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George W. Ball Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
George Wildman Ball was born on December 19, 1909 in Des Moines, Iowa. Named after his paternal uncle, George, he was the youngest of three sons born to Amos and Edna Wildman Ball. Ball grew up in Des Moines and Evanston, Illinois, where the family moved in 1922 after his father received a promotion to the Standard Oil Company headquarters located in Chicago. Edna decided the family should settle in Evanston due to the proximity of Northwestern University, where it was decreed all three sons would attend. According to Ball, his mother was determined to keep the family intact as long as possible. There would be no reason for her sons to leave home for college, if home was located near a college.
Ball attended Northwestern (as did his brothers Stuart and Ralph) where he served as president of the university poetry society and first editor of a new literary magazine entitled MS. He graduated in 1930 and entered Northwestern Law School after briefly considering pursuing a doctorate in English. Prior to the start of his second year of law school, Ball married Ruth Murdoch whom he had met on a European vacation during the summer of 1929. He graduated from law school in 1933 at the top of his class and served on the law review editorial board. The law school dean nominated him for a position in the General Counsel's Office, under the direction of Herman Oliphant, in the newly established Farm Credit Administration. Ball accepted the position after consulting with his family and headed off to Washington, D.C. in May 1933. His work included developing credit facilities for farmers and negotiating a contract for the sale of $75 million worth of Federal Farm Bureau cotton.
Ball moved to the Treasury Department in November 1933 upon the appointment of Henry Morgenthau as secretary of the treasury. When Franklin D. Roosevelt named Morgenthau to this post, Morgenthau appointed Oliphant as his legal advisor, and he, in turn, brought along Ball. In his new position, Ball prepared briefs on international trade and tax legislation. Despite working on major New Deal policies, Ball felt his law training was too narrow and returned to the Midwest in 1935 to "master the profession of law." He joined a Chicago law firm where he served as a tax attorney before moving to the prestigious firm of Sidley, McPherson, Austin & Harper in 1939. Ball's work involved the reorganization of railroads but more defining was the close relationship he developed with junior partner Adlai Stevenson while at the firm. It was also during this time that Ball started to become interested in foreign affairs. He began to attend Friday luncheons hosted by the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs, which Stevenson chaired.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the German declaration of war against America galvanized Ball into action. He conferred with Stevenson, who was now an assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, on his course of action. Stevenson could have arranged for a commission in the Navy but encouraged Ball to put his Washington experience to better use. Following Stevenson's advice, Ball accepted an associate position in the General Counsel's Office of the Lend-Lease Administration under the guidance of Oscar Cox. Ball spent the first months in this new position investigating the synthetic rubber program and monitoring Englishman Geoffrey Pyke's plough project. Pyke theorized that if the Allies mastered the snow, they would control Europe, and he proposed parachuting men and tanks into snow covered areas. Although the overall goal of the project never fully materialized, the project did produce an amphibious vehicle later known as the Weasel. These duties soon evolved into serving as operating head of the office and thus legal adviser to Edward R. Stettinius, Administrator of Lend-Lease.
Ball resigned in August 1944 after the Lend-Lease Administration merged with the Foreign Economic Administration, claiming he could no longer work for the combined offices' inept chairman Leo Crowley. He accepted a position as a civilian member of the Air Force Evaluation Board to study the effects of tactical operations in Europe. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed director of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, which would appraise the whole strategic air offensive. Ball was specifically responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the Allied bombing of German cities and transportation systems. In May 1945, Ball and John Kenneth Galbraith debriefed Albert Speer, the Nazi minister for armaments and war production, in an effort to confirm their speculations on the ineffectiveness of Allied bombings. Ball was awarded a Medal of Freedom for this work. After the war, Ball returned to Washington, D.C. and took an interim assignment with Jean Monnet as general counsel of the French Supply Council. Ball had met Monnet during his years in the Lend-Lease Administration. In this new assignment, Ball worked with Monnet to promote France's post-war recovery. Ball agreed to serve for a three-month period prior to the official opening of a law firm he had formed with friends. Ball's departure was delayed when Monnet asked Ball to serve as former French Premier Léon Blum's advisor during his mission to Washington to discuss Franco-American relations.
