Leon Hirsch Keyserling (January 11, 1908 – August 9, 1987)[1] was an American economist and lawyer who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1950 to 1953. During his tenure, he advised President Harry S. Truman on the economic issues and helped draft major pieces of Fair Deal legislation.
In 1946 Keyserling became the Vice Chairman of the newly created Council of Economic Advisers. He became its Acting Chairman in 1949 and the Chairman in 1950. In 1952 Keyserling and his wife were attacked by Joseph McCarthy as part of the Second Red Scare as "belonging to Communist front groups."[6] Keyserling left as Chairman in 1953.[1]
During his time at the CEA, Keyserling strongly promoted the pursuit of sustained economic growth and full employment.[7] He also introduced the reporting of the Gross National Product in real as well as nominal dollars [8]
Later life
Following his time advising PresidentTruman, Keyserling consulted with Congress on a variety of economic issues and also practiced law.[1] In 1954 he founded the Conference on Economic Progress (CEP), serving as its president until 1987.[1] His wife had left the Department of Commerce in 1953 and joined him in consulting as well as the founding of the CEP, where she served as associate director from its inception to 1963.[9]
^Storrs, Landon R. Y. (2003-09-01). "Red Scare Politics and the Suppression of Popular Front Feminism: The Loyalty Investigation of Mary Dublin Keyserling". Journal of American History. 90 (2): 491–524. doi:10.2307/3659442. ISSN0021-8723. JSTOR3659442.