Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg Jr. (June 30, 1907 – January 18, 1968) was a Republican government official from Michigan. He worked for many years on the staff of his father, Arthur H. Vandenberg (1884–1951), who served in the U.S. Senate from 1928 to 1951. He was briefly announced as White House Appointments Secretary by then President-elect Eisenhower in November 1952 but announced he would be on "sick leave" on January 13, 1953, just before the start of the Eisenhower administration before completely resigning in April 1953. He also worked as a consultant and academic and edited his father's papers for publication.
The reason for his 1953 resignation, originally blamed on health problems, was later revealed to be his inability to pass a security test because of his homosexuality. In October 1964, following the arrest of President Lyndon Johnson's longtime aide Walter Jenkins on a "morals charge", columnist Drew Pearson published the circumstances of Vandenberg's 1953 resignation, and President Johnson himself repeated them publicly later that same month.
Early years Vandenberg was born on June 30, 1907, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His mother, the former Elizabeth Watson, died in 1917. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1928, just after his father entered the U.S. Senate.
After graduation, he joined his parents in Washington, D.C., and attended social events escorting Margo Couzens, the daughter of Michigan's other U.S. Senator, James J. Couzens.New York Times: "Notes of Social Activities in New York and Elsewhere," February 24, 1929, accessed November 16, 2010. She also spelled her name Margot. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, joining as a private and rising to major. He was awarded the Legion of Merit "for his work in intelligence and public relations during the war."New York Times: "Vandenberg's Son Honored," March 1, 1947, accessed November 16, 2010
Government service For 14 years before and after World War II he worked for his father in various capacities, described as his secretary, administrative assistant, or executive assistant. Sometimes he handled political matters and played the role of his father's spokesperson.New York Times: James A. Haggerty, "Dewey Wins in Test on Georgia Group," June 19, 1948, accessed November 16, 2010; New York Times: Edward B. Lockett, "The Big Two on Capitol Hill," June 1, 1947, accessed November 17, 2010; New York Times: "Willkie is Called the 'Man to Beat'," June 19, 1940, accessed November 17, 2010; Billboard: "Little White Lies?", June 26, 1948, accessed November 19, 2010. In 1940, he escorted the Cherry Queen at the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan; Traverse City Record Eagle: "Index to Year of 1940" , accessed November 19, 2010 Occasionally he substituted for his father at important meetings, as when he attended a meeting of Michigan Governor Kim Sigler with FBI officials to discuss "Communist activity in Michigan."New York Times: "Vandenberg Hits Silence by Russia," February 15, 1947, accessed November 16, 2010. He managed his father's campaigns for re-election.
Following his father's death in April 1951, he worked as a staff member for Nelson Rockefeller's International Basic Economy Corporation (IBEC), an overseas private investment firm that promoted economic development in Latin America, spending some of his time with IBEC in Brazil.On IBEC, see Elizabeth A. Cobbs, "Entrepreneurship as Diplomacy: Nelson Rockefeller and the Development of the Brazilian Capital Market," in Business History Review, v. 63 (1989), 88-121, esp. 99. Vandenberg wrote a speech for Rockefeller to deliver at the re-opening of a museum in Brazil; Zueler R. M. A. Lima, "Nelson A. Rockefeller and Art Patronage in Brazil after World War II", accessed November 19, 2010
He edited The Private Papers of Senator Vandenberg,Houghton Mifflin, 1952, with the collaboration of Joe Alex Morris. Some of Vandenberg's research is reflected in his correspondence with General Eisenhower. See The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 12, 683-4, 642-4. which appeared in the spring of 1952. The New York Times noted Vandenberg, Jr.'s work as "a series of competent explanatory notations" while International Affairs called it "illuminating documentation" and "an impressive memorial."New York Times: James Reston, "The Education of a Statesman," April 20, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010; Clifton J. Child, "Review," in International Affairs, v. 29 (1953), 398-9; Richard H. Heindel, "Review," in American Historical Review, v. 58 (1953), 401-2 Scholars occasionally cite Vandenberg Jr.'s contributions to the volume.James A. Gazell, "Arthur H. Vandenberg, Internationalism, and the United Nations," in Political Science Quarterly, v. 88 (1973), 375-94 passim
In the spring of 1952, there was speculation he would run for his father's U.S. Senate seat against Senator Blair Moody, a Democrat who had been appointed to complete the term of Senator Vandenberg.New York Times: Elie Abel, "Young Vandenberg Backed for Senate," February 9, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010 Vandenberg said he would run if it meant a strong campaign in Michigan to win the Republican nomination for Eisenhower. Moody welcomed the prospect of a Vandenberg candidacy, saying it would mean a clean race and that he approved anything that would help Eisenhower win the Republican presidential nomination over the isolationist Taft.New York Times: "Foe Invites Vandenberg," February 12, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010 After just a few days' consideration, Vandenberg declined to run, saying the Republican candidate needed to be an experienced campaigner and that he was uncertain his running would "greatly strengthen the Eisenhower movement in Michigan."New York Times: "Vandenberg Puts Senate Race Aside," February 16, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010. In the race for the Republican nomination, Michigan's delegates were thought to be critical; New York Times: William M. Blair, "Key Blocks Report Eisenhower Gains," July 9, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010. Moody lost his seat to Michigan Republican Charles E. Potter.