Ball was finally able to join his firm, Cleary, Gottlieb, Friendly & Cox in July 1946. Monnet retained the firm to represent the French Government, and Ball soon found himself conferring with Monnet's deputy Robert Marjolin on the creation of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). He continued to work with Monnet on establishing a European economic plan throughout 1949, and this preliminary work laid the foundation for the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Despite his close relationship with Monnet, Ball was not involved in authoring the final proposal, later known as the Schuman Plan, to establish a European common market for coal and steel under an independent authority. He was not brought into the fold until a month after the proposal had been given to French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. After the ratification of the Treaty of Paris in August 1952, Ball was retained as the ECSC's adviser and later served as an adviser to the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Economic Community (EEC).
His interest in European affairs did not preclude Ball from taking an interest in American politics. In 1952, Ball established Project Wintergreen, the code name for the Stevenson information center established in Ball's Washington, D.C. office. Ball tested the waters for a possible Stevenson presidential campaign, while at the same time trying to convince Stevenson he should be a candidate. When Stevenson finally declared his candidacy, Ball served as executive director of Volunteers for Stevenson. Ball continued to advise Stevenson after his defeat and later served as his director of public relations during the 1956 campaign. Even after the 1956 defeat, Ball remained loyal to Stevenson and supported his candidacy in 1960. As the pressure on Stevenson to support John F. Kennedy mounted, Ball urged Stevenson not to endorse Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention, reasoning that Stevenson had an obligation to his supporters who wanted him to remain available for a possible draft.
After the nomination of Kennedy, Ball sent Stevenson a memorandum encouraging him to suggest a study of post-election foreign policy to Kennedy. Kennedy approved the idea and asked Stevenson to undertake the study. Stevenson passed the responsibility to Ball since he would be campaigning on Kennedy's behalf. The Stevenson report laid out immediate and long-term goals for American foreign policy. Ball cited the gold drain, NATO strategic deterrent talks, new initiatives in disarmament and formation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a few of the issues requiring immediate attention. Kennedy viewed the report favorably and requested additional task forces be formed. Ball spent the next six weeks preparing task force reports on the OECD, balance of payments, and foreign economic policy. Ball's hard work eventually led to his appointment as under secretary of state for economic affairs. In his new position, Ball worked on issues regarding trade and tariffs, economic affairs, the Congo, and European integration. He worked closely with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and dealt directly with the President on these matters. As the year progressed, Ball became more involved with political matters and eventually replaced Chester Bowles as under secretary of state. This promotion allowed Ball to play a key role in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. While Ball's tenure as under secretary of state is most noted for his vociferous opposition to the Vietnam War, other highlights include participating in Kennedy's inner sanctum during the Cuban Missile Crisis, negotiating a wheat deal with the Soviets, attending National Security Council meetings, brokering an international textile agreement, and serving as a mediator of crises in Cyprus, Pakistan, the Congo and the Dominican Republic.
As the war in Vietnam escalated, Ball realized his ability to influence policy had diminished. He submitted his resignation to President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 17, 1966, effective September 30. Citing personal and family reasons, Ball stated he must return to private life, and he accepted a senior partner position with the investment firm of Lehman Brothers. However, he had not completely disengaged himself from governmental service, and was frequently summoned to the White House in an advisory capacity. In 1968, he served as chair of the committee investigating the U.S.S. Pueblo incident and was asked to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations upon Arthur J. Goldberg's resignation. Ball initially refused but found himself outmaneuvered when Johnson pressured his partners at Lehman Brothers to support his nomination. Ball resigned his partnership in the firm in May.
Ball's service as permanent representative to the United Nations was short-lived. Fearing a Nixon victory in the presidential election, Ball resigned in September to campaign for his friend Hubert Humphrey. After Humphrey's defeat, Ball returned to Lehman Brothers where he remained until his retirement in 1982. However, Ball remained active in political affairs throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. He served as an adviser to President Jimmy Carter during the crisis in Iran and on the Panama Canal treaties, delivered numerous speeches and lectures, testified before Congress, appeared on various news programs, and penned five books and scores of articles. In fact, he was working on his sixth book when he entered New York Hospital on Wednesday May 25, 1994 and was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died the next evening. Ball's wife Ruth predeceased him in 1993 after battling Alzheimer's. Two adopted sons, John C. and Douglas B. Ball, and two grandchildren survive him.
The George W. Ball Papers contain correspondence, memoranda, reports, speeches, telecons, minutes, appointment books, writings, scrapbooks, clippings, financial information, legal documents, photographs, memorabilia and audiovisual material documenting the private and public life of this lawyer, under secretary of state, ambassador, author and investment banker.
The material is arranged chronologically unless otherwise noted and includes items in Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Swedish. Researchers should note some of the material was damaged due to a flood in Ball's basement where some of the papers were stored. Photocopies of the severely damaged items have been made to ensure the survival of their informational content, and the originals discarded.
