New York State Assistant Secretary to the Governor Subject Files

Organized into four subseries: Subseries 1: Subject Files; Subseries 2: Political Subject Files; Subseries 3: County Briefing Files; Subseries 4: National Subject Files.

Alphabetical by subject or county within each subseries.

James L. Sundquist served as Assistant Secretary to the Governor from January 1, 1955 to December 1956, at which time he was succeeded by Robert L. McManus. McManus served in the position until the end of Governor W. Averell Harriman's term in office in 1958.

Sundquist served for a number of years on the staff of the United States Bureau of the Budget and as an assistant to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1953 to 1954. McManus was formerly a political reporter and legislative correspondent for the Binghamton Press, and was appointed in May, 1955 to the position of deputy director of publicity in the New York State Department of Commerce. He served in this position until December 1956.

Sundquist's principal responsibility was to assist Governor Harriman in his role in national politics by establishing and maintaining contacts with party leaders throughout the nation. His past experience with the Democratic National Committee was especially valuable in this respect and especially useful in Governor Harriman's bid to secure the Democratic presidential nomination in 1956. He also assisted the Governor in accumulating background and briefing material for the Governor's speeches and preparing drafts of many of these speeches.

In December 1956, Sundquist resigned from the Governor's office to accept an appointment as legislative assistant to Senator-Elect Joseph S. Clark of Pennsylvania.

This series consists of subject files from the office of the Assistant Secretary to Governor W. Averell Harriman. These records served as a reference file and related to numerous subjects with which the Governor's Office was concerned and about which the Governor made public speeches and pronouncements. The records include general subject files, political files, county briefing files, and national files. Some of the topics covered in these records include agriculture, nuclear energy, education, health care, and economics.

B2326Series B2326, Personal correspondence, contains records of James L. Sundquist relating to non-official matters.

Folder list.

This series was transferred to Syracuse University from Governor Harriman in 1959, and was transferred to the New York State Archives in 2006. It was accessioned in July 2011.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.