Background
David K. Niles was born on November 23, 1892 in North Boston, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Asher Kohen Neyhus, a tailor, and Sophie Berlin Neyhus, both Jewish immigrants from Russia.
government official politician
David K. Niles was born on November 23, 1892 in North Boston, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Asher Kohen Neyhus, a tailor, and Sophie Berlin Neyhus, both Jewish immigrants from Russia.
After graduating from high school, Niles attended Sunday lectures on public affairs at the Ford Hall Forum, an enterprise run by George W. Coleman.
By 1917 Niles had become an aide to Coleman, accompanying him to Washington that year when he assumed the post of information director for the Department of Labor.
After World War I Niles assumed a more active role in running the Ford Hall Forum, and by 1924 he had become associate director. As his field of activity widened he assumed responsibility for directing the speakers' bureau for the Progressive party in the campaign of 1924, as a result of which he became friendly with Robert M. La Follette, Burton K. Wheeler, and George Norris. After the defeat of Progressive candidates in 1924 Niles became involved with Felix Frankfurter in attempts to coordinate the legal defense for Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists accused of murder and armed robbery.
During the 1928 presidential campaign, he was an organizer and then director of the National Committee of Independent Voters for Al Smith. The campaign brought him into contact with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins and by 1932 Niles was working with Senator George Norris of Nebraska in organizing the National Progressive League for Roosevelt. With the Democratic victory in 1932 Niles's career entered a new stage. At the suggestion of Hopkins, he was appointed chairman of the National Recovery Administration Adjustment Board and Federal Emergency Relief Administrator for Massachusetts. In 1935 the FERA was succeeded by the Works Progress Administration, and Niles became Hopkins' assistant for labor liaison. Throughout his career under Roosevelt, Niles spent most of his time soliciting political support from labor and minority groups. After a brief career in the Department of Commerce he became a leading advocate of a third term for Roosevelt, and with Ben Cohen and Hopkins he helped to arrange a draft of Roosevelt in 1940. During the campaign he worked for the Independent Citizens' Committee for Roosevelt. After the president's reelection Niles was assigned as labor adviser, first to the Office of Production Management and then to the War Production Board. In 1942 he rejoined the White House staff to concentrate on political problems, including monitoring congressional elections and promoting a fourth term. In August of that year he was designated an administrative assistant to the president, a post he held until May 21, 1951. He became active in writing speeches and in promoting a liberal coalition for Roosevelt in 1944. He also sought to enlist Wendell Willkie's support and backed Senator Harry Truman for the vice-presidential nomination.
After Roosevelt's death, Niles became one of the few New Dealers to remain at the White House as an aide to President Truman, under whom he played his most significant role in shaping American policy.
Niles became the chief White House expert on the Israeli question, and his memorandum of May 6, 1948, provided the substance of the recognition policy that Truman announced on May 14. A serious stomach ailment forced Niles to resign his White House post in 1951, and frail health limited his role in the 1952 presidential campaign. In July 1952 he underwent surgery, and in September he died in a Boston hospital.
An early advocate of civil rights, he facilitated Truman's access to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and worked closely with Clark Clifford and Zionist leaders to persuade Truman to support an independent Jewish state in Palestine.
Niles's career is typical of that of the second-echelon staff who achieved some power under Franklin Roosevelt. Like Oscar Cox, Isador Lubin, and Herman Oliphant, Niles fed ideas to Hopkins and Samuel Rosenman for transformation into presidential policy.
In politics, his first love, he worked for the benefit of people frequently ignored by the government; one writer referred to him as the "portable wailing wall" for the Democratic administration. Much of his time was spent in communication with blacks, Jews, and urban labor elements. He consistently worked to promote the humanitarian side of liberalism. Not without personal bias (especially against the ambitions of the Irish Catholics in the administration), Niles brought the Roosevelt White House into a closer relationship with the liberal wing of the Democratic party.
Niles had a rare gift that Roosevelt admired: he was totally selfless and never sought publicity. His taciturnity was legendary in gossipy Washington.
He never married.
