Summary
Lawyer who had played a major role in Harry Truman’s selection as Roosevelt’s vice-presidential running mate in 1944 and served during the Palestine debate as Clark Clifford’s legal adviser on Palestine, one of the three advisers who shaped Truman’s viewpoint in Perceptions of Palestine (Perceptions of Palestine, lines 780-798).
Details
- With Clifford and David Niles, Lowenthal fed Truman material designed to influence his emotions and perceptions of Arabs and Jews, enabling Truman to believe he was doing the right thing rather than bowing to electoral pressure; he and Niles were firm Zionists whom Truman found disconcertingly tearful on the subject of Palestine (lines 780-798).
- Lowenthal was not a formal White House adviser and had no office there, but, in Christison’s account, his role in educating Clifford and shaping Truman’s views was no less critical for being anonymous: he regularly visited Zionist offices in Washington for analysis and advice, sent memoranda directly to the president in some cases, pressed his views in numerous informal off-the-record oral briefings, and is believed to have written all or many of the memos Clifford sent Truman; Truman was indebted to him for several political favours, respected him highly, and later credited him with instructing him during the debate over recognising Israel (lines 798-806).
Related pages
Perceptions of Palestine, Harry Truman, Clark Clifford, David Niles