Get Things Moving! (Paperback)

Mordecai Lee

ISBN 10: 143847136X / ISBN 13: 9781438471365

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 2019

About this Item

Paperback. Recounts the forgotten but important work of Wayne Coy, the Office for Emergency Management's Liaison Officer, during the early years of World War II.Shortly after Hitler's armies invaded Western Europe in May of 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt activated a new agency within the Executive Office of the President called the Office for Emergency Management (OEM). The OEM went on to house many prewar and wartime agencies created to manage the country's arms production buildup and economic mobilization. After World War II a consensus by historians quickly gelled that OEM was unimportant, viewing it as a mere administrative holding company and legalistic convenience for the emergency agencies. Similarly they have dismissed the importance of the Liaison Officer for Emergency Management (LOEM), viewing the position as merely a liaison channel between OEM agencies and the White House. Mordecai Lee presents a revisionist history of OEM, focusing mostly on the record of the longest serving LOEM, Wayne Coy. Drawing upon largely unexamined archival sources, including the Roosevelt and Truman Presidential Libraries and the National Archives, Lee gives a precise account of what Coy actually did and, contrary to the conventional wisdom, concludes he was an important senior leader in the Roosevelt White House, engaging in management, policy, and politics. Recounts the forgotten but important work of Wayne Coy, the Office for Emergency Management's Liaison Officer, during the early years of World War II. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781438471365

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Get Things Moving! (Paperback)
• Publisher: State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 143847136X
• ISBN 13: 9781438471365
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Recounts the forgotten but important work of Wayne Coy, the Office for Emergency Management's Liaison Officer, during the early years of World War II.

Shortly after Hitler's armies invaded Western Europe in May of 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt activated a new agency within the Executive Office of the President called the Office for Emergency Management (OEM). The OEM went on to house many prewar and wartime agencies created to manage the country's arms production buildup and economic mobilization. After World War II a consensus by historians quickly gelled that OEM was unimportant, viewing it as a mere administrative holding company and legalistic convenience for the emergency agencies. Similarly they have dismissed the importance of the Liaison Officer for Emergency Management (LOEM), viewing the position as merely a liaison channel between OEM agencies and the White House. Mordecai Lee presents a revisionist history of OEM, focusing mostly on the record of the longest serving LOEM, Wayne Coy. Drawing upon largely unexamined archival sources, including the Roosevelt and Truman Presidential Libraries and the National Archives, Lee gives a precise account of what Coy actually did and, contrary to the conventional wisdom, concludes he was an important senior leader in the Roosevelt White House, engaging in management, policy, and politics.

About the Author

Mordecai Lee is Professor of Governmental Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and the author of many books, including The First Presidential Communications Agency: FDR's Office of Government Reports and The Philosopher-Lobbyist: John Dewey and the People's Lobby, 1928–1940, both also published by SUNY Press.