Vandenberg was an early supporter of Eisenhower for President and helped organize a national executive committee on his behalf in January 1952 when he was not yet a candidate.The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 914n, 956n He met with Eisenhower in Paris several times in the spring of 1952, helping to organize his return from Paris to campaign for the Republican nomination.New York Times: "Vandenberg Slated as Eisenhower Aide," May 31, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010 He served on the staff of the national committeeThe Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1091 and for a time in New York as Chairman of Citizens for Eisenhower, an organization of non-politicians outside the Republican Party's structure that had promoted Eisenhower's candidacy.New York Times: James A. Hagerty, "Eisenhower Groups Opens Office Here," February 8, 1952, accessed November 12, 2010Herbert S. Parmet, Eisenhower and the American Crusades (NY: Macmillan, 1972), 106 For a time he was posted to Washington, D.C., as assistant to national campaign manager Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.New York Times: James Reston, "Eisenhower Camp Revisits its Set-up," March 19, 1952, accessed November 17, 2010; New York Times: Paul P. Kennedy, "Hoffman to Head Eisenhower Team," March 21, 1952, accessed November 17, 2010
Once Eisenhower secured the Republican nomination, Vandenberg served as his Executive Assistant and coordinated the General's personal staff.The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1092n, 1325, 1341, 1420; Parmet, 111
In October 1952, Vandenberg privately expressed disappointment in a letter to Sherman Adams that Eisenhower, on a campaign tour of Wisconsin, did not distinguish himself as strongly as Vandenberg would have liked from Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Red activities and especially from his recent attack on General George Marshall.The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1372-4, 1374n
White House staff Following Eisenhower's victory in the presidential race, at the end of November 1952, the President-elect designated Vandenberg to be his Appointments Secretary,New York Times: "The Nation: Others Named," November 30, 1952, accessed November 12, 2010 He immediately began preparing for those duties,New York Times: William R. Conklin, "Eisenhower Selects Aldrich to be Ambassador to Britain," December 1, 1952, accessed November 16, 2010 then in January took a vacation in Florida "because of ill health." "Close associates of General Eisenhower," reported the New York Times, "said there was no basis for speculation that Mr. Vandenberg's absence meant that he might not take office with the new Administration. They said he was 'a little bit under the weather'."New York Times: W.H. Lawrence, "Eisenhower Selects Conant for Bonn Post," January 13, 1953, accessed November 16, 2010
On January 13, 1953, however, a week before Eisenhower's inauguration, the White House announced that Vandenberg was taking a leave of absence for health reasons. The New York Times now reported Vandenberg "was granted an extended leave of absence because of ill health. He suffers from an undisclosed 'blood condition' and said it would be some months before he could hope to assume his White House duties."New York Times: "Virginian Endorsed by Byrd is Named Tax Bureau Chief," January 14, 1953, accessed November 12, 2010. Time said he was "ailing." TIME: "National Affairs: Appointments," February 9, 1953, accessed November 12, 2010 On April 14, 1953, he resigned his position blaming "an attack of stomach ulcers." He told the press that he was uncertain of his prognosis and "the uncertainty was unfair to the President." He said that rumors of trouble between himself and the President were "definitely not true." Instead he planned to work for IBEC again.Deseret News: "Ulcers Cause Vandenberg to Quit Post," April 14, 1953, accessed November 13, 2010New York Times: "Vandenberg Forgoes U.S. Post," April 14, 1953, accessed November 16, 2010
Later career
Vandenberg next served as a visiting lecturer in international affairs in the Government Department at the University of Miami, holding as well the title of Director at the Governmental Affairs Foundation of New York.Richard H. Leach, "News and Notes," in Journal of Politics, v. 16 (1954), 594
Eisenhower invited him back to the White House in June 1954 to attend a "stag dinner" for the President and 16 guests. The New York Times listed the names of those invited–almost all men in private industry—but only wrote about Vandenberg.New York Times: "Eisenhower Entertains," June 25, 1954, accessed November 14, 2010 An academic journal announced his plan to travel abroad in the summer of 1954"Other Activities" in American Political Science Review, v. 50 (1956), 934 and in December of that year, he met with the President to report on his three-month trip, which the President described as covering the Middle East and Far East. Eisenhower asked him to "follow up with a written memorandum."The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 15 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966), "Document 1183: Eisenhower To John Foster Dulles," December 6, 1954, available online , accessed November 14, 2010.
Vandenberg resigned from his academic position following the publication of an exposé in Confidential magazine in 1956, which he called a "smear.""Notes" in Southern Economic Journal, v. 23 (1857), 358