Interviewer
Donald E. Spritzer
Files
Description
Charles Murray describes his father, James E. Murray’s, decision to run for the United States Senate following the stock market crash of 1929. Charles Murray recalls working as his father’s campaign manager in Washington, D.C. after graduating from college. Murray talks about his role as his father’s political advisor and how he persuaded his father not to seek reelection when James Murray was 84. He describes his father’s strong support of Lyndon Johnson both as vice president and president. He describes important pieces of legislation that Senator Murray, sponsored including the Full Employment Act, the National Health Act, and the Smaller War Plants Act. Charles Murray talks about his father’s tense relationship with the Montana Power Company and his clash with President Harry Truman over the failed Missouri Valley Authority (MVA) bill. Murray talks at length about his father’s long-running feud with Senator Burton K. Wheeler, and describes the smear campaign against his father which accused James Murray of being a Communist sympathizer. Charles Murray compares the relationship his father, Senator James E. Murray, had with President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the one he had with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Murray ends the interview by explaining how his father was accused by a Senate investigating committee of helping the Sorrento Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, secure a Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) loan.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Murray, James E. (James Edward), 1876-1961; James Patton; Missouri Valley Authority (MVA); Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation; Tony Boyle; Harry Truman; Burton K. Wheeler; William James Jameson; R. Bailey Stortz; Mike Mansfield; Joseph Parker; Patsy Parker; Butte, Montana; Lee Metcalf; Max Baucus; Daly-Shea Mortuary; Dwight D. Eisenhower; William Gibbs McAdoo; Robert Wagner; Robert Taft; Taft-Hartley Act; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Wellington Rankin; Lyndon B. Johnson; William Wallace McDowell; Burton K. Wheeler; Butte, Montana; National Health Act; Claude Pepper; Hubert Humphrey; Warren Magnuson
Original Date
5-19-1978
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Oral History Interviews about James Murray Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 033-001, 002, 003
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
3 sound cassettes (03:00:00 min.) analog + 1 transcript (58 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
02:41:30 minutes
Local Filename
OH_033_001_002_003.mp3; OH_033_001_002_003.pdf
Citation
Murray, Charles A., "Charles A. Murray Interview, May 19, 1978" (1978). James Murray Oral History Collection. 6.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/jamesmurray_interviews/6