In theory, the Taft-Hartley law made sense when it set up the National Labor Relations Board to hear and judge unfair labor practices, and established an independent general counsel to round up and bring in the cases. But in practice, the pro-labor NLRB and its stubborn Republican counsel, Robert N. Denham, had wrangled from the first day they took office. Last week, after listening for months to organized labor's demands for Denham's head, Harry Truman politely asked him to place it on the chopping block.
Wrote Denham bluntly: ". . . You have now seen fit to request my resignation forthwith. In obedience to your wishes I feel I must comply." In a stiff little note of reply, the President explained that he saw no prospect of restoring a "harmonious relationship" between Counsel Denham and the board. Harry Truman accepted the resignation as of the close of the following business day.