Description
Bryce N. Harlow served as Assistant to the President and Counselor to the President. The materials cover the period from November
1968 to January 1969 when Mr. Harlow served as the Assistant to the President with Responsibility for Congressional Relations
in the transition office of President-Elect Richard Nixon as well as from 1969 to 1970 when Mr. Harlow served as Special Assistant
to the President for Congressional Relations.
Background
Bryce Harlow was born in Oklahoma in 1916. After his graduation from the University of Oklahoma in 1938, Bryce Harlow moved
to Washington D.C. where he worked on Capitol Hill as assistant librarian to the House of Representatives. In 1941, with the
outbreak of World War II, Bryce Harlow became an officer in the United States Army and worked for General George C. Marshall,
Army Chief of Staff. Mr. Harlow served in this position until 1946, when he joined the staff of the House Committee on Armed
Services. Mr. Harlow remained in this position until 1951.
In 1952, Mr. Harlow returned to Oklahoma and became the vice president of the Harlow Publishing Company. Just one year later,
Mr. Harlow returned to Washington, D.C., with his wife Betty and their three children to work on the White House staff of
President Dwight D. Eisenhower. From 1953 until 1960, Mr. Harlow served the Eisenhower Administration in various positions
including administrative assistant to the president, special assistant to the president, and deputy assistant to the president
for congressional affairs. Mr. Harlow wrote major speeches for President Eisenhower, and President Eisenhower often referred
to Mr. Harlow as his "meat and potatoes man."
In 1961, Mr. Harlow established the first office in Washington, D.C., for the company of Procter & Gamble. He continued to
represent the company in Washington, D.C., until his retirement in 1978. Mr. Harlow took a leave of absence from Procter and
Gamble from 1968 until 1971 and again from 1973 until 1974 to serve on the White House staff of President Richard Nixon. Mr.
Harlow worked for the Nixon Administration as assistant to the president for congressional relations and as counselor to the
president, a position that had a cabinet level rank. In November 1968, Mr. Harlow was the first staff person appointed by
President-Elect Richard Nixon.
In his later years, Bryce Harlow was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1977 and received the Medal of Freedom from
President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Bryce Harlow died on February 18, 1987.
Restrictions
Most government records are in the public domain; however, this series includes commercial materials, such as newspaper clippings,
that may be subject to copyright restrictions. Researchers should contact the copyright holder for information.