Thomas Gardiner Corcoran (December 29, 1900 – December 6, 1981) was an Irish-American legal scholar. He was one of several advisors in President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's brain trust during the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

, and later, a close friend and advisor to President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

Early life and education

Corcoran was born in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Prov ...

on December 29, 1900. He matriculated at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, where he graduated as class valedictorian earning bachelor's and master's degrees in 1922. He attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, graduating high in his class in 1926 and gaining the recognition of

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, advocating judicial restraint. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter im ...

. He earned his doctorate in law the next year. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Early career

He clerked for Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., at the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

from 1926 to 1927. In 1932, after practicing corporate law in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Corcoran joined the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government that served as a lender of last resort to US banks and businesses. Established in ...

. When Roosevelt began to take notice of his efforts, Corcoran was given a wider range of responsibilities than his official position as assistant general counsel allowed.

Roosevelt administration

Corcoran served as special counsel to the

(RFC) from 1934 to 1941. During the same period, he was liaison to Henry Morgenthau, and represented him at RFC board of directors. As an ally of RFC Chairman Jesse H. Jones, Corcoran exercised power far beyond the authority of his office. Corcoran was nicknamed "Tommy the Cork" by Roosevelt.

had recommended many of his former Harvard Law students for work in the Roosevelt Administration, including Corcoran, leading the latter to be associated with a group known as "New Dealers." According to Alan Brinkley, many regarded him as an organizer of the New Dealers and a coordinator of the Washington bureaucracy. Much of his work during the

was in conjunction with Benjamin V. Cohen. Together, Corcoran and Cohen were known as the "

Gold Dust Twins The Gold Dust Twins, the trademark for Fairbank's Gold Dust washing powder products, appeared in printed media as early as 1892. "Goldie" and "Dusty", the original Gold Dust Twins, were often shown doing household chores together. In general use ...

" and were on the cover of ''Time'' Magazine's September 12, 1938 edition. By 1940 their friendship was well enough known to be used as a simile in P.G. Wodehouse's novel, '' Quick Service''. Among many projects, Corcoran collaborated with Cohen in drafting the

Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and " time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppre ...

of 1938.

Later life

After leaving the White House, Corcoran retained enormous influence in the administration, in part because of high appointees who owed their positions to him. Corcoran went into private practice as a lawyer along with former U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chief counsel William J. Dempsey, whom Corcoran had installed in that job in 1938. Dempsey and Corcoran managed the takeover of New York radio station WMCA for Corcoran's friend, Undersecretary of Commerce Edward J. Noble. That resulted in both an FCC and a congressional investigation. Corcoran's work after leaving government service led him to be dubbed the first of the modern lobbyists. Corcoran's phones were tapped by the federal government between 1945 and 1947. The transcripts of the wiretaps were deposited in the Truman Presidential Library and not released to researchers until Corcoran's death. The evidence is that a Truman

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

aide ordered the tap, but it was then rescinded by President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

. It is also alleged that Corcoran engaged in improper attempts to influence decisions of the Supreme Court.

Family

On March 4, 1940 Corcoran married his long-time secretary, Peggy Dowd. She had originally been assigned to work for him at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1933. "Everyone was charmed by Peggy, who was bright and generous, except F.D.R. and Felix Frankfurter, who thought their protégé should not marry the daughter of an immigrant Washington mailman. Peggy told my mom that F.D.R. teasingly referring to her as 'our 'Gorgeous Hussy'". The couple had six children. Peggy Dowd Corcoran died in 1957 aged forty-four of a cerebral brain hemorrhage. Following in their father's footsteps, his son, Thomas G. Corcoran Jr., attended Brown University and Harvard Law School (class of 1967), before founding the Washington, D.C., law firm of Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe. Oldest daughter, Margaret J. Corcoran, also graduated from Harvard Law School (class of 1965), and clerked for Associate Justice

Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, ass ...

of the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1966 Term (the second woman to clerk), while continuing to assist her father at social events. His granddaughter, Sara Corcoran, earned her undergraduate degree and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. She is a legal journalist and is the publisher of ''The National Courts Monitor'', a civil courts legal journal.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corcoran, Thomas Gardiner 1900 births 1981 deaths Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel People from Pawtucket, Rhode Island Harvard Law School alumni Brown University alumni Rhode Island lawyers Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States United States presidential advisors Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., Democrats