On February 10, 1932, Charles met at the White House with President Herbert Hoover. It was not his only meeting with a President, but it’s one for which we have an artifact—his handwritten notes, taken down immediately after the meeting. (The full text of his notes is here.)
Charles played at high levels of government and if you needed the American expert on railroad finance and economics, you got Charles D. Mahaffie. Even President Hoover knew that. And in those times, the railroads were a huge factor in the health and strength of the economy, which of course, in the early 1930s, stilled wallowed in the effects of the Great Depression. So Charles’ work was of central economic and policy importance.
To me, the notes have an excited quality. It looks as though Charles hurried back to his office to write down what had happened with Hoover. He didn’t wait for a secretary to give it to, or dictate it to. Then, he kept the hand notes, even if, possibly, they were also typed up for the files or for distribution to his colleagues.
I have the sense that the moments when he was with presidents were momentous for him, even though he worked for, and likely met with Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower.
This is one of a series of posts that explore the life of Charles D. Mahaffie, Sr. through family memories and items from a family archive. Charles was the author’s grandfather. He left a remarkable collection of papers, photos, and mementos which offer a lens through which to explore his life and legacies. For the full collection, click here.
