Kennedy cautioned that , during his long business career , he probably had “ done plenty of things that people could find fault with .”
Moley stepped in : “ If anything in your career in business could injure the President this is the time to spill it .”
Moley recalled that Kennedy responded with “ a blue mist of profanity ,” defied anyone to find a single “ shady act ” in his background and then vowed to lead the SEC in a way “ that would be a credit to the country , the President , himself and his
Joseph P . Kennedy , first chairman of the SEC , 1938 .
family — clear down to the ninth child .”
To many ardent and outraged New Dealers , Kennedy was a fox put in charge of the henhouse . But to Roosevelt , the very traits that disqualified Kennedy as Treasury Secretary — his independence , his strong opinions , his take-charge personality , his demanding hands-on management style — made him the ideal choice for bringing the new watchdog agency to life . Kennedy also knew “ all the tricks of the trade ” that he would be regulating — “ set a thief to catch a thief ,” FDR quipped .
Kennedy was rich enough to be immune to the job ’ s inevitable temptations .
Best of all , he was a choice that would instantly disarm and confound Wall Street . To FDR ’ s New Dealers and much of the general public , Kennedy was one of Wall Street ’ s own — but to Wall Street , Kennedy was what he had always been : an outsider who kept his secrets and played a solitary game .
Roosevelt announced his decision on June 30 , naming Landis , Mathews , Healy , Pecora and Kennedy to the new Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ). At Moley ’ s request , he wrote a short note expressing his wish that Kennedy should serve as SEC chairman . But by law , the commissioners picked their own chairman — and at least two of them thought they had a better claim to the job than Kennedy did .
Kennedy had FDR ’ s note in his pocket when he arrived at the FTC building two days later for the agency ’ s first meeting . He would use it if he had to — but not even Roosevelt could guarantee that it would work .
The FTC was housed in a shabby temporary building on Constitution Avenue that had been built for a war that ended in 1918 . Exposed pipes crisscrossed the stained ceilings ; the smell of disinfectant hung in the hallways . The wiring was dangerously old — an electrical fire in 1930 at a similar building nearby had destroyed irreplaceable FTC records . But plug-in fans and open windows were the only tools for coping with the heat that baked the capital in early July 1934 , driving temperatures in some offices well over 100 degrees .
On Monday , July 2 , reporters and photographers waited in an airless hallway for the debut meeting of the still homeless SEC . In theory , the five commissioners would be quickly sworn in and would then elect their chairman . In reality , the afternoon would be a tense faceoff between New Deal purists and White House realists .
A little before 3 p . m ., Kennedy limped in . Some weeks earlier , he had fallen from a horse and broken his leg , but he was still jaunty in a tan summer suit . He laughed off questions , headed into Mathews ’ s office , closed the door to the press and settled down to get acquainted with Mathews and Judge Healy .
Then , Pecora arrived from New York by way of Union Station — sweaty , a little late
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