George Ball's son, Douglas B. Ball, donated the bulk of the material in 1995 (ML-1995-5), with the material related to Adlai Stevenson's presidential campaigns being donated in 1981 (ML-1981-5) by George W. Ball. Photocopies of the telecons housed at the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Libraries were obtained in 2002 and 2000 respectively.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Kristine Marconi McGee in 1999-2002 with the assistance of Christie Lutz, Rachel Koblic, Amy Bergbreiter, Everitt Clark, Nate Holland, Hilary Matson, John Matsui, Brooke Meserole, Suzanne Seifert, Brian Weiss and Megan Wernke. Finding aid written by Kristine Marconi McGee in 1999-2002.
No appraisal information is available.
People
- Acheson, Dean (1893-1971)
- Blumenthal, W. Michael (1926)
- Bundy, William P. (1917-2000)
- Carter, Jimmy (1924)
- Galbraith, John Kenneth (1908-2006)
- Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines) (1908-1973)
- Katzenbach, Nicholas de B.
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald) (1917-1963)
- Monnet, Jean (1888-1979)
- Peterson, Peter G.
- Rostow, Eugene V. (Eugene Victor) (1913-2002)
- Rusk, Dean (1909-1994)
- Schaetzel, J. Robert
- Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. (Arthur Meier) (1917-2010)
- Speer, Albert (1905-1981)
- Springsteen, George
- Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing) (1900-1965)
- Wyatt, Wilson W. (Wilson Watkins) (1905-1996)
- Yarmolinsky, Adam
Organization
- French Supply Council.
- Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.
- Council on foreign relations
- Bilderberg Meetings
- European Economic Community.
- United States, Strategic Bombing Survey
- Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Subject
- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
- European federation
- European Union
- International business enterprises. -- 20th century
- International economic conditions. -- 20th century
- Presidental candidates -- United States. -- 20th century
- Statesmen -- United States. -- Correspondence
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975
- World politics. -- 20th century
Place
- Cuba -- History -- Invasion, 1961.
- Europe -- Economic conditions. -- 20th century
- Iran -- Foreign relations -- United States. -- 20th century
- Israel -- Foreign relations -- United States. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Iran. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Israel. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Vietnam. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations administration. -- 20th century
- United States -- Politics and government. -- 20th century
- Vietnam -- Foreign relations -- United States. -- 20th century
- Publisher
- Public Policy Papers
- Finding Aid Author
- Kristine Marconi McGee
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Sponsor
- The George W. Ball Papers were processed with the generous support of Douglas B. Ball, Alan S. Dunning, John Kenneth Galbraith, Richard Hinds, Richard Hulbert, Jerome Hyman, James G. Johnson, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Robert McCabe, Andre Newberg, Peter G. Peterson, David Rockefeller, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Adlai Stevenson III, Phillips Talbot, Donald Wilson and The John Foster and Janet Avery Dulles Fund.
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, any copyright vested in the donor has passed to The Trustees of Princeton University and researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of donor-created materials within the collection. For materials in the collection not created by the donor, or where the material is not an original, the copyright is likely not held by the University. In these instances, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have a question about who owns the copyright for an item, you may request clarification by contacting us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series 1, Correspondence, 1916-1994, contains two subseries, Subject Files and Chron Files, and chronicles Ball's life from childhood to death.
Physical Description110 boxes
No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series 1, Subseries 1, Subject Files, 1916-1994, contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, memoranda, reports, clippings, manuscripts, speeches, press releases and publications, and is filed alphabetically by author or subject. The subject files mainly document Ball's life prior to his appointment as under secretary of state for economic affairs and after his resignation as ambassador to the United Nations. These files contain information on a myriad of subjects in which Ball was involved or interested. His careers are well documented in this subseries, including his work on the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, which included the interrogation of Albert Speer, his years spent at Cleary, Gottlieb, and his international banking experience gained at Lehman Brothers.
While his career accomplishments were vast and varied, Ball considered his work with Jean Monnet on the "perestroika" of Western Europe the most interesting and more productive than his "rearguard" action against the Vietnam War. Ball's work with Monnet on European integration is detailed throughout numerous folders in this subseries. The seventeen memoranda Ball wrote outlining his opposition to the Vietnam War are included in this subseries as well. Researchers should note that copies have been made of the original memoranda for preservation purposes and are located at the front of the folders. The originals can be found at the rear of the folder and should only be consulted if the copy is illegible.
