Virtual Event
December 18 2024
Time 12 PM
Registration for this event is via Eventbrite

Thurman Arnold’s tenure as head of the antitrust division at the U. S. Justice Department has long been regarded as a pivotal event in mid-twentieth-century U. S. government business relations. Most historical writing on this topic (eg Alan Brinkley, Ellis Hawley, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.) views it in relationship to the Democratic party’s failed attempt to restructure the U. S. political economy—a project struck down by the U. S. Supreme Court. That is, they treat it as a chapter in domestic politics. This paper, in contrast, locates Arnold’s tenure in its international context—with a particular focus on his critique of the cartelization of German business under the Nazi regime. It is drawn from Richard R. John’s history of American anti-monopoly thought and practice and is based on Arnold’s papers at the American Heritage Center in Laramie. Wyoming.

Richard R. John is professor of history and journalism at Columbia University

Laura Phillips Sawyer of the University of Georgia will provide an introductory comment.

Advance registration via Eventbrite is required; everyone who is registered will receive the paper.