Concerns of a Conservative Democrat

Written in the classic tradition of the self-made American that early found expression in Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Mr. Sawyer’s book discusses his childhood and formative years and beginnings of his political career but revolves around two major government appointmentsAmbassador to Belgium and Minister to Luxembourg during the close of World War II and Secretary of Commerce in the Truman administration, 1948-53. Among the important events in Mr. Sawyer’s cabinet years were the government seizure of the steel mills, the Dollar Line controversy, and the 1952 Democratic Party Nominating Convention. On these and other controversial events Mr. Sawyer’s book sheds new light and provides valuable firsthand accounts.

Representing the conservative faction in President Truman’s cabinet, Mr. Sawyer’s convictions were strong and his expression of them clear and unmistakable. His conclusionshis concerns”from his years of involvement in national and international affairs will be of special interest to readers who seek answers to such questions as the dollar drain, the imbalance of international payments, inflation, and, especially, over-population and communism, against which Mr. Sawyer urges drastic action.

Mr. Sawyer’s memoirs span most of the present century, and are particularly valuable for the thirties, forties, and fifties. Thanks to Mr. Sawyer’s vivid recollection and careful personal records, names that figured prominently in world events in our timeRoosevelt, Truman, Churchill, Attlee, Eisenhower, Spaakcome to life in these pages.