The relationships Ball developed with various colleagues are documented here as well. One of his earliest ties born from an employment association was with Adlai Stevenson. Ball and Stevenson's correspondence reveals a close relationship that started in 1939 while both were employed with the law firm of Sidley, McPherson, Austin & Harper, and continued until Stevenson's death. The various Stevenson campaigns also brought about life-long friendships with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Wilson Wyatt, while wartime work brought about a close friendship with John Kenneth Galbraith and Eugene Rostow. Ball also corresponded somewhat regularly with fellow members of Cleary, Gottlieb, and Ball often contacted them, after he had severed his ties, to enlist their services on matters. More often than not, the correspondence between Ball and members of the firm are found in the Cleary, Gottlieb files.
The relationships he developed while undersecretary of state are also well documented. Despite some disagreements over U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Ball developed a close relationship with Secretary of State Dean Rusk that continued until Ball's death. Their respect and mutual admiration for each other is evident in their correspondence. Another secretary of state whom Ball respected and admired was Dean Acheson. The two became close during Ball's tenure at the Farm Credit Administration. Other State Department colleagues with whom Ball corresponded after his retirement included W. Michael Blumenthal, William P. Bundy, Nicholas de B. Katzenbach, J. Robert Schaetzel and George S. Springsteen. Ball's latter years at Lehman Brothers were also characterized by several friendships, including a close one with Chairman Peter G. Peterson.
Ball was involved in numerous membership organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Century Association, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the highly secretive Bilderberg Group. The group took its name from a hotel in the Netherlands where the group first met in 1954. It was established to foster frank, confidential discussions between Europeans and North Americans on current issues affecting foreign affairs and the international economy. The group meets once a year in various locations throughout Western Europe and North America. Men and women of notable achievement are invited by members of a permanent steering committee on each occasion to attend. Ball was one of the first North American members of the Bilderberg Group and attended every meeting except for one before his death. Ball considered Bilderberg to be the most useful organization to which he belonged.
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These folders include copies of Ruth Ball's diaries.
Physical Description3 folders
These folders include copies of Ruth Ball's diaries.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series 1, Subseries 2, Chron Files, 1952-1993, largely contains outgoing correspondence and memoranda, although there is some incoming correspondence during his tenure as undersecretary of state, and both are filed in reverse chronological order. The material ranges from the mundane (a thank you letter to a friend for a birthday gift) to a secret memorandum dated June 20, 1963 outlining the "mess in Europe" written for President Kennedy on his upcoming trip. Although some material from his days as under secretary is contained in the subject run, this subseries contains the most comprehensive documentation of Ball's involvement in the shaping of foreign and domestic policy.
Physical Description11 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series 2, Appointments, 1945-1994, contains appointment books, desk and pocket calendars, and billing logs. Ball's secretary recorded his schedule of meetings, conferences, and trips. At times, more than one calendar was maintained for a particular year. However, they are not exact replicas, as Ball would sometimes record his own information in only one of the calendars. There is no appointment book or calendar for the years 1963 and 1964, only a list of trips taken during those years. The billing logs record Ball's billable hours while at Cleary, Gottlieb and detail meetings, conferences and time away from the office.
Physical Description10 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series 3, Writings, 1933-1994, is divided into two subseries: Books, and Articles and Miscellaneous Writings. Each subseries is arranged alphabetically and chronologically thereunder.
Physical Description11 boxes
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Series 3, Subseries 1, Books, 1945-1993, includes correspondence, lists, reviews, clippings, reference material and drafts for Ball's five published books and one unpublished work. His published works include Diplomacy for a Crowded World, Discipline of Power, Error and Betrayal in Lebanon, Passionate Attachment, and The Past Has Another Pattern, copies of which are located in Firestone Library. His unpublished work focused on the evolution of the Schuman Plan.
Physical Description6 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series 3, Subseries 2, Articles and Miscellaneous Writings, 1933-1994, contains articles, readers' comments, book jacket blurbs, college and law school papers, essays, forewords, letters to the editor, a memorandum, and poems. An electronic index exists for this subseries. A prolific writer, Ball produced over 270 articles during his lifetime for a variety of domestic and foreign publications. During the early 1970s, Ball wrote a guest columnist series for Newsweek. These articles focused largely on foreign policy and tackled such issues as Biafra's loss of independence, the Nixon doctrine, the Middle East, and the realities of a settlement in Vietnam. Ball was not afraid to write on difficult subjects and received a large amount of mail from readers who disagreed with his stated positions. His articles criticizing Israeli policy drew the most fire from incensed readers, who often labeled him an anti- Semite.
Physical Description6 boxes
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