Earnest Endeavors: The Life and Public Work of George Rublee

George Rublee (1868-1957), was an eastern establishment lawyer and corporate liberal who made a significant contribution to economic reform legislation on the state and national levels during the progressive era. He was also involved in a number of important international events from 1917 to 1939. Despite his achievements, he has been largely overlooked. In this first biography of Rublee, McClure contends that any understanding of the history of the Federal Trade Commission and of U.S. foreign relations in World War I and the interwar period is incomplete without an understanding of Rublee’s experiences.

Rublee’s influence on domestic policy includes his role as advisor to New Hampshire governor Robert Bass, his influence in the development of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 New Nationalism platform, and his conversion of Woodrow Wilson to a Bull Moose approach to antitrust with the creation of the FTC in 1914. His contribution to international relations ranges from his participation on the almost forgotten Allied Maritime Transport Council; to his success in bringing the US into a consultative pact with Great Britain and France at the 1930 London Naval Conference, to his courageous role as director of the controversial Intergovernmental Committee, created at the 1938 Evian Conference to deal with the German Jewish refugee crisis.