Richard Lawton, an ARAMCO oil executive, Mary C Lawton, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the US and Kathleen Lawton Kenna, a Department of the Army senior executive Civilian Personnel Officer.

President Franklin D Roosevelt used Lawton to build support Fair Labor Standards Act in the United States Congress.

Once there, Frederick Lawton was to put into the budget whatever pork barrel projects the Congressmen required in order to buy a supporting vote for the bill.

Frederick Lawton only had one professional interaction with Truman before his Presidency, over the Canol Road project.

Frederick Lawton first joined the Office of Management and Budget as an executive assistant in 1935.

Frederick Lawton landed the job of adviser to the Senate Select Committee when the Senate asked for a liaison and expert from the Budget Bureau; Frederick Lawton himself speculated that he received the job because his post did not have specific estimates assigned to it, leaving him free for new duties.

Frederick Lawton served as an executive assistant until 1947, when he became an administrative assistant to President Harry S Truman.

Frederick Lawton served as the Director of the Bureau from 1950 to 1953.

Frederick Lawton received the job again upon vacation of Frank Pace, who was appointed the United States Secretary of the Army.

Frederick Lawton called for reform within the Bureau of Internal Revenue, claiming that its "magnitude and complexity" required an overhaul.

Frederick Lawton's advocacy led the Bureau to be renamed the Internal Revenue Service, and a reorganization of the Bureau which established agents as career civil servants, rather than using the patronage system.

Frederick Lawton joined with Truman in fighting a fair trade bill in Congress.

Frederick Lawton supported a requested merger of Pan American World Airways and American Overseas Airlines, a plan that Truman initially opposed, but then passed over the recommendation of the Civil Aeronautics Board.

Frederick Lawton vocally opposed plans to decentralize the federal offices in Washington, DC, spreading them throughout the country so that an enemy attack would not cripple the entire national government.

Frederick Lawton argued that there was a shortage of office space around the country that made the plans impossible to implement.

Frederick Lawton often removed himself from debates, treating his job as a technical and administrative one.

When President Dwight D Eisenhower took office, Lawton remained skeptical that the Republican President could cut much money from the budget without completely overhauling then-current government programs.

Frederick Lawton was appointed to a six-year term, but ultimately served from 1953 to 1963.