Published April 27, 2021 at 5:32 AM EDT
Listen • 1:00
“K” is for Keyserling, Leon Hirsch (1908-1987). Economist, lawyer, presidential adviser. The son of immigrants, Keyserling was born in Beaufort and graduated from Columbia University with a degree in economics. He later graduated from Harvard Law School. In 1933 he became chief legislative aide to New York Senator Robert F. Wagner. During the next four years he helped design major New Deal economic and employment programs. He was the principal draftsman of a $3 billion public works bill, the wage and hour provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act, the National Housing Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and portions of the Social Security Act. From 1946-1953 he served on President Truman’s Council of Economic Advisers, becoming its chair in 1950. In 1978 Leon Hirsch Keyserling drafted legislation establishing the Department of Housing and Urban Development.