Oscar R. Ewing

Oscar R. Ewing (1889–1980) was a 20th-century American lawyer, social reformer, and politician who one of the main authors of the Fair Deal program of U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

Oscar Ross Ewing was born on March 8, 1889, in Greensburg, Indiana. His parents were George McClellan Ewing and Nettie Ross Ewing.

In 1910, he graduated from Indiana University. In 1913, he graduated from Harvard Law School.

Ewing first taught at the University of Iowa Law School. Then, he joined a firm in Indianapolis.

During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army and left as captain.

In 1920, he joined the law firm of Hughes, Schurman and Dwight in New York City. In 1937, he co-founded Hughes, Hubbard and Ewing, where he remained until 1947.

In 1942, he became a special U.S. prosecutor who won the conviction of William Dudley Pelley, leader of the Silver Shirts, for sedition. In 1947, he won the convictions of Douglas Chandler and Robert Best on charges of treason, both of whom had broadcast for the Nazis during World War II.

By 1940, Ewing had become assistant chairman of the Democratic National Committee; in 1942, he came vice chairman until he stepped down in 1947.

In the Winter of 1946-1947, after the Republicans swept mid-term elections, Ewing began holding quiet meetings at his home in Washington that lead to formulation of Truman's Fair Deal. Participants included: Clark M. Clifford, then Truman's special counsel (later, last [[[Secretary of Defense]] under President Lyndon B. Johnson); Leon Keyserling of the Council of Economic Advisers and advocate of planned economic growth; C. Girard Davidson, assistant secretary of U.S. Department of Interior; David A. Morse, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor; and Charles S. Murphy, an Administrative Assistant to Truman. In 1948, the Fair Deal helped Truman defeat Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

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